Owen 1

Spencer Owen
Professor Morean
English 100.15
15 October 2014
Catholic Intellectual Tradition Paper
The lack of Christian education in public schools begs the questions of where Christian
values can be found, and why there is so much hypocrisy among Christians in America.
American Christians behavior in todays world is much different from what it used to be, and
what God has asked of them. Citizens are responsible for how the society acts as a whole. The
United States, being a country where approximately 85 percent of its citizens identify themselves
as Christian, do not do enough, contends Bill McKibben. One can take from McKibbens article
The Christian Paradox that the Catholic intellectual tradition is lost in most Catholics, who are
often hypocritical. Although Christian morals may be skewed, they should not take all the blame
for what everyone in our society should be doing to help the less fortunate. Christians may be
held to a higher standard in these cases, but generally unbeknownst to most people, do more than
the common man.
Jesus, just before his crucifixion, summed his message for his disciples, saying the way
you could tell the righteous from the damned was whether they had fed the hungry, slaked the
thirsty, clothed the naked, welcomed the stranger, and visited the poor (McKibben, 2). Being
held to these standards, it would be difficult to find an American today who lives up to them.
Sadly, it would be just as hard to find an American Christian who lives up to those standards
Jesus set for us. McKibbens article points out that Christian America significantly trails other
rich nations in several areas to which Jesus told us to pay particular attention. As a wealthy

Owen 2

nation we were ranked second to last in 2004 among developed countries in government foreign
aid. In addition, close to eighteen percent of American children live in poverty, the prison
population is greater by a factor of six or seven than other rich nations, and we are the most
violent wealthy nation on earth (McKibben, 2). These statistics are astonishing considering the
overwhelming population of Christians in America. Jesus told his disciples to give money to the
poor and visit the imprisoned, and one of the Ten Commandments states, You shall not kill,
yet as a country, Americans certainly does not live up to these expectations of Jesus. Too often
people find themselves being hypocrites, claiming to be Christian but not acting like one. They
are selfish and only think of themselves. Instead, everyone should be doing for others, which is
where true happiness is found.
Learning about Christianity and its moral values is important in todays society.
McKibben accurately points out need for the concern about the lack of Christian education in
America. The establishment of most schools in the beginning of education in the United States
was started by the church. Learning about God and his values was important to the founders of
our country and the founders of American education, who not only started free public schools but
also founded colleges and universities as seminaries to train a clergy that was literate and had a
good knowledge of God (McDowell, 1). In the article Americas Schools Began with Christian
Education, Stephen McDowell states
Numerous people in America today agree that a lack of moral values is the root of the
countrys problems, yet without a standard of moral absolutes rooted in a sovereign God
and His truth, and without these being taught and lived in the homes, in the schools, in
the government, and in the media, America as a nation will not be able to impart these
needed morals (McDowell, 1).

Owen 3

About ninety percent of children in grades pre-K-12 attend public schools and only ten percent
attend private schools (Jennings, 1). In order for our nation to understand the Christian values
and morals that we should be following, the number of students that attend private schools needs
to increase.
Although most Christians in America need to do a better job of living their lives how
Jesus instructed them, with compassion and selflessness, McKibben chooses to focus exclusively
on their sinful nature, reiterating all the faults that American Christians are not doing in todays
society. Even though he makes several important points on what they can improve on, he never
mentions the good that Christians are doing in America. St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church
in Fenton, Michigan is an example of a church that has a positive affect on society. Each week at
mass the parishioners take a collection to give to local charities. The community also has
volunteers who go to soup kitchens each month and help feed the hungry and less fortunate.
Every summer a group of volunteers to heads to Guatemala for two weeks to help build homes
and take care of the sick villagers. There are other churches like this all over the country, with
Christians who volunteer their time to help anyone in need, for the betterment of their society.
They do these acts out of the kindness of their hearts, though McKibben does not give any credit
to those who actually do make a difference in this country. Christians do a lot to help this
country, and the blame for Americas deplorable statistics in categories that include poverty,
crime, and feeding the hungry should not be placed solely on Christians. Everyone is responsible
for the common good of our country, Christians as well as non-Christians. Pope John Paul II
argued in The Principle of the Common Good, The common good therefore involves all
members of society, no one is exempt from cooperating, according to each ones possibilities, in
attaining it and developing it ( Paul, 117).

Owen 4

McKibben does help his readers understand that saying you are a Christian is not enough,
that Christians in America need to act like Jesus taught his disciples. He also accurately notes
American Christians moral values need to be straightened out in order to improve our country.
However, McKibben is in error to lay blame for Americas societal woes solely on the shoulders
of American Christians; many Christians devote time and energy to improve our country and our
world. If all who call themselves Christian reevaluated their behavior and attitude and truly made
strides to follow Jesus teaching and examples, and if all who identify as non-Christian
considered that bettering society is not bound by faith, our country and our world would make
enormous progress to where there are no hungry, no thirsty, and no fear of violence. Everyone is
responsible for the common good of this country.

Works Cited

Jennings, Jack. "Proportion of U.S. Students in Private Schools Is 10 Percent and

Declining." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 28 Mar. 2013. Web. 20 Oct.
2014.
McDowell, Stephen. "America's Schools Began With Christian Education."The Mandate. N.p.,
22 Apr. 2008. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.forerunner.com/mandate/X0056_Americas_Schools.html
Paul, Pope John, II. The Principle of the Common Good. (n.d): n. pag. Web