New England Unitarianism and Whiggery:
Subversion of American Culture
orig. pub., 2005 by Bill Rummel, Charleston Voice
Although never surrendering the Confederacy, the South lost the shooting war to the northern invaders in 1865. One hundred and forty years later Iraq has lost its shooting war with these same invaders.
Sensible people throughout the world are asking now as they did in 1865-1877 "How can it be that America so rooted with a Christian conscience could have become so cruel, so vindictive, and so corrupt? What has brought about such an alteration to its Founding beliefs?"
The crushing import tariffs of the American antebellum period and the theft of Iraq's oil are but actions of a disintegrating culture which once had the social fabric of non-intervention that the whole world admired. Where do we begin to find the answers to the above questions? I discovered the answers to be found in our country's history in the period from 1805 to 1860. My public school, and later prep school and college, devoted so little student attention to this crucial period.
The ink had barely dried on our new Constitution before subversion began to erode our newly formed institutions. What transpired was the replacement of the moderate Calvinist David Tappan of Harvard with the election in 1805 of Unitarian Henry Ware. For several generations Arminian opinions had been slowly gaining currency in the vicinity of Boston and Harvard. The emergence of Unitarianism was a very gradual, almost an imperceptible process. The Divinity of the Calvinists was out, and the moral philosophies of the Unitarians (and Congregationalists) was in. They saw themselves as having the moral responsibility of others. The Age of Protestant Enlightenment was upon the land and we have never recovered. Daniel Howe in his Unitarian Conscience explains:
"The rebellion against Calvinist theology which the Liberals of Massachusetts pioneered was gradually accepted and followed by mainstream American Protestants in general. The Unitarian denomination itself always remained small, of course, but the Harvard moralists had resigned themselves to this very early. 'Our object is not to convert men to our party, but to our principles,' they declared.....by 1857 a Unitarian could estimate, with justification, that there were ten times as many covert Liberals in other denominations as there were professed Unitarians."
Religious Affiliation of U.S. Presidents
Denomination
|
Number of
Presidents |
Percent of
Presidents |
Percent of
Current U.S. Pop. |
Ratio % of Pres.
to % of Pop. |
Episcopalian
|
11
|
26.2%
|
1.7%
|
15.4
|
Presbyterian
|
9
|
21.0%
|
2.8%
|
5.1
|
Methodist
|
4
|
9.5%
|
8.0%
|
1.5
|
Baptist
|
4
|
9.5%
|
18.0%
|
0.5
|
Unitarian
|
4
|
9.5%
|
0.2%
|
47.5
|
Disciples of Christ
|
3
|
7.1%
|
0.4%
|
18.7
|
Dutch Reformed
|
2
|
4.8%
|
0.1%
|
48.0
|
Quaker
|
2
|
4.8%
|
0.7%
|
6.9
|
Catholic
|
1
|
2.4%
|
24.5%
|
0.1
|
Congregationalist/
United Church of Christ |
1
|
2.4%
|
0.6%
|
4.0
|
Keep in mind that in the table above, the % of the U.S. population for religious groups are current figures. Religious groups have had much different proportions at various time in U.S. history.
Unitarianism was a religion of reason; it was heralded as the "Second Awakening". In an age which had little mass communication or literate congregations, oratorical Evangelical Unitarianism was the way to go. It not only inspired feeling, but moved men to action. Evangelicals today are more inspired by oratory of Unitarian fabrication than seeking and reading the truths for their own souls.
There are scant few churches today which are devoid of the moral overtones of Unitarianism as launched two centuries ago - a mix of humanism and Puritanism in Harvard's moral philosophy. Even Bill Wilson's Alcoholics Anonymous once offered God as their salvation now serves up a "higher power" as a solution for their patron's failings.
The most successful of Unitarian endeavors on behalf of their view of education was Horace Mann, "Father of American Education".
Catholics considered government schools not as an encroaching evil of bigger government, but as a Protestant assault on Catholicism.
Public schooling has proven to be a fear of both. Catholic schools have proven to be a failed attempt to preserve their orthodox teachings. Mann was also a Whig. The government school crisis upon us today is an extension of the Unitarian agenda launched over 160 years ago.
Catholics considered government schools not as an encroaching evil of bigger government, but as a Protestant assault on Catholicism.
Public schooling has proven to be a fear of both. Catholic schools have proven to be a failed attempt to preserve their orthodox teachings. Mann was also a Whig. The government school crisis upon us today is an extension of the Unitarian agenda launched over 160 years ago.
An excellent account of the Unitarians in the vanguard of abolitionism can be read in Al Benson's brief essay "What the 'History' Books Don't Tell Us". Unitarian minister Thomas Starr King is credited with delivering California to statehood on the side of the Union. Unitarian John Pierpont's grandson was J.P. Morgan.
We've all heard of the Whigs (1834-1854). Lincoln was a Whig longer than he was a Republican. There have been three periods in our presidential history that have had two-party national parties. The Jefferson-Republicans and the Federalists, the Democrats (formerly Jeffersonian Repubs) and the Whigs, and today's Republicans and Democrats. By far, the Whigs have influenced our political, moral, and spiritual culture more than any other. Amazingly, only two Whigs were ever elected as President, William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor. And both died shortly after taking office!
The political agenda for the Unitarians to advance their moral philosophies upon others, notably the South ("Land of Darkness") was to get a platform advanced by Whiggery.
Howe again in The Political Culture of the American Whigs, tells us:
"Business and professional men tended to be Whigs. Industrial workers did not vote against their employers; frequently, wage earners and others who felt they had a stake in the growth of manufacturing were also Whigs.....the Whig party was especially strong in southern New England...that hoped for government-aided economic-development projects - "internal improvements". People of New England extraction and members of the sects of New England Protestantism (Congregationalists, Unitarians, "New School" Presbyterians) also seem to have voted Whig in disproportionate numbers."
The spoils system had taken root and rent-seekers and those seeking special privilege or patronage saw the Whigs as their opportunity to reap un-toiled dispensation. The religious elite saw the Whigs as an opportunity to use government to advance their moral views and mold others to a template of rationalism devised in their world view.
The South, with their Calvinist beliefs was especially singled out for Enlightenment. None were to be disappointed.
Several of their easily recognizable programs have been central banking, direct taxation, high tariffs, "internal improvements", and one failed program - temperance - were among the basic planks of the Whig political agenda.
As any casual reader can tell I am not a scholar in any loose meaning of the word, just someone trying to give you some dots with which you can connect, and even better, add your own in a comprehensible and meaningful mosaic for others to derive meaning as to their contemporary lives.
I think it a noble tribute to our ancestors to point out that political debate of the 19th century centered around whether an act of government was constitutional, or not. Much of that debate embodied a near universal belief in states rights. "They can't do that - it's a violation of the 10th Amendment!" Today it's argued whether something is 'needed', 'necessary', in the 'national interest', 'fair', or 'ethical'.
The Unitarians got it right. And we can, too. They weren't witnessing for their Unitarian sect, but were winning converts to their principles. Upon this they built a culture of rational humanistic moralism which has proven a tragedy for our country. The idea here is not to try and bring wayward souls to your Sunday services. Remember, being men, deacons and ministers can run aground, too. As you read this, your ideas and beliefs are an embryonic culture to be shared with those only you can know who may have an interest. Your minister can learn from you. Building a fabric of understanding and restoring the truth as to way things used to be is our ticket to the restoration of Americanist ideals. With an informed America it's not going to matter who's who in the political sphere. While affiliations can be a clue, it's the ideas and philosophies of others that you should be looking at. Identify those that are dispensing the moral subversions of Unitarianism - politically administered by modern day Whiggery. This is our national security.
The South has a long way to go to reach the level of understanding necessary to govern themselves; and for this reason I view secession as a foolish option. Replacing one collection of tyrants with another to rule over a dumbed-down electorate is not a world I want to live in.
Bill Rummel
-Charleston Voice
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