Belief matters

What makes secularism so dominant these days, and why are so many Christians duped by it? Parents send their children to secular universities. Businessmen support them and neither know that secular professors disdain them. What's going on?

Herbert London's new book, America's Secular Challenge (Encounter, 2008), is a breakthrough. He shows the dominance of radical secularism within American universities. Formerly a professor at New York University, London knows that secularists try to overcome conservatives and eradicate Christianity from public life, thereby reshaping America. He also notes the increasing danger of Islam: Many secularists support Muslims over conservatives and Christians.

London highlights the masked ideas of secular schools and uncovers many professors such as Boston College's Alan Wolfe. The author of Moral Freedom, Wolfe writes that the benefits of economic freedom unfolded in the 19th century, political freedom followed in the 20th century, and moral freedom should take over the 21st century. The first two freedoms are good but the third is harmful, as the slide toward immorality among the young, including believers, shows.

A thoughtful Jew indebted to Christian believers for what America has been, London observes that Christians, committed as they are to the next world, too often sit out the battle against their adversaries. He hopes that Christians will fight for the greatest and most liberating tradition the world has ever known.

-Stan Oakes is chancellor of The King's College, New York City