It is one thing to urge progressives and secularists to be respectful of the right to hold religious or spiritual beliefs. That is something we have been doing at Talk 2 Action since the website was created. The arguments of Tim LaHaye, however, are anchored in a series of conspiracy theories about an apocalyptic battle between the Godly and the Godless that LaHaye envisions as a fight to the death--literally.

When LaHaye writes about secular humanism, he sees it as a religion competing with Christian morality, citing to (among other arguments) an article by John W. Whitehead and John Conlan, "The Establishment of the Religion of Secular Humanism and Its First Amendment Implications," appearing in the Texas Tech Law Review in 1978. There is a press release announcing it enshrined at a creationism website:

The article's well-researched history of the First Amendment religion clauses reveals the stark contrast between the Supreme Court's present definition of religion and that which the founding fathers intended. The founding fathers who wrote and debated each word of the Constitution understood and intended "religion" to mean a transcendent relationship between the Creator and his creatures. However, humanistic relativism has permeated the Supreme Court's thinking to the extent that today "religion" does not even conceive of a Creator who gives absolute meaning and value to life, but rather is regarded as anything which has an "Ultimate concern" to the particular individual possessing such concern. Whitehead and Conlan correctly note that under the Supreme Court's progressive interpretation of religion everyone has a religion and all things or mental processes of an individuals mind are religious....

The inescapable conclusion is that Secular Humanism is a religion whose object of worship is Man and because it is a "religion" the establishment of Secular Humanism in our society through the organs of the State is unconstitutional. This article will stand as a masterful research tool and analysis of the Law of Religious Freedom in the United States and its message is essential to anyone desiring true religious freedom. (press release)

The web is littered with cites to this article, and it is relied on so heavily because it appeared in a law review. LaHaye cites to the article, but then argues that the "battle against humanism...is not theological; it is moral:"

Humanists have totally rejected God, creation, morality, the fallen state of man, and the free enterprise system. As such, they are the mortal enemy of all pro-moral Americans, and the most serious threat to our nation in its entire history. Unless both Christian and non-Christian lovers of virtue stand together as upright citizens, humanists will turn this great land into another Sodom and Gomorrah. Tim LaHaye, The Battle for the Mind, (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1980), pp. 187-188).

Battle for the Mind is dedicated to Francis A. Schaeffer, but LaHaye takes the idea of secular humanism far behind anything written by Schaeffer. At the back of the LaHaye book (p. 241), LaHaye has a "Recommended Reading List," from which I have selected entries and arranged them chronologically.

Henry M. Morris. (1974). The Troubled Waters of Evolution. Creation-Life Ministries.

Francis A. Schaeffer. (1976). How Shall We Then Live? Old Tappan, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell Co.

Claire Chambers. (1977). The SIECUS Circle: A Humanist Revolution. Belmont, Mass.: Western Islands.

John W. Whitehead. (1977). The Separation Illusion. Mott Media.

John W. Whitehead and John Conlan. (1978). "The Establishment of the Religion of Secular Humanism and Its First Amendment Implications." Texas Tech Law Review, V. 10, N. 1, Winter.

Henry M. Morris. (1978). Education for the Real World. Creation-Life Ministries.

Barbara M. Morris. (1979). Change Agents in the Schools: Destroy Your Children, Betray Your Country. Upland, Calif.: The Barbara M. Morris Report.

Francis A. Schaeffer and C. Everett Koop. (1979). Whatever Happened to the Human Race. Old Tappan, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell Co.

All of this reveals the basic political agenda of the Christian Right over the past 30 years.

Here is what is bad:

Abortion

Homosexuality

Teaching Evolution

Comprehensive sex education

Criticism of unregulated Free Market economics

Subversion through public schools

Myth of separation of church and state

Liberalism in general

This is not about secularists being rude to Christians. This is about a comprehensive conspiracy theory about secularists and humanists used to justify a Christian Right mobilization that seeks to roll back the Enlightenment. More on the details of the conspiracy theory in the next installment.

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Chip Berlet, Senior Analyst, Political Research Associates

The Public Eye: Website of Political Research Associates

Chip's Blog

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The World According to Tim LaHaye: A Series
Part One: Hunting Down the Enemies
Part Two: Pre-Trib Perspectives
Part Three: Satanic Secular Humanism
Part Four: Secular Humanism as False Religion
Part Five: The Secular Humanist Web
Part Six: The Council for National Policy