For the last three weeks we’ve been talking about the major problems facing American society today, and how much of America’s traditional Christian heritage, institutions and culture are being slowly eroded by secular humanists and other atheists. So far, we’ve talked about the attack on traditional American culture, the systematic revision of U.S. history as it pertains to our Christian heritage, and how homosexual activists have worked to silence the church and redefine the morals that have shaped our country.

Today, we’re taking a look at capitalism, the economic system that has worked in concert with our strong Judeo-Christian morality, to allow our country to grow into the most powerful and prosperous nation in the world.

Second only to God’s divine providence and numerous blessings, capitalism has been the driving force in America’s unparalleled success. In the aftermath of capitalism’s greatest test, the Great Depression, many Americans began losing faith in capitalism, and since then, many aspects of socialism and other forms of collectivism have worked their way into almost every one of our institutions, including all levels of government, academia, the media and even economics. On the flipside, our public schools and institutions of higher learning are not teaching the truth about capitalism, free enterprise and the market economy.

But why is that? Why does the very system that has been the guiding philosophy for our constitutions and economic structure and has allowed our country to achieve unprecedented wealth, continue to recede into the periphery of our consciousness? I admit, reading a fifty-page thesis on capitalism is probably not on the top of most people’s to-do list. But I submit to you, that if we continue to ignore the efforts of those who seek to replace capitalism with socialism, nearly every aspect of our daily lives will be affected.

In order to appreciate the natural qualities of capitalism, which have proven so beneficial to mankind, we should first ask ourselves, “What is capitalism?” Speaking strictly in economic terms, capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production are privately owned and production is guided and income distributed largely through the operation of free markets. Opposite of this is collectivism, the doctrine of giving a centralized government control over economic planning and policy .

However, capitalism is more than just an economic system. Capitalism is also a social system based on the recognition of individual rights. Only capitalism declares that each and every man may live his own life as an end to himself, not by permission of others, but by right; and that government's responsibility is to protect those rights, and never violate them.

This is what the founders speak of in the Declaration of Independence, when for the first time in human history, a nation of people united under the banner of personal liberty and inalienable rights, chief among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

As German economist Max Weber wrote in his 1904 thesis “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,” the first in-depth look at the Christian impact on the origin of capitalism, c apitalism is not just a natural step in the world's development, because in order for it to emerge, particular values must be present. Those values include precious gift of reason, which God has given to man, respect for private property (two of the Ten Commandments, don’t steal/don’t covet, recognize private ownership) and the idea that all humans are equal.

Indeed, it was Christianity that introduced a saving compassion and a belief in liberty for all humanity, which resulted in the rise of capitalism and the new civilization to which we are the heirs.

In reviewing human history, it becomes clear that only Christian peoples and nations have fostered ideas such as individual freedom and limited government. From the Renaissance till today, however, the secular humanist intellectuals have campaigned against Christianity and against any limits upon governmental power.

Friends, we have been given a wonderful blessing in capitalism, and we must stand ever vigilant against policies or practices that inject socialism into our system. Ever since before our founding, a rich tradition of capitalism has characterized the free people of our nation. We cannot let that change.

For Wisconsin Family Council, I’m Julaine Appling reminding you the Prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”

At this year's (2006) " Conservative State of the Union" presentation in Washington, D.C., Paul Weyrich, chairman of the Free Congress Foundation, enumerated three primary components of modern American conservatism: free enterprise, strong national security and traditional morality.

Gene Edward Veith: In other words, Russia does not enjoy the benefits of capitalism because it lacks the moral infrastructure required by a free economy. The Communists destroyed the nation's moral foundation, and it will take generations to build it back. And that foundation can hardly be built without a Christian reawakening

Capitalism is driven by the law of supply and demand, a part of the natural order that screams of intelligent design by God the creator. If human beings made an attempt to rush around in a breathless haste trying to satisfy all of these desires to their utmost, they would be dead of exhaustion in their early youth. But Providence has endowed each human being with a built-in reactor against speed which serves to prevent or discourage over-indulgence. Capitalism also offer four fundamental freedoms, freedoms that can only exist within free economies. The first is the freedom to try. This is really the freedom to achieve. A free man in a free country can develop a new product or idea. Although no one may wish to buy it, he is at least free to invent it and sell it. This is the fundamental motivation of innovation. A free economy gives us the freedom to sell. If men are free to try their skill and inventive genius, they must be free to sell their product for profit, other wise there is no incentive to create. Along the same lines, free economies give us the freedom to buy, otherwise there would be no incentive to sell, and thus create. And lastly, the freedom that holds the greatest promise, free economies give us the freedom to fail. Without knowledge that we may fail in our economic endeavors, we would have no incentive to research our undertakings or improve existing designs. The freedom to fail is the very thing that spurs us on to succeed.