Fox Nation host Todd Starnes thinks it’s increasingly likely that the United States is headed for another civil war, warning that younger Americans do not view religion or patriotism as important to their lives.
Starnes appeared for an interview on Fox News morning show Fox & Friendson Tuesday to promote his new book, Culture Jihad, which alleges that the political left is attempting to “kill” the nation. During the segment, he railed against left-wing politicians and polls showing that young people are increasingly less interested in religion and being patriotic.
“I noticed that there was a trend developing in the country with the rise of socialism. We’ve been wondering for many years now, why is it that the left has been so hell bent on declaring war on religious liberty and taking God out of the public marketplace,” Starnes said. “And I realized after digging into all of this that for socialism to rise and really take root, they’ve got to get rid of religious liberty. They’ve got to take away the foundation of this country.”
Many on the political left have pushed back against conservative efforts to promote Christian specific beliefs in government institutions and public schools, arguing that such actions violate the First Amendment of the Constitution. The language of the amendment reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”
Although Starnes’s claims that those on the political left want to take away people’s religious liberties, some of the most progressive Democratic lawmakers in Congress – such as Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont – have repeatedly raised concerns for protecting religious minorities in the country, who are increasingly concerned about hate crimes targeting their communities.
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“Look at the polling data,” he asserted, saying he was concerned about what would happen over the next decade. Starnes claimed that the public school system “is being used as the engine to drive this social change.”
“Just a couple of weeks ago, you guys were talking about this on Fox & Friends, a majority of younger Americans, generation Z, millennials don’t believe religion and patriotism are all that important to their lives anymore,” the Fox Nation host lamented. “So, we’re seeing this shift happen almost in a stealth way.”
Starnes was referring to a long-term survey conducted by The Wall Street Journaland NBC News, which first began 21 years ago and had its most recent results published last month. Overall, the number of Americans saying that patriotism was “very important” to them dropped 9 percent and those saying the same of religion dropped 12 percent.
However, the divide appeared to be between younger and older generations, as only 42 percent of 18 to 38-year-olds – generation Z and millennials – believe patriotism is “very important,” compared to 80 percent of those 55 and older. Less than one-third of the younger Americans considered religion to be very important, while about two thirds of those 55 and older still said it was very important.
*see full story by NewsWeek