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Missouri's 7th District, U.S. House of Representatives

  
 

 

 

Liberty Under God
OWES MUCH TO
The Protestant Reformation



October 31st is “Reformation Day

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed 95 Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany. This was the accepted way of inaugurating public debate, and the debate turned into "The Protestant Reformation."

In 1892 the United States Supreme Court unanimously reminded us that America "is a Christian nation." But America was actually a Protestant nation.

John Robbins ("Civilization and the Protestant Reformation") notes that Protestantism contributed the following to Western Civilization:

  • Democracy ("The Priesthood of All Believers ")
  • Constitutionalism ("Sola Scriptura")
  • Religious Liberty
  • The Reformation in Law and Economics
    • Legal historian Harold Berman of Harvard Law School has pointed out that "The Protestant concept of the individual became central to the development of the modern law of property and contract...."
    • This, along with Luther's idea that all callings--all labor, not just the labor of monks and nuns--could be done to the glory of God, led to the development of the free market economy.
  • One of Luther's most brilliant followers, John Calvin, systematized the theology of the Reformation. The seventeenth-century Calvinists laid the foundations for both English and American civil rights and liberties: freedom of speech, press, and religion, the privilege against self-incrimination, the independence of juries, and right of habeas corpus, the right not to be imprisoned without cause. The nineteenth-century German historian Leopold von Ranke referred to Calvin as the "virtual founder of America."

Reformation in Chile?

Free Market economics is dying in America, along with the Christianity of the Reformation. But Capitalism is alive in Chile, and October 31 is now (as of 2008) a national holiday in Chile.

Economic Reform in Chile "Reformation Day" in Chile
'It Can't Happen Here' by Jacob G. Hornberger

Chile was a socialist dictatorship, until a right-wing coup installed a right-wing dictatorship.

Milton Friedman talked about "the relationship between economic freedom and political freedom. He argued that the former was a precondition for the latter. He also thought that economic freedom tended to produce political freedom (though not necessarily vice versa), and one senses that, if it came to a choice, he felt that economic freedom should have priority over political freedom. Thus, though he was never a friend of dictatorship per se, he was not equally critical of all such governments, and was willing to “look the other way” if a particular dictatorship followed economic policies of which he approved. He was severely criticized, for instance, for lecturing in Chile—and personally visiting General Pinochet—at a time when the human rights record of that country’s regime was at an all-time low...."
Review of “Milton Friedman: A Biography” - The Acton Institute

Without condoning right-wing dictatorship, it did bring some "Free Market" reforms to Chile.

Chile: Socialism, Dictatorship, and Liberalism - Ryan McMaken - Mises Institute

The Free Market: Reform Is Not Impossible
Since the mid-1970s the Chileans have transformed their backward welfare state into one of the world's fastest growing economies. They reduced monetary growth, scrapped trade barriers, and privatized state-owned enterprises, lopping off two-thirds of the public sector. By cutting taxes and expenditures even more, the government has eliminated its deficit, recently running a surplus of about 2% of GDP. 

Prof. Thomas Woods says, "I Am Moving To Chile."

 

FaithWorld » Blog Archive » Look who’s celebrating Reformation Day today | Blogs |

The holiday is not officially called Reformation Day but Día Nacional de las Iglesias Evangélicas y Protestantes — National Day of the Evangelical and Protestant Churches. President Michelle Bachelet mentioned the Luther link in a speech (here in Spanish) about the new holiday, which she stressed was a sign of equality of faiths in Chile’s secular state. She also called it a form of recognition of the contribution made by the evangelical churches to national progress in all fields, of their preaching of values that enrich our existence and strengthen the culture of tolerance and respect.”

Reformation Day in Chile - The Scoop - Reformation21 Blog 

Q++ Worldwide Public Holidays News and Updates: Chile Approves New October 31 Public Holiday

Reformation Day in Chile | The Lead

A milestone for Protestantism | Economist.com

» New Chilean Holiday: October 31st - Pepe’s Chilean Adoration Page

http://www.qppstudio.net/publicholidays2009/chile.htm

(El Mercurio-Santiago) A recent article in The Economist quotes sources in the Government of Chile as saying that it was considering removing some catholic public holidays related to the Virgin Mary, such as July 16, August 15, and December 8.

  11 Oct 2008 (Diario La Tribuna-Santiago) After almost 2 years of tractations (see our post of November 10, 2006), at noon, yesterday, Chile's President, Michelle Bachelet, signed law 20.299 making October 31st a new annual public holiday to coincide with Reformation Day and to be called "Día Nacional de las Iglesias Evangélicas y Protestantes"

Gobierno anuncia que feriado del 31 de octubre comenzará a regir este año

This morning Minister Vidal stressed that "The evangelical people will for the first time, as an expression of a tolerant, diverse and pluralist country, have a day that relates to its history, tradition and faith."

Religioscope > Archives > Chile: first Luther monument in Spanish-speaking Latin America 

Reformation Day in....Chile? 

"Whatever the cause, the Calvinists were the only fighting Protestants. It was they whose faith gave them courage to stand up for the Reformation. In England, Scotland, France, Holland, they,... did the work, and but for them the Reformation would have been crushed... If it had not been for Calvinists,... and whatever you like to call them, the Pope and Philip would have won, and we should either be Papists or Socialists." ~ Sir John Skelton

Facebook | The Episcopal Cafe: Reformation Day in Chile
Two paragraphs from the article in The Economist



next: The Myth of "The Separation of Church and State"