A Christian friend who works in big business sends me this “American Creed” he once wrote:

We believe in one Market,
Objective and Free,
maker of assets and security,
of all that is prosperous and possible.
We believe in the one true force, the Invisible Hand,
the Logic of the Market,
eternally co-existing with the Market,
regent of riches, assurance of efficiency,
trumpeter of technology, power behind politics.
Through him all transactions are made.
For us and for our prosperity
he gives value to all money
and enables all commerce;
by the power of the American Dream
he becomes incarnate in the hearts of all free men.
For our sake he guarantees the equitability of all commerce,
he re-assures all the laborers,
emboldens all the entrepreneurs,
and casts aside all the idle.
He ensures all debts will ultimately be repaid.
He is revealed in glory in America but his kingdom has no end nor boundary.
We believe in the American Dream, the hope and giver of the life abundant,
who proceeds from the Market and who with the Invisible Hand is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through Adam Smith and his economists.
We believe in one holy and universal Spirit of Growth.
We acknowledge the cost and risk of our choices.
We look for the extension of credit,
and the affluent life that is certain to come. Amen.

My friend, a cultural conservative, adds:

Although our society’s migration on sexual morals is troubling, being in the financial sector, I’ve long thought that consumerism and its underlying philosophy is as big of a cultural hurdle to serious Christian’s life as liberal sexual norms.

I did my best to write something an authentic American Dream enthusiast would agree with 100%. The sad thing is, I suspect many Christians I know wouldn’t even have a problem with this philosophically–just have issues with its format as a creed.

Thoughts?