A Dec. 27 online commentary in The Times of London should grab the attention of our pagan society.

Matthew Parris wrote a column titled, "As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God." Mr. Parris grew up in Malawi and recently returned to visit. He said he cannot avoid the observation that, in Africa, Christianity changes hearts, and the change is good. He noted that, in areas influenced by missionaries, the converts had a liveliness, a curiosity and an engagement with the world, and more openness.

Mr. Parris observed that tribal belief suppresses individuality. Anxieties strike deep, grinding down the individual spirit, stunting curiosity. People respond with passivity, not initiative. He wrote that those who want Africa to make 21st-century progress should not try to remove Christian evangelism.

What is the obvious connection to America in 2009? Maybe Americans need to recognize that we ourselves are in need of Christian evangelism. What ails the unevangelized Africans ails Americans. They are held back by deep anxieties; we reach for Prozac and alcohol to find relief at earlier ages than ever before. Their curiosity is stunted; ours is turned toward the superficial lives of celebrities. Their response is passivity, not initiative; we sit at the feet of the government, waiting for our bailouts and our welfare checks.

Our human spirit is being strangled. But expelling God from society expels the only one who can liberate both the African and the American spirits.