Good Friday Morning!!!
1. Question – Is religion indispensable (absolutely
necessary) to our Republic?
2. Thought – In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville came to
America from France, where a government controlled
religion had dominated the life of its citizens for
centuries. De Tocqueville, one of the greatest political
thinkers of the Modern Age, published
Democracy in America in 1833. This famous work
became one of the greatest evaluations of American life
ever written. His intention was to observe America’s
political institutions, but the religious spirit of the
country immediately caught his attention:
On my arrival in the United States the religious aspect
of the country was the first thing that caught my
attention; and the longer I stayed there, the more I
perceived the political consequences resulting from this
new state of things.
De Tocqueville found that “the spirit of
religion and the spirit of freedom” were
“intimately united and …reigned in common
over the whole country.” As De Tocqueville
questioned representatives from many different groups in
America he found that:
…they all attributed the peaceful dominion of
religion in their country mainly to the separation of
church and state. I do not hesitate to confirm that
during my stay in America I did not meet a single
individual, of the clergy or laity, who was not on the
same opinion on this point.
Even with complete separation of religion and
government, de Tocqueville found that religion still
played a vital role in America’s system of free
government:
Religion in America takes no direct part in the
government of society, but it must be regarded as the
first of their political institutions; for if it does
not impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates the use
of it. Indeed, it is this same point of view that the
inhabitants of the United States themselves look upon
religious belief. I do not know whether all Americans
have a sincere faith in their religion – for who
can search the human heart? – but I am certain
that they hold it to be indispensable to the
maintenance of republic institutions. This opinion is
not peculiar to a class of citizens or to a party, but
it belongs to the whole nation and to every rank of
society.
(United States History in Christian Perspective by
Heritage of Freedom)
“This government, the offspring of your own
choice,…adopted upon full investigation and
mature deliberation, completely free in its
principles, … and containing, within itself, a
provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to
your confidence and respect.”
(President George Washington, Farewell Address,
September 17, 1796)
April leaving us shortly! Kids driving and not paying
attention. Correct them! EnJOY the Spring!