Alexis de Tocqueville, 1835
Alexis de Tocqueville was the famous 19th century French statesman, historian and social philosopher. He traveled to America in the 1830s to discover the reasons for the incredible success of this new nation. He published his observations in his classic two-volume work, Democracy in America. He was especially impressed by America’s religious character. Here are some startling excerpts from Tocqueville’s great work: [ ref 1]
Upon my arrival in the United States the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer I stayed there, the more I perceived the great political consequences resulting from this new state of things. In France I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom marching in opposite directions. But in America I found they were intimately united and that they reigned in common over the same country. I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America in her harbors…; in her fertile fields and boundless forests; in her rich mines and vast world commerce; in her public school system and institutions of learning. I sought for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.
2008 convention on “Religion and Freedom: the United States and Europe”
Nothing existed in 18th and 19th century Europe which could be compared with the kind of relationship which developed in the United States of America, and which indeed was a determining factor in the formation of North American society. This society was in fact formed to a large extent by groups of Protestants who had fled from the system of State churches that prevailed in Europe, and who formed free communities of believers.
American society is thus founded on free churches, for whom it is essential to be not a State church, but based on a free union of people. In this sense one can say that at the base of American society there is a separation between Church and State, determined, or rather insisted on, by, religion: therefore, very differently motivated and structured from the “hostile” separation imposed by the French Revolution and by the State systems that followed it….
The article adds: Christianity is usually represented as the religion of love, and as the religion of the word (Logos) of reason and truth. It is far less frequently described as the religion of freedom. Yet in the Old Testament God reveals himself as the Liberator of the People of Israel, and in the New Testament we read the words of Jesus, “If you live according to my teaching… you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (Jn 8:31-32). The relationship between God and man is, therefore, distinguished by freedom.