A Nation Under the Influence

On May 11, 1831, a French sociologist, political thinker, and historian named Alexis de Tocqueville came to New York for an eight-month visit. He was particularly interested in discovering what made the United States of America unique from the nations of Europe battling through the last vestiges of aristocracy. Upon returning to France he wrote Democracy in America in 1835, originally a four volume set in French which was later translated into English. In this major work he described some of the uniqueness he observed in this young nation. He wrote, “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 did I perceive the great political consequences resulting from this state of things, to which I was unaccustomed. In France I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom pursuing courses diametrically opposed to each other; but in America I found that they were intimately united, and that they reigned in common over the same country."

I wonder what Tocqueville would write about the USA if he were writing today? Would he see the same influences “intimately united?” Perhaps he would draw different conclusions. Would he alter his observation that, "Moreover, almost all the sects of the United States are comprised within the great unity of Christianity, and Christian morality is everywhere the same. In the United States the sovereign authority is religious, and consequently hypocrisy must be common; but there is no country in the whole world in which the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America, and there can be no greater proof of its utility, and of its conformity to human nature, than that its influence is most powerfully felt over the most enlightened and free nation of the earth.” He was not blind to the hypocrisies, nor was he blind to the influences of Christianity.

In the 21st century there is a notion developing in the USA that Christianity is OK as long as it is personal and private. “Worship anyway you want,” some would say, “But keep your faith behind closed doors.” How can the Christian life, which Christ said was to be by its very nature public and pervasive, be reduced to such limitations? Christ depicts his followers as light that is to be displayed and salt that is to flavor its surroundings (Matthew 5:13-16). These are not qualities easily sequestered to the recesses of personal social conciseness only to be publically drawn upon in times of national crisis. Christianity is always to be on display in the marketplace of public opinion. Christianity always addresses both the hereafter and the here and now.

Christianity, when properly lived, is to reflect Jesus Christ in the public arenas of life. Such beliefs and behaviors may be criticized and marginalized by certain elements of society. People have had similar attitudes before when Christianity operated openly and promoted countercultural ideals. The accusations of the secular citizens of Thessalonica declared that Christians, whose faith was public and pervasive, “have turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). That may be one perspective. However, a follower of Christ may conclude they are really just turning the world right side up!

Tocqueville concluded, “The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other; and with them this conviction does not spring from that barren traditionary faith which seems to vegetate in the soul rather than to live.” Perhaps such an attitude needs to be rekindled. At the very least, attempts to silence the Christian voice and influence in secular culture should be rejected. Christians also should not cower to intimidation but lovingly reflect Jesus Christ to a culture in desperate need of light in a growing moral darkness and salt to preserve a decaying culture. Tocqueville was impressed with the “habits of the heart” of our young nation under the influence of Christianity. He saw that they would “shape the mental habits” and develop the “moral and intellectual dispositions of men.” They have; they can again.