Who here has read Tocqueville?
“Indeed, as Tocqueville was soon to observe, religion in America gained in authority precisely because of its separation from governmental power.”
Source: Empire of Liberty by Gordon S. Wood.
Later in the same volume: Being called by polite society “the scum of the earth, the filth of creation,” the evangelicals made their fellowship, their conversion experiences, and their peculiar folk rites their badges of respectability. … To the horror of their unlearned itinerant preachers, some of them began proposing the establishment of seminaries to train their ministers.
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Tocq (he let me call him that) did, indeed, think that religion contained the idea of freedom within a state of nature (Hobbs). It gave men ethics and boundaries so created a sense of community. He was a very deep thinking tourist but he didn't know about many things to come from religious zealots so his theory is finally starting to break down. The idea of Missions, or Schools, probably hadn't occured to Tocq and have been a major recruitment tool. Prosperity Gospel Churches are emulating the idea as Charter Schools. We live in interesting times (over and over and over again).
rainmanjr
Level 8
July 30, 2022
0
Tocqueville should show up nowadays and admit his mistake.
AnneWimsey
Level 9
July 30, 2022
2
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