Hinckley Religious Truth and Necessity in Tocqueville

8/13/2019 Hinckley Religious Truth and Necessity in Tocqueville

1/15

Northeastern Political Science ssociation

Tocqueville on Religious Truth &Political NecessityAuthor(s): Cynthia J. HinckleySource: Polity, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Autumn, 1990), pp. 39-52Published by: Palgrave Macmillan JournalsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3235142.

Accessed: 10/02/2014 15:37

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at.http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Palgrave Macmillan JournalsandNortheastern Political Science Associationare collaborating with JSTOR to

digitize, preserve and extend access to Polity.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 128.59.62.83 on Mon, 10 Feb 2014 15:37:23 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=palhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/3235142?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/3235142?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=pal


2/15

Tocquevilleon ReligiousTruth& Political Necessity*CynthiaJ. HinckleyCaliforniaStateUniversity,SanBernardinoFor Tocqueville,moderndemocracyneedsreligionto combattwodangersof unbridled quality: ndividualism nd materialism.Moststudentsof Tocquevilleassume thatby religion,he meanta civil ormythicalreligionas opposedto revealedreligion.Thisarticle,however,contends that Tocquevillentended he term religion toreferto nothingless than whatwe knowas traditionalorganizedreligion.His accountof revealedreligionas commonly ound, theauthorinsists,has beenmistakenor an attemptto propagatesocialmyths.CynthiaJ. Hinckleyis AssistantProfessorof Political ScienceatCaliforniaState University,SanBernardino.A specialiston religionandpolitical thought,she haspublishedpreviously n the JournalofChurchand State.

Tocqueville's reatmentof religion n his monumentalworkDemocracyinAmericahas often beencitedas evidenceof his belief in the necessityof civilreligion.There s no doubtTocquevillebelieved hatthefutureofliberaldemocracydependedon the continuednfluenceof religion,muchas he observedduringhis visit to the UnitedStates.And there s also nodoubtthatTocquevilleappreciatedhe political utilityof religion.Thishasledmanycommentators o conclude hatTocquevillewasadvocatingsomethingless than revealedreligionfor moderntimes, becauseanyreligionunderstoodo besociallyuseful s notand cannotbemorethan aspecies of religionas opposedto genuinereligion.'The vastmajority

*The author wishes to thank Jerry Weinberger, Alan Grimes, Joseph Schlesinger, Ar-thur Melzer, Dennis Mahoney, Timothy DeWalt, and Edward Erler for their comments onvarious drafts of this article, and also the Earhart Foundation, Ann Arbor, Michigan, forsupport of the research.

1. Marvin Zetterbaum, Tocqueville and the Problem of Democracy (Stanford, CA:Stanford University Press, 1967), p. 147. Jack Lively, The Social and Political Thought ofAlexis de Tocqueville (London: Clarendon Press, 1962), p. 197.

Polity VolumeXIII,Number Fall1990Polity VolumeXXIII, Number 1 Fall 1990

This content downloaded from 128.59.62.83 on Mon, 10 Feb 2014 15:37:23 PMAll use subject toJSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/15


4/15

CynthiaJ. Hinckley 41

ing to Tocqueville, s due to the moralauthorityof Christianity.JackLivelyand MarvinZetterbaum,wo of the majorcommentatorson Tocqueville, maintain that Tocqueville's position on religion isuntenable. Part of their argument s that Tocquevilleemphasized hepoliticalutilityof religionto the pointof undermininghe possibilityofreligiousfaith. His virtualindifference o the content of religion,theyargue, is proof of his willingness o propagatemythsthat are sociallyuseful.9Both concludethatTocquevillewasmakingan appealfor anysystemof religiousbelief no matter what its nature. '0The problemfrom theirpointof viewis that the mythis an inadequate ubstitute ortruereligion.

Tocquevillewasnot, however, ndifferent o the contentof religion.Itis often forgottenthat he viewedChristianity s superior o othertypesof religion.He didnot argueor implythat modernsocietywas in needofany religion '1 r anythingpassing orreligion. '2 nstead,hewrites,I am ... firmlypersuadedhatat all costs Christianitymust be main-tained among the new democracies. '3Tocqueville finds that non-Christianfaiths are inferior to Christianity: n a letter to his cousin,Louis Kergorlay,Tocquevilleexpresseshis astonishment hat a certainacquaintanceof his could regardthe Koranas an advanceupon thegospel, whenin realitythere s no comparisonbetween hem -thereligion of Mohammed is the primarycause of the now visibledecadence of the Islamic world, 5whereasChristianity s an ad-mirablemoralsystem. '6Christianitys also an improvement ver an-cient Westernpolytheism,whichTocquevilledescribesas moreabsurdbut less decadent hanMohammedanism.'7utTocquevillereserveshisharshestcriticismfor Hinduism,the cause, in his view, of the socialstagnationof India. 8 ts repudiationof humanequality n favorof the

9. Lively, Social and Political Thought, p. 197; Zetterbaum, Problem of Democracy, p.121.10. Lively, Social and Political Thought, p. 197. See Zetterbaum, Problem ofDemocracy, p. 121.11. Zetterbaum, Problem of Democracy, p. 121.12. Ibid.13. Tocqueville, Democracy, pp. 545-46 (my emphasis).14. Alexis de Tocqueville, Memoir, Letters, and Remains of Alexis de Tocqueville, ed.Gustave de Beaumont, 2 vols. (Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1862), 1:325.15. Alexis de Tocqueville, The European Revolution and Correspondence withGobineau, ed. and trans. John Lukacs (Gloucester: Doubleday, 1959), p. 212.16. Ibid., p. 192.17. Ibid., p. 212.18. Doris Goldstein, Trialof Faith: Religion and Politics in Tocqueville's Thought (NewYork: Elsevier North Holland Publishing Co., 1975), pp. 113-17.



5/15

42 Tocqueville n ReligiousTruth

castesystemand relianceon moralpreceptshat aremostly grossabsur-dities 19ed Tocqueville o regardHinduismas a religionworth lessthan unbelief. 20Tocqueville'sadmiration or Christianitywas morethan an intellec-tualleaning owarda religion hatwassociallyuseful. Thefact that Toc-quevillewas plaguedwithreligiousdoubtthroughoutmost of his life iswell documented.2'Thishas beeninterpreted y a few scholars o meanthatTocquevillewas a religiousskeptic.22 ocqueville'sviews, however,were morecomplex hanthat. Indeed,his views areverysimilar o thoseof Pascal, whose writingshe studiedand greatlyadmired.23 or bothTocquevilleand Pascal, the deepestand purestfaith is not simplytheproductof reason or of will or a combinationof the two; it is dis-tinguished rom lesserdegreesof faith by inspiration hat comes fromGod himself.

If it were sufficientmerelyto wish in orderto believe,then for alongtimeI would have beendevout;or rather wouldalwayshavebeen, for doubthas alwaysseemedto me the most unbearableoftheevils of thisworld;I haveconstantlyudged t worsethan deathand inferioronly to illness.24Similarly,Pascalwrites:

Faith is a gift of God; do not believethat we saidit was a gift ofreasoning.Otherreligionsdo not saythis of theirfaith. Theyonlygave reasoning n order to arrive at it, and yet it does not bringthem to it.25

19. Quoted in Goldstein, Trial of Faith, p. 114.20. Ibid., p. 125.21. Alexis de Tocqueville, Oeuvres Completes, ed. J.P. Mayer (Paris: Gallimard, 1951-)15, no. 2:28-29, 314-15. For a full inquiry into Tocqueville's personal beliefs see Doris S.Goldstein, The Religious Beliefs of Alexis de Tocqueville, French Historical Studies, 1(December 1960): 379-93.22. Andr6 Jardin, Tocqueville:A Biography, trans. Lydia Davis with Robert Hemenway(New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1988), p. 384; Lively, Social and Political Thought,pp. 183-84.23. In a letter to Kergorlay, Tocqueville identifies Pascal as one of three writers he readsevery day. Tocqueville, Oeuvres Completes, 13, no. 2:418. See also Tocqueville's admiringstatements about Pascal in Democracy, p. 461.24. Tocqueville, Oeuvres Completes, 15, no. 2:29 (my translation).25. Blaise Pascal, The Thoughts of Blaise Pascal, ([Garden City, NY]: [Doubleday andCo., Inc.], n.d.), #279, p. 98.



6/15


Tocquevillewastormented hroughoutmostof his life by his belief thathe hadnot been blessedwithfaithsuch as thatpossessedby Pascal.Hefalls into the secondgroupthat Pascal describes:Thereareonlythreekindsof persons; hosewhoserveGod,havingfound Him; otherswho are occupied n seekingHim, not havingfound Him; while the remainderive without seekingHim, andwithouthavingfoundHim. The first arereasonable ndhappy,thelast are foolish and unhappy;those betweenare unhappyandreasonable.6Although t is not clearif Tocquevillewasa believingCatholic,27 e un-equivocallyacceptedas truethe essentialChristianeachings,such as theexistenceof a God, the immortalityof the soul, the sacrednessof theGospels,andtherightnessof Christian thics.28Thisis mostapparentnhiscorrespondence:ispassionatedefenseof Christianitygainst heim-plicationsof Gobineau'sviews,29 s well as lettershe wrotefollowing hedeathsof AbbeLesueur,andthenlater,his father,affirminghisbeliefinthe immortalityof the soul and the sacrosanctity f Christianity.30heanguishthat Tocquevillesuffered over his religiousbeliefswas not theanguishof a skeptic tryingto believe in God, but the anguishof abeliever deprived by his Creator of the unwaveringcertitude thatcharacterizesaith of the highestorder.

26. Pascal, Thoughts, #257, pp. 93-94. Tocqueville writes to Gobineau that he isdelighted that Gobineau is a convinced Christian for it is not a road open to everymind; many who are sincerely searching for it did not yet have the good fortune of findingit. Tocqueville, European Revolution, p. 306. Tocqueville's laments about his doubts aresimilar to St. Augustine's anguish of being a believer without the benefit of divine inspira-tion. See Saint Augustine, Confessions, trans. Vernon J. Bourke (Washington, DC: TheCatholic University of America Press, 1966), pp. 215-16, 223-25.27. For a summary of this scholarly debate see Kessler, Civil Religion, pp. 141-42, n.78.

28. Goldstein, Trial in Faith, p. 7 and Religious Beliefs, p. 392; William A. Galston,Tocqueville on Liberalism and Religion, Social Research, 54 (Autumn 1987): 505-508;Michael Hereth, Alexis de Tocqueville: Threats to Freedom in Democracy, trans. GeorgeBogardus (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1986), pp. 53-54.29. Tocqueville, European Revolution, pp. 190-213, 290-310.30. Tocqueville, Oeuvres Completes, 15, no. 2:162-63. Goldstein discusses these letters inReligious Beliefs, pp. 384-86. See also his letter to Mme. Swetchine, where he states I

firmly believe in another life, because God who is supremely just gave us this idea; and inthis other life, the recompense for good and bad, because God has permitted us [the capa-city for] distinguishing between the two and has given us the liberty to choose; but beyondthese clear notions, all that goes beyond the boundaries of this world seems to meenveloped in darkness which frightens me. In Tocqueville, Oeuvres Completes, 15, no.2:315 (my translation).



7/15


If Godhasnot givento all thegift of judging hatwhich s true,hehas, at least accorded o eachof us theability o sensethat which sgoodandhonorableandthatsufficesto serveas a guiding hread nthis darkness.3'

Tocqueville onsidershimselfa believer o the extenthe is able to believewithoutfull benefitof divinegrace.As evidencethat Tocquevillewas not concernedwith the contentofreligion,Zetterbaum itesthepassagewherehe statesthat it is betterforcitizens o believe hat theirsouls willpassintothe carcassof a hogthanbybelieving hat the soul of man is nothingatall. 32Tocqueville'spoint,however,is not that metempsychosiss just as acceptableas any otherreligiousbelief, but that a belief in the immortalityof the soul is in-dispensableo humangreatness.33 e is arguing hat belief in the soul isso important o humandignitythat, werehe forced to choosebetweenmetempsychosisndmaterialism,he wouldchoosethe former.Tocque-ville presentsthis argumentonly after denigratingmetempsychosis scertainly . . . not more reasonable than . . . materialism. 34I. The SocialUtilityof ChristianityTocqueville'spublicwritingson religion ndisputably rumpet he utilityof religionmorethan the truth of any one religion.Thosewho regardTocquevilleas an advocate of civil religion point to a perceived ncon-sistencybetweenhis approvalof the social benefits of religionand thepossibilityof truereligion.Tocqueville,however,givesevery ndicationthat truth and utilityconverge n Christianity.On the compatibilityoftruth and utility, he cites Montaigne: If I did not follow the straightroad for the sake of its straightness, should follow it havingfoundbyexperiencehat,allthingsconsidered,t is thehappiestand the mostcon-venient. 35Tocqueville'saccount of the social utility of religion inAmerica s presentedn a contextthat supports,rather handenies,thetruthfulnessof Christianity.In America, Christianitymoderates the distinguishingfeature ofmodernity,which is equalityof conditions. Equalityof conditionsmeansmorethana certaindistribution f wealth. It has more to do withhow citizens think of themselves and their potential, particularly

31. Tocqueville, Oeuvres Completes, 15, no. 2:29 (my translation).32. Zetterbaum, Problem of Democracy, p. 119.33. Tocqueville, Democracy, pp. 544-45. See Zuckert, Not by Preaching, pp. 278-79.34. Tocqueville, Democracy, p. 544.35. Ibid., p. 526.



8/15


economicpotential,relative o others; t is a psychologicalpredispositionfound wherever qualityhas takenroot.Thispredispositions to identifyoneself,not witha particular ungon the socialladder,but as one on theway up the social ladder thanksto equalityof opportunity.For Toc-queville,what characterizesAmericans n generalis not so much thedegreeof economicequalityas their firm conviction hatunder herightcircumstanceshey areequallyas likelyas anyoneelse to break nto thenext economicrung of the ladder. This understanding f equalityex-plainsfor Tocquevillewhythe poorin Americado not constitutea self-identifiedclass as such.Thepromiseof economicbetterment,moreover,givesrise to enthusiasm or commercialactivity.Accordingly,Tocque-ville describesAmericansas profoundlybusiness-minded, iercelyin-dustrious,and in constantpursuitof a better,moreprosperousife thatis ever elusive.36 orTocqueville, his commercialbustleis admirablenthat it promotespoliticalmoderationand, most importantly,economicprosperity.But it is possibleto havetoo muchof a good thing.An excessivepreoccupationwith financialgain, Tocquevillepointsout, leads to the twin threatsof individualism nd materialism. ndivid-ualism s theimpulse o withdraw rompublicaffairs in order o concen-trate morefully on one's privateeconomic affairs. Whenindividualismtakes root in the mores,citizensturnto the government or relief fromthe burdenof self-government.Theybecomeall too willingto abdicatetheirpolitical iberties o a governmenthatis alltoo willing o expand tspowersand authority.Freedom,the crowningachievementof moderndemocracy,s left to whitheraway n favorof a growingbankaccount.37Materialism,or the belief that all perisheswith the body, reduceshumanaspiration o a mad impatience for wealth. Democratsmayfindthemselves ubjectto theircraving or physicalcomforts. To beenslaved o one's desires,however, s to denyan integralpartof whatitmeansto be a humanbeingandnot an animal,whichhasto do with ris-ing above bodily concerns.A societycenteredaroundthe propositionthat there can be no purposeto life higherthan the pursuitand enjoy-mentof consumergoodsdoesviolence o anynotionof humandignity.38Voluntaryassociationsarethemostimportant heck on equality.Thedemocratic impulse to withdraw into one's personal concerns iscounteredby the experience f association,wheredemocratsearnbene-ficenceandthe artof cooperation. Feelingsand ideasarerenewed, heheartenlarged,and the understanding evelopedonly by the reciprocal

36. Ibid., pp. 455, 536-37, 552.37. Ibid., pp. 506-508. See also p. 735.38. Ibid., p. 544. See Tocqueville, Memoir, 1:304.



9/15


action of men one upon another. 39Associationscan inspirea type ofmoralaspirationand public-spiritednesshat is reminiscentof the bestaristocracy.Buta difficultyarises.Associationsaremostneeded,yetleastlikelytoform,in democraticnationswhereequalityof conditionshaseroded hebeliefthat one can and shouldattempt o havea socialimpact.Citizenscan be easily discouraged rom associatingby the realization hat theymust be largein number o haveanypower.The weaker hey feel as in-dividuals, he more futileassociations eem,and the more ikelytheyareto concludethat the governmentmust becomeproportionatelymoreskillful and active, so that societyshould do whatis no longerpossiblefor individuals. 40 y not exercising heirrightto organize,democratssinkfurther nto isolationismandcloser to tyrannyanddisgrace.Thereis, however,one type of associationthat eventhe weak and enfeebledhave incentive o join: moral associations.Democratscannoteasily ig-norethe possibility hat theyhave souls that will outlive their bodies.For a religionto imparta taste for freedomand pointthe wayto thenoble use of freedom, t mustshowproperregard orfreedom ngeneral.Not allreligionsarecompatiblewith the socialorder hatTocquevillehasin mind.ButChristianity s practicedn Americadoes provide he typeof moralclimate hatTocqueville ound so favorable o liberty.Andthatclimate is largely attributableto the settlers of MassachusettsBayColony.Tocquevillefrequently auded the happy coincidenceof Puritanismand the Americanfounding. Referringto the Puritans, Tocquevilleremarks hatthey brought o the New Worlda ChristianitywhichI canonlydescribeas democraticandrepublican. 4'ThePuritans ntroducedsuchprinciplesas the participation y the peoplein rule,the freevotingof taxes, the responsibility f politicalrepresentatives, ersonal iberty,and trialby jury.42Theseprinciples,as wellas the equality heyreflect,became so mucha partof life in America hat no subsequentChristiansect would dream or dare to repudiatethem. Most importantly,thePuritans instilleda love of freedomgrounded n religiousconviction.ThePuritansperceivedanintimateconnectionbetweenreligiousconvic-tion andthe libertyrequired or self-determination,.e., the freedom oworshipas they pleased and the opportunityto establisha politicalauthority hat would properlyacknowledge he covenant betweenGod

39. Tocqueville, Democracy, p. 515.40. Ibid.41. Ibid., p. 288. See also p. 36.42. Ibid., p. 43.



10/15


andthecommunity.43hishighregard orliberty s partof the Christianconsensus that Tocquevilleobservedin Americaand is the principalcheckon individualism.Religion eachesAmericanshat theirfreedom sa gift from God andthereforesomething o be takenseriouslyand usedwisely. In short, Christianityas practicedin America lends moralauthority o certainprinciplesof modernconstitutionalism,uch as thedivinesourceof libertyand the legitimacyof self-government.Christianityn Americaprevents he citizenryfrom sinkinginto themoraldepravityof materialism.Religionurgesthemoccasionally o prytheir attentionfrom their petty affairs and to cast a transient anddistractedglanceto heaven. For the sake of eternalsalvation,demo-crats earnto moderate heiracquisitivepassionsandto take an interestin theirneighbor'swelfare.Not onlydoesreligionmoderatematerialisticinstincts,it providesscope for disinterested irtueas well. Tocquevillenotes that Americans,although they are loathe to admit it, can findthemselves carriedaway by the disinterested,spontaneous impulsesnaturalto man. 44If democracy s to show properregardfor what ishighestin humannature,then its citizensmust be led by other-worldlyconcerns either to restrain worldly self-interestor to renounce it.Religiousfaith insuresthe compatibilityof democratic elf-governancewithhumangreatness.Tocquevilleattributesthe permanenceof Christianity n Americanmoresto thereligiousnatureof the American oundingandto the even-tualseparationof churchandstate.Tocquevilleargues hatreligioncon-tributespowerfully o politicalstability n Americabecauseit playsnodirectpartin ruleand therefore s not fatallytied to the rise anddeclineof rulingparties.45 heclergytakepride n their refusalto seekpoliticaloffice or openlyfavor candidatesandcauses.46Exceptfor a few generalprinciples, eligionconsiders hepoliticalsphere o be separateandopento humanexperimentation.47Christianityn America s, therefore,well-suited o check the vices ofmoderndemocracy.But there s anotheraspectof Tocqueville'saccountof religion n Americathat is often overlooked: he religiousconsensusthat Tocquevilledescribes s Protestantin character.Tocquevillehad

43. Ibid., p. 36.44. Ibid., p. 526.45. Ibid., pp. 295-301, 432, 445, 545-46. See also Gustave de Beaumont and Alexis deTocqueville, On the Penitentiary System in the United States and Its Application in France,trans. Francis Lieber (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press,

1964), p. 122.46. Tocqueville, Democracy, pp. 291, 296, 298-99, 448.47. Ibid., pp. 47, 296, 448.



11/15


someveryspecificthingsto say about the type of religionthat moderndemocracy equired-not only that it be a Christianreligionbut that itincorporate,or at least tolerate,some aspectsof Protestantism.This ismost apparentin his treatment of Catholicism.Accordingto Toc-queville, he successof Catholicismn America s dueto the fact thattheAmericanChurchdownplayscertain eaturesof doctrineand ritual hatrun counter o thetemperof moderndemocracy.Bymodifying he Euro-peanemphasison hagiolatry, ntoleranceof the commercial pirit,andexcessiveritual,the AmericanChurchensures ts survival n the age ofequality.48t should be noted that thesemodifications erveto minimizethedifferencebetweenCatholicism ndProtestantism.f theexampleofCatholicismn Americacan be taken for Tocqueville'sprescriptionorthe Churchn France, henthesuccessof Catholicismn modern imes sdependenton the extentto whichit resemblesProtestantismmore thantraditionalEuropeanCatholicism.49Tocqueville'spreference or one typeof Christianityuggests hat heindeedpaid close attentionto the content of religion. Tocquevilledidbelievethatreligionmustrespectcertainboundariesf it is to survive na democracy,but these boundariesdesignatethe minimum,not sumtotal, of the religionor religionsTocquevillehas in mind.According oTocqueville,all the Christiansects in Americameet these minimumrequirements. Each sectworshipsGodinits ownfashion,but allpreachthe samemorality n the nameof God. 50He hasno needto discuss hemyriaddifferencesbetween he Christian ectsbecausehe is consideringreligion roma purelyhumanpointof view. 51Tocquevilledoesnotgofurther hanrecommending religion hat is largelyProtestantbecausehis task does not requirehim to. To narrowthe list of acceptablereligionsany further would be to introduceconsiderationsother thanthoseof socialutility,suchas prophecy,which s somethingTocquevillebluntlydenies he is willingto do. This shedslighton the followingoft-citedpassage:

Though it is very importantfor man as an individualthat hisreligionshould be true,thatis not the casefor society. Societyhasnothingto fearor hope fromanother ife; whatis most important48. Ibid., pp. 445-49.49. Doris Goldstein, Alexis de Tocqueville's Concept of Citizenship, Proceedings ofthe American Philosophical Society, 108 (February 1964): 40, n. 12. For an elaboration ofthis point see Cynthia J. Hinckley, Tocqueville on Religion and Modernity: MakingCatholicism Safe for Liberal Democracy, Journal of Churchand State, 32 (Spring 1990).50. Tocqueville, Democracy, p. 290.51. Ibid., p. 445.



12/15


for it is not thatall citizensshouldprofessthetruereligionbutthatthey shouldprofessreligion.52As thispassage ndicates,believers oncern hemselves irstandforemostwithreligious ruth. The innumerable Christian ects in America, hesubjectof the paragraphn whichthe abovepassageappears,all believetheirreligionto be the truereligionand not salutarymyths. However,society has no need to determinewhich religion is true, particularlyAmericansociety, since all the sects belong to the great unity ofChristendom, and Christian morality is everywherethe same. 53Americans earn of Christian ruthsthroughparticipationn worshipatwhateverChristian church they attend.54Far from interferingwithliberty,Tocqueville s protectingfreedom of conscience. The westernworld is Christianalreadyand has nothingfurther o gain by favoringone form of Christianity verothers.Furthermore, ot onlydidTocque-villespecify Christianity s the hopeof liberaldemocracy,he did so in amanner hattook nothingawayfromChristianity s a revealed eligion.II. The Natureof ReligiousFaith in AmericaTocquevilleobserves that the basis for religion in Americais self-interestproperlyunderstood, which in general s the belief that self-denial can be in one's interest.Applied to religiousmatters, self-interestproperlyunderstoodcombines he fundamentalact of modern-ity with the fundamentalfact of human mortality:eternal life is ineveryone's nterest.The promiseof rewards n the next worldprovidesimpetusfor restraintn thisworld.Accordingly,Tocquevilleobserves nthereligiousdevotionof Americans something o quiet,so methodical,so calculatedhatit wouldseem that the head rather han the heart eadsthemto the foot of the altar. 55mericansalso know how importantreligion s to life on earth.Tocqueville eportsa generalawareness f thenecessity of religion to ensure political stability and civil liberty.56Americans know that religion serves their interests here and in theafterlife.An importantassumptionbehindthe myththesisis that the principleof self-interestproperly understood, as Tocqueville observed it in

52. Ibid., p. 290.53. Ibid., p. 291.54. Ibid., p. 542. See Tocqueville, Memoir, 1:293-94.55. Tocqueville, Democracy, pp. 529-30.56. See ibid., pp. 292-94, 542.



13/15


America,is a species of religionas opposed to genuine religion.57Genuinereligion,so the argument oes, transcends nyconsideration fself-interest.58 mericansdo not havegenuinefaithbecauseof the self-interestedcalculationsthat fuel their belief. This argumentconcludesthat Tocqueville must have observed and advocated spiritualisticmyths nsteadof authentic eligion incethe lattershapessocietyfromareferencepoint beyondself-interest.59This view is only partiallycorrectand consequentlyverymisleading.Americansas a peoplearenot capableof genuinebelief. But Americansareno less capableof genuinebelief thananyotherpeople. It takestherare intellect of a Pascal or a Montaigne o soundthe depthsof divinetruthsandthus to appreciatehemsolelyfor whattheyare. Suchknowl-edgeof the divinecomesat a high priceevento greatminds.Pascal,forinstance,renouncedeveryconsideration f self-interest to rallyall thepowersof his mindto discover he mosthiddensecretsof the Creator. 60Theamountof efforthe had to expendwas so extraordinaryhat it woreout hisbody;he died of old agebeforehe wasforty.6'Onlytheveryfewarecapableof genuinebelief. The rest of humanityhas no choicebut toacceptreligiousdogmaon faith, summoningas much belief as one canfor that which one can neverknow.

Unable to partakeof the highestform of religion,the greaterpartofhumanityurnsto organized eligion or spiritualdirection.Theycannotsolvethe riddleof humandestinyalone,buttheycannotescape heirfearof mortality.62his is whyTocquevilledefinesreligionas oneparticularform of hope. . . (that is) as natural to the human heart as hopeitself. 63Most Americans, ike most people, hope to find immortalitythroughorganizedreligion.It is important o note that for Tocqueville,the foundersof almost all religionshave used very much the samelanguage, which is the logic of self-interestproperlyunderstood.64HenceI do not think that interest s the only drivingforcebehindmen of religion.ButI do think that interest s the chiefmeansused

57. Zetterbaum, Problem of Democracy, p. 111; Lively, Social and Political Thought, p.197.58. Zetterbaum, Problem of Democracy, p. 123; Lively, Social and Political Thought, p.197.59. Zetterbaum, Problem of Democracy, p. 123.60. Tocqueville, Democracy, p. 461.61. Ibid.62. Ibid., pp. 296, 443.63. Ibid., pp. 296-97.64. Ibid., p. 528 (my emphasis). See also Tocqueville, European Revolution, pp.205-206.



14/15


byreligions hemselves o guidemen,andI have no doubt that thatis how theywork on the crowdand becomepopular.65Thisnecessarilymplies hat most believers re drawn o theirfaithbytheprospectof rewards n the next world. Thereligionof the Americans snot a salutarymythor a civilreligion,butreligion or themany,which sorganizedreligionas we knowit andthat for Tocqueville s a speciesofgenuinereligion,or religionfor the few.Tocqueville'sview that organizedreligionsare a reflection of thehighestsort of religion s borne out in an exchange hat took placebe-tweenTocquevilleand Kergorlayn 1837:Writing o Tocqueville romBerlin,Kergorlay eportshis impatiencewith the etiquette hat governspolitesociety.In particular,he scoffs at theexpectationhat womenap-pear unperturbed y any emotion,no matterhow justifiablea show ofemotionmay be, and that they use vague languagewhen referring otheirbodies, such as complainingof a neck thathurtsinsteadof a sorethroat,and usingthe term expecting whenreferring o a pregnancy.He asksTocquevillef he has foundthe samething amongAmericanandEnglishwomen.66Tocquevillerepliesthat he has observed the sameprudery ndaffectation whichKergorlayinds so justlydisgust(ing).He goeson to defend suchrulesof etiquetteas useful for promotingvir-tue: at last I thoughtthat all that externalandconventionalparadeofproprietywas, perhaps, o femalevirtue,whatan establishedworship sto religion-a formwhichpowerfulminds,whether or good or forevil,breakthrough,but whichservesas a protectingbarrier o the weak andordinary. 67Organizedreligion is a form; somethingto be distinguished romgenuine religion. Tocquevillethinks forms are useful in a way thatKergorlay annotappreciate.The weak andordinary cannotcome toreligiousconviction on their own. They need to rely on the spiritualdirectionprovidedby an organizedreligion.Justas women who lackinfemininevirtue can imitate the trulyvirtuousby relyingon social stan-dardsof propriety, o cantheaverageworshipper ttainsome semblanceof genuinereligionthroughan organizedreligion. Kergorlay hows thesameimpatiencewith formsthatTocquevilledescribesn Democracyasconcomitant with a belief in equality: To say that a woman isexpecting rather than pregnant s for Kergorlay o be needlesslyabstract and ambiguous about an incontrovertiblefact of female

65. Tocqueville, Democracy, p. 529.66. Tocqueville, Oeuvres Completes, 13, no. 1:439-40.67. Tocqueville, Memoir, 1:316-17.



15/15


biology.Like moderndemocrats,Kergorlay egards uch abstraction schildishartifices used to hide or dress up truthswhich could morenaturallybe shownto them nakedand in broaddaylight. 68Tocqueville's eferences o religionfor the manyandthe few arenotlimitedto hiscorrespondence.Themostnotablepassageon thispointinDemocracycan be found in one of his chapterson religion:

Among the sciencessome that are useful to the crowd are alsowithin tscapacities; therscanbemastered nlybythe fewandarenot cultivatedby the majority,who need nothing beyond theirmore remoteapplications.But the sciences in question(religion)are essentialto the daily life of all, thoughtheir studyis out ofreachof most.69Genuine belief is not possible for the many. This does not mean,however, hatsincethemanycannotbegenuinebelieversheynecessarilyare believers n mythsin the formof organizedreligions. Tocqueville'scomment that Most religionsare only general,simple, and practicalmeans of teachingmenthat the soul is immortal 70s not a declarationthatmostreligionsarephony.Instead, t pointsto thefact thatorganizedreligionsare eternaltruths renderedntelligible o the crowd. For Toc-queville, heessential ruthsareChristianruthsandthevarioussects arevariousmeansof relating hosetruths.Organized eligionmaynot be thehighestformof religion,but unlikegenuinereligion, t links themanytothe divine. Scholars have mistaken the distinctionbetween genuinereligion and organizedreligion for a distinctionbetween organizedreligionand civil (mythical)religion. Tocquevillenever thought thatbelief in the social utility of religion could substitutefor faith. Hismessageis that liberaldemocracyneeds religion,that is, citizenswhobelieve to the extentthey arecapableof belief.

68. Tocqueville, Democracy, p. 447. For a contemporary statement of the democraticdislike of forms see Harvey Mansfield, Jr., The Forms and Formalities of Liberty, ThePublic Interest, 70 (Winter 1983): 121-31.69. Tocqueville, Democracy, p. 443.70. Ibid., p. 544.

Date post:	04-Jun-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	karen-benezra
View:	218 times
Download:	0 times

Hinckley Religious Truth and Necessity in Tocqueville

Documents