Alexis de Tocqueville (1805 – 1859) was a French diplomat, political scientist and historian. He was best known for his works Democracy in America (appearing in two volumes, 1835 and 1840) and The Old Regime and the Revolution (1856). In both, he analyzed the improved living standards and social conditions of individuals as well as their relationship to the market and state in Western societies. Democracy in America was published after Tocqueville’s travels in the United States and is today considered an early work of sociology and political science.
As French author Alexis de Tocqueville wrote of America in the 1830’s in his famous treatise Democracy in America: “there is no country on Earth in which the Christian religion retains greater sway over men’s souls than in America.” Flowing from the Christian character of America, de Tocqueville also observed the unique proclivity of Americans to come together in voluntary organizations dedicated to the community. The voluntary organizations he described were new Churches, youth clubs, Charitable organization, volunteer firemen, the list goes on and on. Americans just naturally came together in this way through a shared Christian worldview. The national Christian character was both in personal faith in Christ, as well as corporate Christian Charity. With the many societal problems we have witnessed in the past decades: the continuing breakdown of marriage and family, the continuing opioid crisis and the youth drug epidemic, the rising numbers of mental health issues (depression, suicide). The only true hope for national redemption is in a return to our Christian roots, both personally and nationally.
First, I offer the following example of individual redemption in a letter written to Evangelical Pastor Larry Huch (from “Free at Last,” by Larry Huch):
“Dear Pastor, I spent my teenage years in foster homes. I was lost and bitter, and for me, drugs and alcohol were the ‘good life’ I didn’t have. Most of my adult life I was a late-stage alcoholic and drug abuser. Due to fear and addictions, I was unable to work and lived on welfare for many years. … I lived in vileness, poverty, sickness and sin. My life was utter despair and depravity. … One night I was listening to a Christian album and I surrendered my life to Jesus. My life has been radically changed since that time. I have been sober for 15 years due to the precious mercy and grace of my Savior. … In 1993 I graduated from Portland State University with high honors and was accepted to medical school. I am on the dean’s list at my medical school and was nominated for Who’s Who Among Students. All to the glory of God.”
I have a similar personal anecdote. During my combat deployment to Afghanistan, I met an Afghan Christian who followed a similar journey through the power of faith. He had left that country with the invasion of the Soviet Union and, through a circuitous route, ended in Los Angeles. While there, he became involved with gangs and drugs and eventually hit rock bottom.
Through the power of coming to Christ while in America, this man rose from the ashes through personal redemption. He went back to school and returned to Afghanistan to help his family by making money as an interpreter. When I met him, he had completely turned his life around and become the opposite of what his life had been before coming to Christ. Because he had converted from Islam, he was persecuted by many when I knew him. Even his family and former friends treated him horribly and even threatened his life. He eventually became a missionary to another neighboring country, yet looks forward to coming back to America where he came to his Christian faith. This man would have ended as a statistic in a Los Angeles prison, and yet became such a shining light.
“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers – and it was not there . . . in her fertile fields and boundless forests and it was not there . . . in her rich mines and her vast world commerce – and it was not there . . . in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution – and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.” ― Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
I quote that letter to Pastor Huch and provide the story of my Afghan friend as just two examples of the power of personal redemption. These two now seek to help others find a similar path. The renewal for our nation will work from the bottom up, with individual redemption and then a movement back to the Christianity of years past. The individual and corporate Christian faith of Americans coming together in private Charity, as in previous times, is part of the foundation of American exceptionalism and strength.
We must find ways to reach out to help bring individual redemption. Organizations such as Child Evangelism Fellowship, Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and Young Life are just a few ways to reach out to our youth beyond Church groups. The fight to bring Christian influence will be a tough one, as so many forces in modern America oppose these efforts. We can see the passionate opposition to Christian affiliated groups and businesses like Chick-fil-a, or organizations like Christian Legal Society. We even see nefarious groups trying to force Christian groups like Young Life from various campuses. Bringing Christian influence to the public arena will not be easy and will require the support of Churches in unabashedly taking the light of Christ to the public square.
We must be concerned for the future of our children and grandchildren when we think of how far we have drifted away from the Christian character of the nation described by de Tocqueville. In the foundation of public education in America in 1787 (Northwest Ordinance), America proclaimed the purpose of teaching our youth: Religion, Morality, and Knowledge. Our founders purposely put religion and morality in front of knowledge. We must have hope to a return to those purposes.
By the early 1960s the courts and government removed Bible reading and school prayer from our schools. Since that time, secularism has further driven Christianity from our children to horrendous results in family breakdown, crime, and so many other social ills. Our hope must remain, that with the power of faith in Jesus Christ and the redemption that accompanies comes from that faith our nation can repent and redeem itself. It is not too late if we keep our truest hope.
Bill Connor, is an Orangeburg attorney, Army Infantry Colonel and author of the book “Articles from War.”
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