Source: Law & Liberty
by Ben Peterson
“Even before 1776, American liberty and equality were expressed in church and civil covenants and compacts, like the 1620 Mayflower Compact. Alexis de Tocqueville makes much of such covenants and compacts in Democracy in America, arguing that religion lies at the core of American character and sustains the American experiment in democracy. Christianity, in his view, is especially well-suited to supporting liberty, equality, and self-government, as it naturally rules over hearts and minds without relying on state support. Uncontested in the intellectual and moral realm, Christianity lifts the democratic soul upward, beyond the petty material concerns that tend to consume men’s minds in democratic ages. At the same time, Tocqueville argues that Christianity must accommodate itself to democratic equality, especially the love of material wellbeing and distaste for forms it engenders.” (04/20/26)