When you’re at Chautauqua, it’s hard not to think about the role that religion has played in the evolution of America’s political culture. First, let me tell you what we mean by “political culture.” According to the online Encyclopedia Brittanica, it means
a set of shared views and normative judgments held by a population regarding its political system. The notion of political culture does not refer to attitudes toward specific actors, such as a president or prime minister, but rather denotes how people view the political system as a whole and their belief in its legitimacy. American political scientist Lucian Pye defined political culture as the composite of basic values, feelings, and knowledge that underlie the political process. Hence, the building blocks of political culture are the beliefs, opinions, and emotions of the citizens toward their form of government.
Now let’s dive into this history a bit.
American history is replete with references to the importance of religion in the establishment and expansion of England’s foothold on the North American continent. From the Pilgrims and Puritans of colonial Massachusetts, to the Quakers of Pennsylvania, to the Huguenots fleeing persecution in France, the colonies (and later the states) served as a refuge for people escaping the religious oppression they encountered in Europe.
When the colonists settled in communities on this side of the Atlantic – either in the early colonies in the 17th century through the expansion into other territory – they brought their religious beliefs with them. Sometimes the oppressed in the old country became the new oppressors; often settlers sought out like-minded people to live near and form communities; always, new settlers to a less developed area built a church as one of the first public buildings in their new community. Even when their identity as members of a particular congregation faded as they removed themselves geographically from their homes, they worked to establish new identities where they found themselves. These churches provided social grounding as much as they provided spiritual connections; they served as schools, meeting halls, courthouses, sites of “literary societies,” and much more.
The history of religion in America also features a series of waves of religious “enthusiasm” – a term used to identify a vocal, boisterous style of worship that focused more on the church members than on the clergy.
The First Great Awakening occurred in the 1730s. As life got just a little bit easier in the colonies, religious fervor waned. Reliance on Divine Providence was replaced by the development of commerce and communities were no longer as isolated as they had been a century earlier. The settlers didn’t need to seek the solace of religion to keep them going. In addition, the Enlightenment was beginning to influence thought in Europe. The Enlightenment focus on rationality, logic, order, science, and individual power chewed away at the power of the church to tell people how to act and how to understand their lives.
A new breed of clergy arose. Staunchly Protestant, they facilitated the spread of Protestantism and the attendant focus on individual grace and atonement rather than authoritarian doctrine enunciated from a central authority. Powerful speakers and theologians like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield spread this new Gospel across the colonies. They preached in the fields and homes rather than in churches. In today’s language, they found the people where they were. Some of them identified as Deists – a belief in a Deity that created the universe but then left its inhabitants to make decisions about how they would live within that creation. This is the type of religious thinking that permeated the 1775 Continental Congress and the 1787 Constitutional Convention. It fit right in with the ideas of liberty, equality, justice, and democracy that were on everyone’s minds and lips.
The First Great Awakening waned in significance by 1800. The years went on and the economic and social necessities of everyday life assumed greater importance. However, on the expanding frontier (really, anyplace west of the Appalachian mountain range) pioneers began to engage in a new brand of religious expression. What has come to be called the Second Great Awakening was identifiable by the early years of the 19th century. Characterized by the revivals and emotional preaching, this type of belief appealed to people who had left behind everything familiar – including their churches – to venture into the unknown. Revivals, tent meetings, and circuit-riding preachers allowed them to experience some of the connection they had known back home.
The spirit of religious enthusiasm and excitement so permeated western New York by the 1820s that Charles Grandison Finnegan wrote that this region has been “burnt up” by the fire of religious revival; this area came to be known as the “Burnt Over District.” This is where Joseph Smith experienced his revelations that led him to write The Book of Mormon and to found the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1830.
This Great Awakening spurred social reform movements in a way that the earlier Awakening had not. This movement was characterized by the philosophy of “post-millennialism” – a belief that Christ will return to earth after the "Millennium", which could entail either a literal 1,000 years or a figurative "long period" of peace and happiness. Christians thus had a duty to purify society in preparation for that return. Historians agree that this movement led to the creation of a variety of reform movements in the 18th century, including women's suffrage, limits on child labor, abolition, temperance, and prison reform. This movement spread and expanded through the century, with another spike toward the end of the century that some have called the Third Great Awakening, although that term is not as widely used.
The United States has been experiencing what could be called a New Great Awakening since the 1960s, as a new style of Christianity has evolved. Widely identified as “Evangelical,” this movement was characterized by a return to supposed “Biblical” practices such as speaking in tongues, experiencing (or longing for) “Rapture,” and gradual separation from general society. Over time, this movement became identified as a major base of support for the Republican Party. Appeals to members began to be framed in political terms – and specifically in terms of supporting GOP policies and politicians.
It's easy to think that this movement might just be a reiteration of the previous movements, but there is a fundamental difference. Whereas the spirit of the earlier Awakenings can be characterized as broadly inclusive and reformist – bringing more people into the church, welcoming different denominations, and focusing on improving the society outside of the church – the spirit of this New Awakening can be characterized as exclusive and restrictive. It is an inward-looking set of beliefs that focuses on personal revelation and perfection rather than on the larger society. Rather than welcoming differences in appearance, belief, or religious practices, this new type of Christianity insists that people meet them where the church already is. There is no room for different ideas.
In a recent episode of her podcast Green Room, Jenn Rubin (columnist for the Washington Post), interviewed a guest who labeled this new belief system White Christian Nationalism. This refers, essentially, to a broad effort to resist any change that would mean that White Christians would not longer have a more-or-less exclusive hold on the major political, economic, and social institutions of the country. These believers think that the very existence of Western Civilization is threatened and that Christians are being persecuted. For more detail on this, you can listen to the podcast or read the book written by her guest: The End of White Christian Nationalism (Robert P. Jones)
The Chautauqua Institution (where I’ve spent the last week) was a product of the Second Great Awakening in 1874. This was initially intended to be a place where Methodist Sunday School teachers could go in the summer to be refreshed and educated before they plunged back into their work. This has expanded over the years to include lectures from the best minds and most important thinkers in America. The imprint of its religious roots is inescapable in Chautauqua; but the mentality of the leadership (as well as of the people who come here in the summer) exists in absolute resistance to all that is evidenced in White Christian Nationalism.
The theme for this week is “The State of Believing,” which broadly includes an assessment of what it means to believe in anything – religion, to be sure, but also belief in science, progress, political and social institutions, the media, and so on. Almost every speaker we have heard from made reference to the poison of this most recent “Awakening,” and has suggested ways to combat it. It has been refreshing to exist – at least for a week – when the problems the world faces are discussed in a way that is overwhelmingly sane.
That should not be so unusual.
Great overview…and I look forward to listening to Robert P Jones on Jen Rubin’s podcast.
Thanks!
You’re right. Sane discussions should not be unusual. I’m interested in learning what suggestions were offered to combat the poison. Safe travels home, Karen.