Every July 4 in The Outpost, I reprint an excerpt from Alexis de Tocqueville. Partly I do it out of cowardice, because a dead Frenchman can get away with saying things that I couldn't. Partly it's out of a desire to educate, because "Democracy in America" is one of those books that we all think we should read but few of us do. Mostly it's because looking up a passage every year is so much fun.
I'm particularly fond of this year's selection. De Tocqueville's argument was a familiar one at the time: Separating church and state strengthens the church. It's similar to the argument my fundamentalist church made 50 years ago when members objected to adding "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance. Turning religion into a civics lesson demeans religion. When government tries to annex God, government becomes oppressive and God becomes ridiculous.
Somewhere, this nation seems to have lost the thread of that argument. All the more reason to have de Tocqueville remind us of it.
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de Tocqueville had such profound insight for a twenty-five year old kid in 1831. Readers may find his journals from the America trip easier going than "Democracy in America." Translated by George Lawrence, they were published as "Journey to America." I'm glad to see him quoted on the Fourth.
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