American Gospel by Jon Meacham (Review)
This book is the fourth I’ve read by Jon Meacham, and I have enjoyed his work immensely (Art of Power remains my favorite). The previous three books have all been biographies, and American Gospel is a different approach to history—more of a survey course on the interplay of religion and the American presidency.
Before digging into the book, it is important to consider the distinction Meacham makes between public religion and private religion. For the former, Mecham refers to Benajamin Franklin, who saw religion and morality as “indispensable supports for society.” Meacham also fleshes out the Founders’ expectation of a creator who is part of public life without prescribing a particular type of worship: “In churches, and in homes, anyone could believe and practice what he wished.” Public religion looks at the way religious ideas shape the public sector, which Meacham handles with aplomb.
An important and related theme that runs through the books is this observation by Meacham: “Extremism is a powerful alliance between fear and certitude; complexity, and humility are its natural foes.“ When looking across the scope of American history, it is easy to see the tension that emerges between these ideas, and Meacham maintains that the United States is at its best when the country practices humility, particularly in relation to religion.
The intersection of politics and religion is a subject I have thought about and studied perhaps more than any other, so American Gospel is in my wheelhouse of interest. It is an easy read yet with thought-provoking ideas, and I recommend anyone who wants a greater interest in a snapshot of why public religion looks today like it does. And it is easy to conclude that the tug of war between certitude and humility remains at play throughout the country.
Here are some of the excerpts and points I found interesting in American Gospel:
“One early voice arguing to free faith from the power of government in Winthrop's world was Roger Williams, a minister who had followed Winthrop to Massachusetts Bay. Williams was mostly interested in saving the church from the state, not the state from the church. The world was the world; the kingdom of God was something else entirely. "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's," Jesus said, "and to God the things that are God's." Williams called for a "hedge or wall of separation between the Garden of the church and the wilderness of the world." Note that Williams was not planting a hedge or building a wall to protect the state, but rather religion, believing that the ambitions and vices of men could pervert the church, turning faith into a means of temporal power.” Further, Williams saw issues with the corruption of religion based on his study of Constantine’s reign after conversion the fourth century. Another example was the effect of King Henry VIII after he broke with Rome—religious chaos followed.
In response to Patrick Henry’s effort make the United States more of a theocracy (at least in Virginia), James Madison offered the following observation on blending religious and civil power: "What have been its [intermixing] fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution." Madison and Jefferson carried the day to keep religious freedom of choice as the prevailing law.
One of the early arguments that worked as the United States worked through early tensions between religion in a secular government was which sect would be the decision-maker? It didn’t take much imagination for people to imagine themselves in the minority position and thus leaving protections in place for all carried the day.
John Tyler’s quote on religion is interesting given that he wrote it in 1843: “The United States have adventured upon a great and noble experiment, which is believed to have been hazarded in the absence of all previous precedent—that of total separation of church and state. No religious establishment by law exists among us. The conscience is left free from all restraint and each is permitted to worship his Maker after his own judgment…The Mohammedan, if he were to come among us, would have the privilege guaranteed to him by the constitution to worship according to the Koran; and the East Indian might erect a shrine to Brahma if it so pleased him. Such is the spirit of toleration inculcated by our political institutions." While a generation after our nation’s founding, the idea captures how unique the United States was and is.
Meacham offered an unexpected story of Teddy Roosevelt attempting to remove “In God We Trust” from American currency. He thought the motto was appropriate for statues and monuments, but he thought it nearly sacrilege and trite to put it on currency. Roosevelt did not think the sentiment should be cheapened so rudely.
One observation that grows clearer when studying the presidency is the dichotomy between a person’s best and worst characteristics. It is easy to glom onto a president’s traits or moments that reflect virtue or vice. Yet it is incomplete to look only at a person in those moments. It’s important to instead look at the totality of the person. Meacham contrasted FDR’s moments of debate with his cabinet where his first words were biased and ugly before giving way to tolerance, forbearance, and sound leadership amid the tumult of WWII.
Meacham summarized G. K. Chesterton’s defense of democracy as follows: “Freedom is like oxygen to religion. Without liberty for all, some one sect or creed might crush all the others, and history tells us that no earthly victory is ever final-so he who crushes may one day be crushed. Religious liberty frees a society from the threat of such strife.”
During MLK’s funeral, former Morehouse president, Benjamin Mays, gave the following eulogy: “Moses leading a rebellious people to the promised land; Jesus dying on the cross; Galileo on his knees recanting at 70; Lincoln dying of an assassin’s bullet; Woodrow Wilson crusading for a League of Nations; Martin Luther King, Junior, fighting for justice for garbage collectors—none of these men were ahead of their time. With them, the time is always right to do that which is right and that which needs to be done.”
This quote by Jefferson is immensely interesting for someone so known for his intellect. What I find most striking is the degree of humility embedded in the idea: “Our particular principles of religion are a subject of accountability to our God alone. I inquire after no man’s, and trouble none with mine; nor is it given to us in this life, to know whether yours or mine, our friend’s, or our foe’s, are exactly the right.”
In an era of great certitude, it is comforting to see how powerful humility can be—particularly when demonstrated by leaders. Given the complexity of both politics and religion, it seems that more humility is what we need. At the end of his life, Madison noted his concern over “the danger of a direct mixture of religion and civil government.” Meacham summarized Madison and the Founders’ solution as a mixture of history and reason to defeat the danger of directly mixing religion and government. It was Madison’s path to allow both religion and government to serve a proper role in the success of America.
"American Gospel" emerges as a guiding light in navigating the intricate roles and balance of these complicated concepts. Meacham's wonderful readability and skill in storytelling makes history incredibly compelling. While I generally lean toward biographies, picking up a survey book was certainly worthwhile. Its value lies not only in its insights but also in the important subject it addresses. For those seeking a subject worth reflecting on, American Gospel is a book well worth your time.
