Historical Comment

I guess it's apparent from some of my posts in the last week that I'm terribly frustrated by the growing religious intolerance that seems so apparent recently in this country (and I'm not alone: see this strong op-ed by Nicholas Kristoff in today's New York Times). People clearly forget how important the concept of tolerance, maybe especially religious tolerance, was in shaping this country and it's professed values. I think most historians would recognize that a powerful unifying factor in the era leading up to the Revolution was the religious revival known as the Great Awakening. The fervor unleashed by that movement, represented in different ways by preachers like the charismatic George Whitefield (that's him in the painting above) and the more austere Jonathan Edwards, bound the colonies together in a new way, by establishing certain common principles-- and not necessarily those represented by any particular theological doctrine. For even as the revival did have the effect of linking churches across colonial lines (and remember that many of the original thirteen colonies were established by religious groups seeking some sort of refuge), the truly momentous outcome was that the establishment of new competing congregations in established communities did not result in the kind of violent animosity that had marked the Protestant Reformation in Europe just a short time (historically speaking) before. Instead, and despite any lingering resentment or suspicion, the citizens of these towns recognized that they still had more in common than not, and choosing one place of worship over another was ultimately less critical to their collective survival and prosperity than pulling together for the good of the whole. It provided a basic lesson in unity, and it served the people well when it came time to pursue independence. One could argue that the extension of that tolerance, whether in terms of religion, race, ethnicity, sex, or age has been an ongoing project of the United States, and that each step of the country's development was marked by advances in one or another of those areas. It's true that none of that happened without a struggle, but to see some now turning their back on that legacy seems a sure sign that they've lost track of a big part of what made America great in the first place. That should be troubling to all of us.