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To the Editor:

David Gelernter’s article contains many interesting quotations, but it fails utterly to make the case for Americanism as the successor to the culture of the Puritans [“Americanism—and Its Enemies,” January]. Mr. Gelernter’s chief error is to mistake religion for religiosity.

Leaders throughout history have larded their pronouncements with references to God, destiny, and history itself. There is no comparable rhetorical device for adding gravity to a message. Lincoln did it, but so did Gladstone, Clemenceau, Napoleon III, Bismarck, both Kaiser Wilhelms, Lloyd George, Garibaldi, and others. World War I saw an explosion of religiosity on all sides, with soldiers of the Imperial German Army marching to battle wearing buttons engraved with the slogan “Gott Mit Uns.”

The difference between America and the rest of the West is that America is a latecomer to the game and is still full of the optimism and self-confidence that has been knocked out of the European nations. With an almost uninterrupted string of successes behind it, the U.S. finds it easier to believe that God is with it than do countries that have seen their God-given destinies crumble into ruin.

Puritanism has a successor that has played the decisive role in shaping America—but it is commerce, not God. As Calvin Coolidge said, “The business of America is business.” We are the world’s superpower because the spectacular success of our commercial system gives us the resources that other nations lack. The might of our economy makes the world our stage, and we play upon it because the lure of the footlights is irresistible. 

Max Davies

Celebration, Florida

 

To the Editor:

David Gelernter’s essay is a persuasive exposition of the Bible’s influence on the evolution of the American ethos, but it suffers from a number of shortcomings.

The first is a glaring absence of any substantive critique of the “anti-Americanism” Mr. Gelernter bemoans. While no reasonable or humane person would champion Islamist terrorists, there are nevertheless valid reasons why a genuine advocate of democracy and equality might be suspicious of America’s newfound missionary zeal in the Middle East. One need only think of the American or American-sponsored interventions in Iran, Southeast Asia, and Latin America that overthrew democratically-elected governments and left millions of innocent people dead. One might also cite the current Bush administration’s continued support for openly dictatorial re-gimes like Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Gelertner also does not offer a critique of the pernicious idea of “chosenness.” Chosenness has had a disastrous track record ever since the Israelites were ordered by God to purge Canaan of its indigenous people. In later times, chosenness inspired the genocide of the indigenous peoples of the Americas and produced the largest body count in human history.

Western Europeans now have a more evolved view of democracy than Americans. They have seen, correctly, that God is part of the problem—especially when humans have the conceit that they are doing His will.

Todd Wiggins

Paris, France

 

To the Editor:

By presenting the Puritans as the forerunners of Americanism, David Gelernter manages to show just why people should look askance at America. The Puritans were the sect that destroyed centuries’ worth of religious art in England during the English Civil War, that claimed that Baptists and Quakers were witches, that beat and exiled dissenters in their New-World colony, and that saw only themselves as elect and eligible to enter heaven. I would not want to see my country led astray by their demonic ideas, which are echoed today by the theocratic Right that would rid us of the Constitution.

If there is a model of Americanism, it is found in the Constitution of the United States. Though perhaps imperfect, that document is what built an America that people could admire. If we go back to it, we might reconstruct an America that, rather than boasting, would be an example from which others would gladly borrow.

Christopher Blackwell

Deming, New Mexico

 

To the Editor:

I cherish America’s common religious heritage for its capacity to foster spirituality, but Mr. Gelernter’s claim that religion has fostered freedom, equality, and democracy is simply preposterous.

Religion imposes the rule of sacredness, of the unquestionable. If you cannot question, you are anything but free. Equality is even less compatible with religion, which always favors its adherents. Finally, democracy resulted from the decline of the authority of the clergy, and one of its hallmarks is to protect civil society from religious discrimination by means of the separation of church and state.

George W. Bush’s onslaught against democratic principles is harming America’s moral leadership. The attacks of 9/11 blinded America, not us world citizens. We used to look up to America as the guarantor of democratic principles. Today we feel orphaned and betrayed.

During a visit to the U.S. this past summer, I was surprised to hear one of my American friends remark that all Europeans hated Americans. I was dumbfounded. Where on earth does this myth originate? European hatred of America’s hegemonic policies is not the same as hating Americans. Maybe the U.S. is turning out to be like Israel, whose citizens are convinced that they are chronic victims of a supposedly heinous outside world. Self-proclaimed or institutionalized victims often fail to see how arrogant and self-righteous they become, thus blocking the way to realistic solutions.

Eric Laureys

Antwerp, Belgium

 

To the Editor:

David Gelernter’s assertion that Americanism is based on religious beliefs flies in the face of the secular thought of America’s founding fathers. The Bill of Rights and the concept of separation of powers, for example, did not originate in any religious tract or in the Bible. Indeed, where in traditional, organized religion is there any suggestion that democracy is necessary for human existence? From Luther’s denunciation of the Swabian peasants to the present-day statements of many of America’s religious leaders, the Bible has been used to justify anything but a democratic society.

The fact that America was founded on a secular ideology does not denigrate the role that religion has played in American history and the influence it has had on many Americans. Franklin D. Roosevelt was profoundly influenced by his religious beliefs, and his convictions made him a great leader. But to suggest that Roosevelt’s political ideology was based on the Bible would be wrong.

Over the past several years, detailed biographies of many of the founding fathers have been published. What emerges from these books is that they relied heavily on reason and experience. Not all of their decisions proved wise—failing to outlaw slavery, for example—but they understood that it was the responsibility of free, thinking individuals to make rational choices to ensure that society functions properly and fairly. That, simply put, is the essence of secularism.

Elliot S. Isaac

Phoenix, Arizona

 

To the Editor:

David Gelernter writes that “today’s radical Islam is a religion of death, a religion that rejoices in slaughter. The radical Christianity known as Puritanism insisted on choosing life. Americanism does, too.”

What planet is Mr. Gelernter living on? The body counts in Iraq now stand at well over 100,000 Iraqis to 1,500 Americans, not to mention the tens of thousands of Afghans who lost their lives in 2001. All to bring freedom, equality, and democracy to the Middle East? I think not.

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