Hartog: U.S. still wrestling with religion, government

The impact of religious attitudes on American political discourse was the topic of Southeast Missouri State University's annual Crader Lecture on Thursday at Glenn Auditorium in Dempster Hall. Guest presenter Jonathan Den Hartog used historical writings from members of the early political party the Federalists to illustrate how, in some ways, American society is still wrestling with how best to create the most functional society possible.

The Federalists, Den Hartog said, believed Christian scripture to be an indispensable complement to the Constitution.

"You need a certain type of citizen to live under that constitution," he said. "Freedom is the outcome of a certain lifestyle, not a precondition for it."

Den Hartog, who serves as chair of the history department at the University of Northwestern St. Paul, said many of the conflicts faced by the Founding Fathers in the 1790s could just as easily describe contemporary issues.

There was, for example, the then-Governor of New York John Jay, who sought to advance religious attitudes through proclamations reminding citizens their actions had consequences. There was also Timothy Dwight, then-president of Yale College, who saw Christians as the most capable defenders of the fledgeling republic.

And of course, Den Hartog said, there was Alexander Hamilton, brought low by a sex scandal, who turned to grassroots organizing to spur citizens into productive activity.

All three men would recognize our current climate, Den Hartog said, and their rhetorical prescriptions remain useful more than 200 years later.

"Citizenship is to be active," he said, urging attendees to vote in next month's elections. He also urged them to embrace the messiness of political discourse. In many ways, he said, the Constitution and political parties serve to to "institutionalize argument," meaning vigorous and even heated debate often means things are working as intended.

But he warned the audience not to become consumed by the debate. Internet-imposed "bubbles" which have become "weaponized against one another" have become counterproductive, he said, and instead urged citizens to pour their energies into voluntary groups, as the Federalist figures endorsed, to "multiply influence... [and] encourage cooperation."

Whether the Boy Scouts of America or the local Rotary chapter, Den Hartog said such organizations are "healthy, valuable and not to be interfered with or regulated."

But above all, he said, try not to get carried away by the partisanship of our times.

"Nurture things beyond politics," he said. "In the long run, that will prove a far more enduring work."

tgraef@semissourian.com

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