What Should Christians Think About Democracy?

October 18, 2011 by John Fea

Continued from Page 1

But democracy also leads men and women to see themselves as isolated individuals who feel, to quote Tocqueville again, that they "owe nothing to man and expect nothing from any man." Democracy always has the potential of producing people who "acquire the habit of always considering themselves as standing alone."

While democracy celebrates the personhood and the dignity of individuals, it fails to create human beings who see themselves as something larger than themselves. Democratic individuals forget the past because the wisdom of the ages has little to teach them.

In the end, democracy alone cannot provide answers to life's deepest moral questions. Yet it remains the best form of government we have to offer in a flawed and sinful world. Let's celebrate our democratic freedoms, but do so with a certain degree of caution and prudence.

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10/18/2011 4:00:00 AM

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About John Fea

John Fea chairs the History Department at Messiah College in Grantham, PA, and is the author of Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? A Historical Introduction (Westminster John Knox Press, 2011). He blogs daily at philipvickersfithian.com.

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