“Useful” religion

By Ken Burrows

By his numerous statements on the subject, we know Thomas Jefferson believed government and religion function best when they are kept separate. He was often accused of being anti-religion for his separationist views, though he frequently made respectful references to God. Nonetheless another Founder, Alexander Hamilton, often loudly assailed Jefferson for being godless. Hamilton did this to win political points against his long-time rival, setting himself up as the more godly candidate at a time when the religion-government relationship was in deep debate.

But what really lay behind Hamilton’s public religiosity? Was it pious personal faith or something else? While in college, Hamilton reportedly was very devout, attending public worship and praying daily. However, when he later became a lawyer and got involved in politics, his devoutness waned. In a 1784 letter he even criticized religion, writing that it, like politics, harbored “pernicious bigotry.”

Despite his apparent distaste for this bigotry, Hamilton saw opportunity in wedding religion to politics. In another of his letters, he stated it would be “politically useful” to promote religious ideas to make people believe they are defenders of their country against atheism. In yet other letters he noted that politicians should consider endorsing religion as “an important means of influencing opinion,” and from a strictly political standpoint, it is “expedient…to make the most of the religious prepossessions of our people.”

In 1802 Hamilton attempted to create a “Christian Constitutional Society” that he believed would also be politically useful. In outlining this plan, he wrote that desirable results in politics won’t happen by relying on people’s reasoning because people are governed “by the impulse of passion,” religious beliefs being a key one. And so, he went on, the objectives of the Society should be 1) support of the Christian religion and 2) support of the Constitution (in that order.) His idea basically went nowhere.

Hamilton’s political religiosity outpaced his personal religious fervor for most of his public life. At the time of his death, he reportedly had not attended church since his college days. He was initially denied the deathbed communion he requested due to his not being a regular churchgoer. His “religion” had been largely limited to whatever political usefulness it could provide. Author/essayist Brooke Allen, who has studied and written about our Founders, once described Hamilton as a pioneer in “the practice of playing upon the citizenry’s religious sentiments and prejudices in the interest of partisan politics.”

In 2019 America, it’s all too clear this practice is once again being put to expedient political use. Politicians in growing numbers are demanding religious messaging in schools. More than ever, they’re pushing “religious freedom” exemptions to allow discriminating against LGBTQ citizens and limiting women’s healthcare options. They’re offering religious operatives with well-known political agendas wider, preferential access to government’s decision makers. In many cases they’re openly favoring popular majority faiths (usually Christianity) while denigrating “wrong” religions. Such actions follow Hamilton’s dictate to “make the most of the religious prepossessions” of the citizenry.

It’s a proven age-old tactic. Older than even the days of Hamilton. As far back as the first century, the Roman statesman Seneca observed: “Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as foolish, and by the rulers as useful.” The final third of that insight remains particularly alive and well today.

Published March 6, 2019 in the Colorado Springs Independent with the quotation below.

“I hate abortions, but just could not make that choice for someone else.” Barbara Bush