BY Ken Blue
Some Christians would have you believe that it matters not how you vote. They assume that good preaching and good living will solve the problems in the political arena. I contend that the only way to solve the problem, politically, is to have leaders who are men and women of principle, with Bible convictions. This might be accomplished through much prayer and wise voting.
Those who think the church is the key have justified that attitude by attributing the following quote to a Frenchman who visited America, and supposedly saw the greatness in the churches.
Alexis de Tocqueville is supposed to have said, “I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers — and it was not there … in her fertile fields and boundless forests — and it was not there … in her rich mines and her vast world commerce — and it was not there … in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution — and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
This has been repeated by politicians, seeking the votes of Christians; and by religious leaders to impress you with the importance of their ministry. I have searched for proof that Tocqueville made such a statement. If anyone can give the exact location (book and page number) of that statement by Tocqueville, I would love to have it. We wouldn’t want to misquote anyone; would we?
There is no excuse for Christians to live ungodly. However, neither is there any excuse for not using your freedom and common sense to better your country, if possible. So, live right and vote!
Pastor Ken Blue was born in Boswell, Ark. In 1955 he accepted Christ as his Savior. He and his wife Joyce were married in 1955. They have 5 children. He graduated from Midwestern Baptist Bible College in 1969 and started the Open Door Baptist Church in Lynnwood, Wa. where he pastored for 39 years. Because of health issues (ALS) he was forced to resign as pastor. It is his desire to continue to be used of God to help pastors and believers through this ministry.
Pastor Blue, I went through the major works of Tocqueville in order to give you the exact location of that quote as you have requested and could not find it anywhere. After some research, it became apparent that this is a misattributed quote t him, and, due to its frequent repetition in political arenas, it has now become an “old adage”. (See the link – http://www.tocqueville.org/pitney.htm)
He did have a quote (of many) that can be attributed to him in which you might be interested:
“I studied the Koran a great deal. I came away from that study with the conviction there have been few religions in the world as deadly to men as that of Muhammad. So far as I can see, it is the principal cause of the decadence so visible today in the Muslim world and, though less absurd than the polytheism of old, its social and political tendencies are in my opinion to be feared, and I therefore regard it as a form of decadence rather than a form of progress in relation to paganism itself.”
Letter to Arthur de Gobineau, 22 October 1843, Tocqueville Reader, p. 229