Reading 39 Religious Revival and Reform Philosophy

Alexis de Tocqueville visited the states in the 1830′s and observed that “no country in the whole world in which the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America.” He was speaking about influence of Protestants in the political and social values of the U.S. While not everyone agreed what needed to be changed, they used religion as an anchor of sorts to base their belief off of as well as the way they saw and formed opinion of events. Many could say that religion, while it not in everyone, still has this profound effect on people today. For example, Roman Catholicism does have a set of political views it champions.

Finney and the Second Great Awakening

Religion, namely Protestantism, was spread like wildfire through out the U.S. and becoming more democratic. Rochester, New York transformed from a “sleepy village” to a “bustling” commercial center. The town was undergoing many social changes at the time, saloons were popping up, workers were not as loyal to their masters, etc. This phenomena was new to the towns residents, who seemed to prefer the old ways. Blaming the current up rise of absenteeism and poverty, the citizens of Rochester turned, as many have done before and as many still do now, to religion and called in the famous revival preacher Charles Finney. He was known for his successes in converting many, bringing them back to observe religious values. With the help of his wife, he converted the city’s elite, as well as the workers. He was very theatrical in his preaching, which was a big part of his success. He would have people so into his speeches, when he would throw an imaginary brick representing the devil, people would actually duck. He would also threaten eternal damnation, so convincingly that those sitting in the back row would stand up and look for the dissension into the fiery depths. This dramatic style of preaching is still used today in many baptist churches. Examples of these tactics, which appeal to emotion and logic (pathos and logos if you’re in AP English 11 ) can be seen still today, for example, the documentary Jesus Camp (http://www.jesuscampthemovie.com/) can show to what dramatic lengths preachers could go.

One of Finney’s main ideas was that humans were not “passive objects of God’s plan” who were helpless in the grander scheme of things, but were “moral free agents” free to make their own decisions concerning their eternal fate. Whether or not he was right can never really be decided though his ideas bring up many deeper, philosophical questions such as, “If we were actually passive agents of God’s will, would he plan for people’s devotion to wavier only to come back to him (or her ) during the revival?” or “If we are all moral free agents, why would God give us this ability if he knew that we would make wrong decisions? Would he/she be forgiving if humans made the wrong decisions?”

The Transcendentalists

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a pretty cool guy. He authored many works which had profound effects on the reform movements. Those who followed him believed that the absolute truth would be found beyond the institution of society. They would transcend this institution and look towards nature to find true “self-knowledge, self-reliance, and the spark of divinity burning within them.” An example of this would be Henry David Thoreau’s (a known transcendentalist) work “Walden”. Emerson saw his purpose in life to be inspiring others to find these things. He influenced many important figure in history including Margret Fuller, Herman Melville, and Nathan Hawthorne, to name a few. His values of the self reliance, self knowledge, anti materialism, and concern for the evils in society (during this time, it was slavery) still are popular today. [In Janet Tashjian's young adult novel, "The Gospel According to Larry," the main character finds his inspiration from the Emerson's principles. He strives to only own 75 posessions at any time, organizes protests, and meditates at Walden Pond. It's a wicked good book if you're interested in looking at how these principles can be applied today. Here's the link.   Tashjian illustrates Thoreau's commitment to living on a principle in her main character's actions. ] Questions that could be discussed: “Thoreau lived on his principle by refusing to support the government he didn’t believe in through not paying taxes. Was this the best way to support his belief (Especially because Emerson paid the tax anyway)? Can one be devoutly religious and a transcendalist at the same time? (Religon looks to a higher power while Transcendentalists look within.)