"Upon my arrival in the United States, the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other Religion in America must be regarded as the foremost of the political institutions of that country From the earliest settlement of the emigrants, politics and religion contracted an alliance which has never been dissolved."
"Religion in America takes no direct part in the government of society, but it must be regarded as the first of their political institutions; for if it does not impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates the use of it. Indeed, it is in this same point of view that the inhabitants of the United States themselves look upon religious belief. I do not know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their religion- or who can search the human heart?- but I am certain that they hold it to be indispensable to the maintenance of their political institutions."
From Democracy In America, 1835
Pullin’ out the big guns are ya? de Tocqueville, eh?
In return, I give you a one-liner:
“It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once.”
David Hume