In a recent editorial, John Hall suggests that religion is an obstacle to American democracy — a relic of “magical thinking” that breeds conflict, division, and impedes progress, driven by modern “angry, defensive Christians.” His perspective echoes the utopian vision evoked in John Lennon’s “Imagine:” if only there was “no religion too,” humanity could finally live in peace.

However, this dismissive argument misunderstands both American history and the culture’s present realities. Far from threatening democracy, as the headline “Can religion harm democracy?,” implies, religion has been the impetus for constructing the nation’s moral, legal, and civic fabric — and must be a cornerstone of civil society.

Indeed, the core American principles — that “all men are created equal” and limited government — were not borne from Thomas Jefferson’s pen in 1776, but rooted in a classical and Judeo-Christian tradition: that every person, from the powerful to the lowly, has an inherent dignity (or inalienable rights) because they were made in God’s image and likeness.

Although the United States may not have been founded strictly as a Christian nation, nevertheless, Christian values are intrinsically linked to American democracy. In the colonial period, many settlers emigrated to the New World to escape faith-based persecution and, thus, enshrined the freedom of religious expression into their charters, which would later appear in the First Amendment. Religiosity also compelled settlers to craft governmental frameworks and list rights in written documents like the Fundamental Orders of 1639 — one of the earliest, and perhaps first written constitutions of a democratic government, which had been adopted in Connecticut.

As Matthew Spalding notes in The Making of the American Mind, it was “Christianity that largely transmitted the classical tradition, which meant natural-law reasoning, to the modern world.” Indeed, that there are “divine laws that exist prior to, outside of, and above the laws of the state” means the state’s laws are “limited and controlled by a higher or transpolitical authority.”

To an extent, Hall is accurate when expressing the Founding Fathers’ skepticism of religious fanaticism and deistic leanings. Yet they were not irreligious — or even opposed to religious practice. In fact, John Adams clearly emphasized the U.S. Constitution was “made only for a moral and religious people,” emphasizing, “It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Moreover, the Founders’ predominant concern was not with religious fanaticism, but countering direct democracy, which they equated to mob rule and tyranny. As a result, the American republic did not merely implement checks and balances on various government branches, but humanity’s fallen nature — and proclivity to abuse power to bludgeon the opposition.

Decades after the Constitutional Convention, Alexis de Tocqueville — who also favored a separation of church and state — concurred with the Founders. Writing in Democracy in America, he saw religion “no less the companion of liberty in all its battles and its triumphs; the cradle of its infancy, and the divine source of its claims,” adding, “The safeguard of morality is religion, and morality is the best security of law and the surest pledge of freedom.”

The virtues of peaceful coexistence, social justice, and the Golden Rule also stem from religious fervor and tradition. Historically, these values have fueled charitable giving; equality under the law; the abolition of slavery; the construction of hospitals, universities, and schools; scientific discovery; to even the establishment of free market economic practices, which raised more out of poverty than its antecedents.

More than simply binding a people together, as Ian Speir argues in Mere Orthodoxy, religion has been the means of cultivating virtue by governing one’s passions, and fostering a robust civil society. On the latter, a plethora of organizations were inspired by faith like the Salvation Army, Knights of Columbus, the American Red Cross, Samaritan’s Purse, and even the YMCA. As a nation, the U.S. government has a long-storied history of granting public funding toward humanitarian aid and nonprofits. This impulse, no doubt, was spurred on by a Christian sense of duty to thy neighbor.

In short, the West has been, and continues to be, “utterly saturated by Christian concepts and assumptions,” as Tom Holland notes in Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World. And when an injustice does occur, like racism, greed, murder, sexual assaults, or other crimes, we predominantly view it through this moralistic lens.

Yet, in recent decades, religion’s withdrawal from the public square has not yielded good fruit sociologically. Coupled with the rise of secularization, New Atheism, and modern therapeutic deism, Americans are — coincidentally (or perhaps, consequently) — gripped by a persistent “happiness crisis ,” particularly among younger demographics. However, scientific evidence suggests that religious people are generally happier and live longer. Indeed, prayer produces psychological benefits: reducing stress, loneliness, and fear, as well as increased connection to community

But in the past few years, more Americans are religiously unaffiliated (“nones”) than in previous decades. This poses a significant risk to the health of American democracy since “nones” are “less civically engaged and socially connected than people who identify with a religion,” according to a Pew Research Center survey released in January 2025.As churches and civic associations close, there will be fewer opportunities to volunteer and collaborate — and, therefore, fewer interactions devoid of politics. The timing could not be worse. Polarization has intensified: most Americans disagree on “ basic facts;” nearly two-thirds believe the country’s political culture is incapable of solving problems; and about a third believe violence “may be necessary to set the country on track.”

These realities should give us pause. The erosion of religiosity in American democracy presents an existential crisis. Nonetheless, Hall ascribes the tense political landscape to Protestant fundamentalists’ “disdain” for secular liberals, progressive gender ideology, women’s rights, and the sciences, like vaccines and evolution. Moreover, he criticizes the right’s moral lapse in supporting Donald Trump, who he calls a “political demagogue.” Yet he is unfair to those on the religious right who have felt persecuted over the years, embodied by cases like Masterpiece Cakeshop, the Little Sisters of the Poor, the FBI spying on traditional Catholics, and even Coach Joe Kennedy’s public prayer.

And in a twist of spiritual irony, during the pandemic, the government deemed liquor stores to be essential , but not houses of worship. Point being, the religious right’s frustration is not without cause — and Trump has appealed to their plight more so than Democrats. This has not gone unnoticed by prominent Democrats, like U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock from Georgia, who believe the party has “ceded ” religion to Republicans.

Ironic, still, is that Hall views these policy disagreements as a threat to democracy — yet disagreement is inherent in America’s republican government. It is a “messy, difficult, and essential struggle,” which he astutely recognizes. After all, no two people think exactly alike. Everyone possesses a unique, individual mind. However, prior to the United States of America, most governments failed to elevate individuality, favoring the authoritarian ‘might makes right’ rule.

Ultimately, any utopia, like the one imagined in John Lennon’s famous song, is impossible. Nevertheless, Lennon’s idealism persists in reducing belief into a coping mechanism for death, while promoting a new age deism. Yet faith-based hope, more so than secularization, has been a powerful force when earnestly lived, accomplishing incalculable good for untold millions be it the poor, marginalized, sick, dying, the uneducated, and the unborn.

The inherent dignity of others, enshrined in our founding documents and born from a religious tradition, has made possible the potential to pursue happiness more so than most persons throughout human history. That is worth protecting and safeguarding.

In truth, a nation unmoored from these values would be catastrophic to sustaining American democracy as we know it. The proof is in the empirical evidence.

So, no — religion is not harmful to democracy; in fact, it’s imperative.

Andrew Fowler of Milford is an editor of RealClearReligion.