Books: Catholics can work with the American system, but they first must realize what it is. When the Church converted the Roman Empire, it knew that it was dealing with a pagan institution

A Declaration of Catholic Independence

by Christopher Shannon

G . K. Chesterton once described America as a “nation with the soul of a church.”  Many have wrongly interpreted this statement as Chesterton’s way of saying that America was a Christian nation, or that Americans were especially pious and devout people. Chesterton meant something rather different, and not especially complementary. 

America is like a church in the sense that it has often understood citizenship in terms of assent to a creed.  One becomes an Englishman or Frenchman through history, through coming from a family that has lived in a particular place for generations.  

In contrast, one can theoretically become an American simply by assent to certain abstract principles, the American creed.  Chesterton’s characterization of America as a creedal nation came to mind as I passed an election sign for the Romney-Ryan ticket that read, “Believe in America.”  What could this possibly mean?  Is America a god?  What precisely are we supposed to believe in?  In a word, liberty.  And make no mistake about it, liberty is a god.

That, at least, is the argument that Christopher A. Ferrara makes in his important and timely new book, Liberty, the God that Failed:  Policing the Sacred and Constructing the Myths of the Secular State, from Locke to Obama.

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