American Religion in the European Mind: From Georg W. Hegel to George W. Bush
Tal Howard,聽Gordon College
Date: September 21, 2005
Event Recap
On September 21, the Boisi Center hosted Professor Thomas Albert (Tal) Howard of Gordon College, Wenham, Massachusetts. Howard shared his recent work on anti-Americanism in Europe under the title, 鈥淎merican Religion in the European Mind: From Georg W. Hegel to George W. Bush.鈥� He matched his provocative title with an equally provocative discussion of the roots of European anti- Americanism.
Contrary to explanations that locate America鈥檚 fall from grace among especially 鈥渉ighbrow鈥� Europeans with the end of the Cold War, 9/11, and the war in Iraq, Howard outlined a longer history of derision from both the 鈥渞ight鈥� and the 鈥渓eft.鈥� Crucial to this attitude, he argued, is the history of European criticism of the American religious scene. Howard illustrated his point with a tour through the pantheon of eighteenth and nineteenth-century European intellectuals. On the right, objections from the likes of Jacob Burckhardt, Max Weber, and Werner Sombart to the American religious situation focused on what they perceived as the absurd and outrageous forms of belief in the United States. The lack of a state church wrought cultural anarchy where, according to Swiss theologian Philip Schaff, 鈥淓very theological vagabond and peddler may drive here his bungling trade, without passport or license, and sell his false ware at pleasure.鈥� America was thus a religious wild card, unpredictable and unconnected to the safeguards of a traditional society. On the left, European critics were equally worried about America鈥檚 historical trajectory. From their perspective, America鈥檚 sin was not ignorance of tradition but that the young nation had preserved premodern religiosity all too well. Such diverse thinkers as the Marquis de Condorcet, Georg Hegel, and Karl Marx, lamented this retention of 鈥渙ld world鈥� religious forms that blocked the progressive march of history. Howard concluded by suggesting that Americans ought to reflect on these longstanding criticisms鈥攚hatever their accuracy鈥攁s a tool toward greater self-understanding.
More importantly, he stressed that to ignore the genealogy of anti-Americanism is to misunderstand the nature of the European mind-set. Without a sense of how deeply embedded anti-American religious prejudice runs in European culture and how closely tied it is to anti- Americanism generally, Howard argued, we underestimate both the intensity of these attitudes and their staying power beyond the administration of George W. Bush.