Many peoples across the centuries have attempted to define themselves. This is obviously a very difficult task, as it attempts to collect a group through a supposed label. This has been especially hard for Americans, as they have had a very diverse cultural beginning. Samuel P. Huntington discusses this problem in his book Who Are We? The Challengers to America’s National Identity. Particularly, in chapter 4 of this book, he attempts to define it as distinctly Anglo-Protestant. Nevertheless, his argument is very faulty at times, and his central thesis does not use proper logic.
Huntington studies the history of the United States and concludes that the most important aspect of the country’s identity is related to its beginning as a Protestant country, coming from England. “Would America be the America it is today if in the seventeen and eighteenth centuries it had been settled not by British Protestants but by French, Spanish or Portuguese Catholics?” (Huntington 59). He argues that the United States’ identity is inseparable from its Anglo-Protestant origins.
Nevertheless, as one can see, this is highly illogical. First, because it is clearly unfalsifiable: one cannot turn back time in order to see what would have happened if the colonialists would have been from another country and had had another religion. Furthermore, because it becomes almost tautological to say that something in the past influences something in the present.
This type of lineal, causal thinking is prevalent in contemporary culture, and it seems almost trivial to say that the events in the past influence those in the present. Therefore, even though it could be true that American identity would have been different if it would have had different settlers, this argument is very weak, as it is too obvious and not necessarily true.
Another weakness in his argument is that he disregards that many of the cultural elements that he attributes to Protestantism are actually a part of Modernity as a whole. The Protestant revolution was one of the greatest originators of the changes around the world that heralded the beginning of Modernity. It marked a separation between Medieval Times and Classical ones. “The Protestant emphasis on the individual conscience and the responsibility of individuals to learn God’s truth directly from the Bible promoted American commitment to individualism, equality, and the rights to freedom of religion and opinion” (Huntington 68). As one can see, Huntington believes that Protestantism is directly related to many social values that are actually just a part of contemporary culture.
He even attempts to turn this around by having Protestantism be the influence of other religions. “Because they are central to American culture, Protestant values deeply influenced Catholicism and other religions in America” (Huntington 62). While this may be true, many of these values are just part of the contemporary epoch. In general, Huntington overestimates the importance that the Protestant faith has had on the history of the world. Almost every person in the world right now would agree that individualism, egalitarianism and liberty are values to be fought for, no matter if they are Protestants or not.
One can also see this in the notorious dumbing-down of America. “American Protestantism became increasingly populist and less hierarchical and increasingly emotional and less intellectual” (Huntington 65). It is easy to see this all around the planet, as knowledge has lost the value that it once had. The most famous movies and television shows are not the intelligent ones, but the ones that cater to the lowest common denominator. Ironically, one could argue that this was caused by Protestantism itself, as it attempted to allow anyone to interpret the Bible, making it more common and less authoritative.
Huntington also develops a very interesting link between the Protestant relationship with God, and American identity. For him, one of the most important aspects of this religion is “an emphasis on the individual’s direct relation to God, the supremacy of the Bible as the sole source of God’s word, salvation through faith and for many the transforming experience of being ‘born again’” (Huntington 65). As stated earlier, this may be found in many societies across the world right now because it is a port of the modern frame of mind.
Nevertheless, it is also important to note that America has portrayed itself as having a divine calling. “In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Americans defined their mission in the New World in biblical terms” (Huntington 64). The United States was seen as the Promised Land, and it is interesting to see how this is still true to this day.
Many immigrants come to America looking for some sort of miracle that will help them with all their troubles, being able to solve the problems they have in their lives. Furthermore, they have called it upon themselves to solve all the problems of the world, which has sometimes turned against them. Therefore, this is something that Huntington has asserted that is actually an interesting way to interpret American identity through the Protestant lens.
What Huntington does not seem to take into account is that America has had a history of being a melting pot of cultures. This has obviously led to there being much transference from one group to another. “Throughout American history, people who were not white Anglo-Saxon Protestants have become Americans by adopting America’s Anglo-Protestant culture and political values” (Huntington 61). It probably is true that people foreign to this established lineage learnt Anglo-Protestant tradition and had it influence them in one way or another. Nevertheless, this did not make them more or less American.
This has been a frequent note by critics. “They content that a public philosophy and public law which strive to rest national political identity simply on acceptance of liberal principles reflect a thin, one-sided conception of the human personality” (Smith 225). The author seeks to present a rather shallow argument that disregards the complexity of the human experience. One cannot define the people of a nation by their decision to accept certain principles. This would make someone in France that believes in these ideals to be American as well.
Furthermore, one should also state that these people influenced American culture themselves, something that Huntington does not seem to take into account. This is especially true because Anglo-Protestants are not even the most important faction in the country. “With the substantial Catholic immigration first from Germany and Ireland and then Italy and Poland, the proportion of Protestants declined fairly steadily” (Huntington 62). He states this as a phenomenon from more than a century ago, yet still sustains that it is the greatest force in America. Even though it probably is a strong one, as its ideals helped mold the nation, it is also true that it has been modified from its inception.
In conclusion, Huntington’s argument that English Protestantism should be regarded as the cornerstone of American identity is very faulty. It does take into account many important aspects of the American culture and the human experience as a whole. First, it takes as specifically Protestant many aspects that are actually a part of Modernity as a whole. Furthermore, it reasons that the present would be different if the past had change: not only is there no way to see that this is true, but it is something too obvious on which to base one’s arguments on. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of his treatise is that Americans feel that they are fulfilling a divine providence in their actions. This is something that many people do not take into account and that has had a determining influence in the perception of America. Finally, it is also important to take into account that many other cultures and religions have also had an influence in determining what it means to be America, as it is a great melting pot that has had many influences and great dynamism. The complexity of a nation as great as the United States of America cannot simply be boiled down to Anglo-Protestantism, but should be considered in the light of many other factions and forces as well.
Works Cited
Huntington, Samuel D. Who Are We? The Challengers to America’s National Identity. New York: Simon Schuster, 2004. Print.
Smith, Rogers M. “The "American Creed" and American Identity: The Limits of Liberal Citizenship in the United States”. The Western Political Quarterly 41.2 (1988): 225–251. Web.
