Global Narrative of The French Revolution (Essay Sample)

Global Narrative of The French Revolution

Alexis de Tocqueville, In many respects, was out of the ordinary for his day. His stance toward religion was one of the ways he distinguished apart from 19th century France. Tocqueville's argument, and the study of the French Revolution from either a religious or a worldly perspective, was made at the Conference just on Revolutionary Period a few years ago. As a result, there was a constructive conversation, which led to Liberty and Religion. The complex, global narrative of the French Revolution appeals against the standard secular perspective that sees the Revolution as the beginning of the anti-religious world today. Instead of seeing the Revolution as an effort to eliminate religion, w it recalibrated religious groups and revived Christianity in  France together in a revolutionary, religious manner.
Many individuals with strong religious beliefs were skeptical of democracy back then, as they are now. Catholicism was the dominant religion in 19th century France, and many ardent French Catholics saw their faith as irreconcilable with democracy. Numerous religious nationalists desired the retention of a national religion with a distinct purpose in the nation. They did not feel that secular independence wherein religion could be left to people's free choices would achieve this. On the other hand, many on the 19th century French left believed that fighting Catholicism was necessary to build a true democracy.
On the other hand, Tocqueville distinguished himself as an ally of religion and a supporter of liberty. He thought a full religious existence was required for a healthy democratic society's existence and prosperity (Fradkin, 2000). Alexis believed that religion (because he was open to nearly every religion) was essential for democracy for various reasons. Tocqueville believed that organized religion would be the only protracted balance to some of the most severe challenges to democracy: greed on the one side and religious extremism on the other. He believed that in democratic communities where no one had a place protected by birth or aristocracy title, individuals had an excellent propensity to get wholly consumed in the pursuit of worldly goods.
However, those who cared solely about material possession were more likely to give up their political liberty if it appeared to impede their ability to make a livelihood or to grow indifferent towards their community, interested mainly in the interests of themselves and their households. Tocqueville referred to this mindset as "materialism," He believed that one of the most effective ways to combat it was via religion (HEROLD, 2015). Religion enlightened individuals that other things in the world were more precious. It inspired them to look above the petty problems of ordinary life and focus on greater and greater distant aims.