Chapter 716 - 335: History and Faith

"Religion is such a damn hassle."

Leo stood up, looking out the window at the brightly lit City of Power.

"If it weren’t for religion, if it weren’t for the obsession with moral purity left behind by those damned Puritans, would I still have to compromise on this? Would I still need to find a so-called perfect spouse to complete this political puzzle?"

This was clearly just an emotional outburst.

Leo knew such a hypothetical was meaningless.

"Leo."

Roosevelt began to speak.

"If you find religion to be a bothersome restraint, then let’s cast our eyes across the Pacific Ocean, toward the Eastern States, and take a look at that land."

"Over there, due to the extreme dominance of secular power for millennia, mainstream society has almost no religious fanaticism in the true sense. People don’t really go to church; they don’t really confess to God."

"But do you think the rulers there don’t need to compromise? That they aren’t bound by some kind of invisible force?"

Leo frowned.

"What is that force?"

"History."

Roosevelt uttered the word.

"In that land, history *is* their religion. And here, religion *is* our history."

"The foundation of the United States is the secularization of theocratic doctrine, while the foundation of the Eastern States is the ethicization of history."

"You find religion annoying because it demands you show loyalty, demands you uphold the family. But if you were over there, history would demand the same of you, just in a different way."

"These two forces are, in essence, different expressions of the same logic. Though their vessels are completely different, the political and social goals they achieve are highly consistent."

Leo sat down on the sofa, his attention captured by this grand comparison.

"Tell me more, Mr. President."

Roosevelt began his analysis.

"First, the source of legitimacy—that is, who grants the right to rule."

"Any massive state apparatus needs a power higher than any individual human to justify its authority. Otherwise, what gives you the right to sit in the White House and issue commands while others must obey?"

"In the United States, the legitimacy of power comes from God’s will."

"Look at the Declaration of Independence. It opens by declaring that men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. When our Politicians are sworn into office, they place a hand on the Bible. In essence, they are petitioning a deity who transcends the secular world for the legitimacy to rule."

"Over there, however, the legitimacy of power comes from the choice of history."

"In their context, ’he who wins the hearts of the people wins the world’ is itself an irreversible historical proposition. The rise and fall of every dynasty, the promulgation of every major policy, must find its coordinates in the long river of history."

"Whether it’s ’God bless America’ or ’history has chosen the Eastern States,’ the common goal is singular: to establish the unchallengeable nature of authority. It’s all about cloaking a secular regime in a sacred mantle."

Leo nodded.

"But what does that have to do with private matters like marriage?"

"The connection is supervision," Roosevelt answered. "It’s about the moral code—in other words, who is watching you."

"Humans are flawed. If a ruler holds absolute power, how do you make him feel a sense of awe? How do you prevent him from acting recklessly?"

"For American Politicians, what they fear is the Last Judgment."

"Religion provides a moral contract that transcends secular law. If your private life is decadent, your integrity comes into question."

"In the eyes of the voters, you’ve betrayed your faith. You won’t just lose votes; you’ll also have to worry about the fate of your soul after death. That is the supervision of religion."

"As for the political elites of the Eastern States, what they fear is going down in infamy."

"In their culture, history plays the role of the judge. For officials there, the body may perish, but to have one’s name nailed to the pillar of shame in history is an eternal punishment."

Roosevelt’s voice grew heavy.

"The common purpose of these two mechanisms is to provide a moral restraint that extends beyond a single lifetime. They both compel those in power, when making decisions or even handling their private lives, to consider the long term and their reputation, not just the indulgence of immediate interests."

Leo looked out the window. He understood what Roosevelt meant.

He couldn’t escape.

As long as he wanted to wield power, he had to accept this supervision.

Roosevelt’s analysis continued to deepen.

"Social cohesion and identity are also at the core."

"A United States cobbled together from immigrants from all over the world, and an Eastern States with several thousand years of civilization—what holds their hundreds of millions of people together and keeps them from becoming a plate of loose sand?"

"We rely on a civic religion. Americans sanctify the Constitution, the flag, and the Founding Fathers. We fanatically believe in the American Dream, just as we would a traditional religion. The church is not just a place for prayer; it is the social hub of the community and a center for political mobilization."

"And they rely on shared memory. Their deep identification with their ancient emperors and classic literature is, in effect, a form of religious conversion."

"Their history textbooks are their gospels. They tell everyone in that land, ’This is where we come from. We share a common bloodline and a common destiny of glory and shame.’"

"Religion provides us with shared values; history provides them with a shared view of time and space."

"Both construct a common sense of belonging, turning scattered individuals into a cohesive nation."

A passion unique to a leader entered Roosevelt’s voice.

"A nation needs a vision to strive for. We need to tell the people what they are enduring present suffering for."

"Our goal is the City upon a Hill. It’s a Messiah-like sense of mission. Many Americans firmly believe they bear the responsibility of spreading our sacred system across the globe. The underlying logic behind us wielding a big stick around the world stems from this religious sense of superiority."

"Their goal, on the other hand, is the Great Rejuvenation. ’Rejuvenation’ is a quintessentially historical logic. The subtext is, ’We were once glorious, and now we must return to the position that is rightfully ours.’"

"Whether it’s religious expansion or historical rejuvenation, the common purpose is to imbue national action with a sense of righteousness and direction. This power can mobilize the populace in difficult times, allowing society to generate immense resilience and explosive strength."

Leo understood Roosevelt’s logic.

These two great civilizations were indeed pursuing the same order and eternity, just in different ways.

"Mr. President," Leo posed a question, "since these two forces are essentially pursuing the same thing, why do both sides attack each other so fiercely?"

"Why do we mock them for their lack of faith, while they mock us for our short history as a nation? If our underlying logic is so consistent, why must we use religion and history as weapons to belittle each other?"

Roosevelt answered calmly.

"Because humans are always accustomed to measuring the world with their own yardstick."

"When one civilization confronts another of enormous scale that uses a completely different social operating system, they cannot comprehend the other’s underlying logic."

"This lack of understanding creates fear, and fear inevitably breeds attack."

"It’s a defense mechanism. They must prove the other’s system is wrong in order to be certain of the absolute righteousness of their own."

"They must prove that the other is not bound by any force in order to highlight their own moral high ground."

"Let’s first look at the linguistic traps of these attacks. What do Americans love to attack the Eastern States for? We say they have no faith, that they are ’Godless.’"

"From this, we deduce a conclusion: they have no bottom line, they are not constrained by a deity, and therefore they are completely untrustworthy."

"Conversely, what do people from the Eastern States love to attack the United States for?"

"They say we have no history. They believe we have only a fleeting two-hundred-year-old foundation, that we are shallow and arrogant, completely ignorant of the need to respect the cycles of rise and fall."

Roosevelt’s tone was steady and deep.

"Everyone is using a different language to accuse the other of the same crime."

"In essence, both sides are accusing the other, ’You have no absolute constraints.’"

"When an American says you have no faith, what he truly fears is, ’If there is no God in heaven watching you, what’s to stop you from restraining the greed and malevolent instincts deep in your heart?’"

"When someone from the Eastern States says you have no history, what he truly fears is, ’If you don’t study the lessons from the fall of previous dynasties, how can you possibly understand the principles of lasting peace and stability? How can you guarantee your policies won’t lead to disaster?’"

Leo listened quietly, the words "faith" and "history" appearing in his mind.

"The truth that all roads lead to the same destination lies right here."

Roosevelt continued to press his argument.

"Both sides are accusing the other of being a runaway horse, purely because they cannot see the invisible rope on the other’s back."

"The essence of this mutual antagonism is civilizational arrogance and prejudice. The reason these attacks seem so potent is that they strike precisely at humanity’s most primal fear."

"The fear of an unrestrained power."

"Americans believe that power without religious constraint is a Demon. People from the Eastern States believe that power without historical precedent is an upstart."

"Everyone is desperately searching for the same sense of security: power must be locked away in a kind of transcendental cage. The only difference is the material the cage is made from."

Roosevelt concluded.

"This mutual antagonism is, in fact, two equally lonely civilizations looking at their own reflections in a mirror."

"If both sides could realize that ’Your God is my ancestor, and my history is your gospel,’ the debate over faith and history would instantly dissolve."

"The core force that sustains the operation of these two colossal nations is, in fact, the same extreme yearning for order, morality, and eternity."

Leo sat silently on the sofa.

"So, the fundamental needs of human civilization are actually universal," Leo summarized.

"Exactly," Roosevelt said approvingly. "To satisfy this need, different civilizations have each chosen the most suitable entry point."

"Religion and history are, in essence, two different algorithms derived from the same logic, created by humanity to establish order on earth and instill reverence in the heart."

"There is no superiority or inferiority between them, only differences in adaptation."

Roosevelt finished his long disquisition.

"I understand, Mr. President."

Leo’s thoughts were now perfectly clear.

It was a necessary ritual to obtain the endorsement for power.

To grasp the highest power in the United States, he had to put himself inside that cage. He had to let the voters see, with their own eyes, the lock that secured it.

Family, marriage, loyalty—these were all precision parts that made up that lock.