This is a 1984 quote from Ronald Reagan, which appears in William Martin’s With God On Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America (New York: Broadway, 1996) 235-236. Reagan was speaking to Christian conservative leaders.
The truth is, politics and morality are inseparable. And as morality’s foundation is religion, religion and politics are necessarily related. We need religion as a guide. We need it because we are imperfect. And our government needs the church because only those humble enough to admit they’re sinners can bring to democracy the tolerance it requires in only to survive. Without God, democracy cannot and will not long endure.
Ha ha ha ha ha! The religious right…humble…TOLERANT??? Okay, I know Reagan wasn’t intending to be funny here, and his points in this quote are quite valid. Religion should lead to humility and an acknowledgement of one’s own imperfections and those of others, even as it acts as a moral compass for society. But it can also lead to the opposite: self-righteousness, demonizing of one’s opponents, not listening to others to hear their story, etc.