Letter to America

In 1898, three years before he became prime minister of the Netherlands, Abraham Kuyper addressed American leaders in a series of lectures at Princeton seminary. 

I suspect that if he could address America’s leaders today he would write something like the following:

To the political leaders of the United States of America,

Grace and peace to you. I write as one who wrestled with the challenge of governing a society marked by deep religious and cultural divisions.

In your day, America finds itself torn by culture wars, political polarisation, and mistrust among citizens. Permit me to share counsel from principles I found to be timeless and essential for just government.

The task of the state: Justice, not domination

The state does not exist to enforce one worldview upon all its citizens, but to secure justice equally for all. When government becomes the instrument of a single faction—whether religious, secular, conservative, or progressive—it betrays its calling.

True authority is not domination but stewardship, exercised for the sake of the people under God.

I once declared: “The State may never be made an instrument for enforcing one confession upon all.” That warning stands. To impose uniformity of belief is to corrupt both the state and the belief itself. Your task as leaders is not to dictate consciences, but to guard liberty, order, and peace.

Sphere sovereignty: Respect the boundaries of life

Human society is made up of many distinct spheres—family, church, school, business, science, healthcare, art, and civil society. Each has its own integrity and authority under God.

The state’s calling is not to absorb or control them. These are not mountains to be ‘taken by force’. Government must protect their freedom and maintain just boundaries.

When government intrudes upon the pulpit or dictates family life, it overreaches. When religious groups or ideological movements seize the state to impose their own views, they too violate the balance of spheres.

A free society flourishes only when each sphere can live out its calling, and when the state acts as a guardian of justice among them.

Pluralism, not uniformity

America today is a vast mosaic: Christian and Jewish, Muslim and Hindu, believer and skeptic, conservative and progressive, gay and straight, native and immigrant.

Some see this diversity as a threat. I urge you instead to govern it with justice.

In my own Netherlands, Protestants, Catholics, socialists, and liberals coexisted through what was called pillarisation: each community formed its own schools, associations, and newspapers, while the state guaranteed equal justice.

Though imperfect, it allowed peace amid difference.

So too in America: government must protect the rights of all communities to live by conscience, so long as they respect the equal rights of others and the law.

The Baptist school, the Catholic hospital, the Jewish charity, the Muslim center, the secular university—all must be free to flourish. Liberty is not privilege for the majority; it is protection for all.

Common grace and shared bonds

Yet liberty alone is not enough. A society cannot endure if it splinters into isolated enclaves. You must cultivate a civic bond strong enough to hold differences together.

Here the doctrine of ‘common grace’ is instructive. God restrains evil and bestows gifts of truth and beauty across all peoples.

The unbeliever can build bridges, the Muslim can heal the sick, the secular scientist can unlock mysteries of creation. Each bears traces of God’s grace.

Therefore, nurture solidarity through civic education, public service and policies that build trust. Speak to the whole people, not merely your base. Leaders must not inflame division but seek the common good.

Justice for the weak

Justice is measured not by how the strong prosper, but by how the weak are treated. In your time, this includes the poor, racial minorities, refugees, migrants, the unborn, the disabled, the elderly, and those marginalized because of faith or orientation.

You need not affirm every worldview as equally true. But you must defend the equal dignity of all people under the law. Where the strong exploit the weak, government must intervene; where the rich trample the poor, government must defend justice.

Humility in leadership

Finally, I urge you to govern with humility. The arrogance of infallibility fuels your culture wars. Statesmanship requires listening, learning, and admitting one’s limits.

Authority is not yours by right; it is entrusted to you by God for the sake of the people.

Resist the temptation to wield power as a weapon in ideological battles. Govern as servants of justice, mindful that you too will give account to the Judge of all.

Conclusion

America stands at a crossroads. You may continue down the path of culture war, where politics becomes a struggle to crush one’s opponents.

That road leads only to deeper division and decay. Or you may pursue the path of justice: liberty for all, protection for the weak, solidarity across difference, humility in leadership.

This path will not eliminate conflict, but it will preserve peace, honour God, and safeguard the republic entrusted to you.

May the Lord grant you wisdom and courage in the heavy burden of your calling. 

Yours sincerely,

Abraham Kuyper

Jeff Fountain, Director of the Schuman Centre for European Studies. This article was first published on the author's blog, Weekly Word.