Posted on 07/01/2007 5:38:08 AM PDT by Valin
Not everyone in my family is an avid reader. With only the exception of my youngest daughter, however, we are all avid readers of Yale's Professor David Gelernter. In fact, each of us has at least one favorite book by him. For me, it's 1939: The Lost World of the Fair. For my wife, it's Drawing Life: Surviving the Unabomber. For my oldest daughter, it's Drawing Life and The Muse in the Machine: Computerizing the Poetry of Human Thought. My second oldest daughter also has two favorites by him, Machine Beauty: Elegance and the Heart of Computing and Mirror Worlds.
As one can infer from the breadth and the depth of his interests, Professor Gelernter is something of a Renaissance man. Earlier this week John mentioned Professor Gelernter's new book, Americanism: The Fourth Great Western Religion. The new book isn't formally published until next week, but I invited Professor Gelernter to preview it for Power Line readers. Professor Gelernter graciously responded:
My book defines Americanism as a creed (liberty, equality and democracy for all mankind) in the context of "American Zionism" (which asserts that, having been blessed far beyond what it deserves, America has an obligation to promote this creed within in its borders and throughout the world). The book explains why the Bible and Christianity (especially the Old Testament and Puritan Christianity) were fundamental to the creation and shaping of Americanism.
It tries to explain why Americanism arouses such passionate love and hate--because it is no mere "civic religion"; it is a biblical religion in the Judeo-Christian tradition. (For Jews and Christians, Americanism is merely an extension of Judaism or Christianity--an application of old principles to new problems, in no sense a separate and competing religion. But many others, devout atheists included, have been passionate believers in Americanism too; for them it is a religion in its own right.)
Many secularists believe that this sort of talk is a form of intolerance or a call to theocracy. This is nonsense; they should give it up. Practicing Jews and Christians invented religious tolerance. (The great novelist Tolstoy wrote: "The Jew is the pioneer of liberty.... The Jew is the emblem of civil and religious toleration. `Love the stranger and the sojourner,' Moses commands, `because you have been strangers in the land of Egypt.'") And the Bible is firmly opposed to theocracy, and so are Judaism and Christianity--and Americanism.
When secularism merely seeks to sweep the public square free of religion, to drive it (like smoking) into places where the unwary are guaranteed not to stumble into it, it's merely intolerant. But when it treats the creation of Americanism as a purely (or mainly) secular event, it warps the truth and seeks to replace history with propaganda. We ought not to let it succeed.
I believe that it's an important book with an important message and that it warrants your attention.
JOHN demurs: I share Scott's enthusiasm for Gelernter's work and agree with all of the above, except that--as an intimate friend of all of the Johnsons, down to the youngest daughter--I simply deny that "Not everyone in [Scott's] family is an avid reader." "Avid" describes them all.
I’ll look forward to reading this book. Mr. Gelernter is an outstanding writer, right up with Theodore Dalrymple (or whatever his real name is) for thoughtful and thought-provoking commentary.
This is a gem of a post, thanks for posting it. I’ve got to get one of his books immediately if not sooner. I was always impressed by his interviews.
ping
Dostoyevsky said something along the lines, that as long as a nation believes it has something unique to contribute to the world, you can call it a nation. As soon as it loses its belief in its own uniqueness, you can stop calling it a nation and refer to it only as a geographic entity.
(My example : in the 18th and 19th centuries Britian believed it had a moral mission in the world—rid India of Thugs, fight slavery, etc. If in the 21st century Britain becomes so PC as to believe that it has no right to criticize other cultures but must respect their ‘diversity’, and that there is nothing at all about British culture that is ‘better’ than other cultures, then we may as well stop calling Britain a nation and just refer to the British Isles as a geographic location off the northwest coast of Europe...)
When secularism merely seeks to sweep the public square free of religion, to drive it (like smoking) into places where the unwary are guaranteed not to stumble into it, it's merely intolerant.
I know this isn't Gelertner's main point, but I'll make it: In Jews and Christians, Securlarists see intolerance, even when this intolerance actually doesn't exist. Securlarists are merely projecting their own intolerance onto Jews and Christians.
Rooting Americanism in Judeo Christian tradition gives Americanism limits and moral foumndation which the social engineers chafe at.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.