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eBook details

• Title: Musings
• Author : William Arbaugh
• Release Date : January 30, 2005
• Genre: Religion & Spirituality,Books,Politics & Current Events,
• Pages : * pages
• Size : 252 KB

Description

It is often said that in polite conversation the topics of religion and politics
should be avoided but how long can most of us carry an engaging conversation on
the weather? One who is concerned about the directions in which this nation is
moving must necessarily discuss controversial topics.



Have the labels liberal and conservative outlived their usefulness? Is liberalism
truly a bad word? What are conservatives trying to conserve? Is it possible to
rise above the din of partisan debate? These brief essays are critical comments
on society, politics and religion in which the author avoids the pitfalls of
extremism.
The author, a minister of the Lutheran Church and with an interest in education,
sees danger in extreme positions, religious or political, noting that the "right"
produced Mussolini's Fascism and Hitler's Nazism whereas the "left" resulted in
Stalinist Communism. Against rigid, absolutist positions as well as spineless
relativism, one is reminded of the church mouse who once delivered a pertinent
aphorism: "If you stand in the middle of the road, the traffic in two directions
will flatten you into road kill" (Essay 10). The point is that controversial
topics must not be ignored.
Problems of narrowness, for example, have been tackled by the author in Essay 6,
which begins with this paragraph:
Some years ago an acquaintance who liked to speak in grand terms said to me in
all seriousness, "My philosophy is the pursuit of happiness". It was narrow and
egocentric but at the time I had no response. However, now, many years later, I
have an answer to that unforgotten statement, thanks to a guest at St. James.
Last month Dr. William Foege ... [from the Carter Center and Emory University],
speaking at St. James, stated that there have been many attempts to define
civilization. One of these is happiness, which caused him to wonder whether a
three-year-old with a chocolate might be more civilized than the parents.

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