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We are not perfect, and we need to understand that we are not perfect, and that others who are angry at us often have good grounds for their anger. At the same time, our critics are not perfect, and to simply say, Whatever they say about us must be right, and so we must do the opposite of what we've done—Niebuhr was a very trenchant critic of that thinking.
He helps us realize that living in an imperfect world, it's not about building utopia. Niebuhr argued very clearly that the Western liberal capitalist system wasn't a utopia. Some of the decisions that you make and things that you do will be wrong; some of the courses you have to follow are going to be necessarily imperfect courses. You're not going to be a hundred percent in the right in every war that you fight. Nevertheless, you have to fight the war.
The optimism that is so much a part of the Anglo-American tradition needs to be liberally and frequently salted with Niebuhrian skepticism. At the same time, Niebuhr reminds us that this can't be an excuse for inaction and passivity. We have to be engaged. These ideas can contribute enormously to the intellectual and social formation of a new generation of American leaders whose roots are in faith communities.
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Related Elsewhere:
Walter Russell Mead commented on the benefits of division in "Why Culture War May Never End"
God and Gold: Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World is available from Amazon.com and other retailers.
Foreign Affairs published Mead's 2006 article about evangelicals and foreign affairs.
The Winter 2006 issue of The Review of Faith & International Affairs was devoted to Mead's original Foreign Affairs article, and included responses from Galli, Richard Land, Ron Sider, Jim Skillen, and others.
Star Trek Into Darkness
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Comments
Gary Sweeten
We who take the gospel to the world do so trhough the means of transportation, communication and languages that are available to all people. Over the past thirty years of international ministry I have been amazed at how well the Gospel message coming from the Great Commission fits so wonderfully with the technology and means of communication we have today. The Great Commission has grown in impact greatly from the universal adoption of the English language. Not because of Amercia or England is better than any other country but the passion for world missions plus the adoption of English in business, internet, science and media makes our passion transferrable. I am unsure why Robert is fearful or anxieous that this means we are forgetting the Bible. I preach in many nations and some of the interest comes from a desire to learn my language. This allows people to hear the truth and then God can work.
Derek Simmons
Help me with some cites to Evangelical leaders engaging in "fear mongering rhetoric" concerning Islamofascism? And some more analysis about just how heightened verbal awareness by Evangelicals about Islamofascism is harmful to either the Body of Christ or to Islam, or both.
JohnW
How about his idea: Evangelical leaders repent for their support of the invasion and occupation of Iraq and stop with the islamofascism fear mongering rhetoric?. And an unequivocal repudiation of Pastor John Hagee by Christianity Today would be appropriate too.