January 11, 2005American Exceptionalism: A PreviewI discovered "American Exceptionalism" at my parents' house over Christmas -- an abandoned book on the shelf. The title piqued my curiousity. It was published in 1996. Our biggest 'threat' back then was Japanese manufacturing.Lipset's introductory remarks were ...eerie... in some cases, just plain interesting in others. Here's one that struck me as rather prescient: Protestant-inspired moralism not only has affected opposition to wars, it has determined the American style in foreign relations generally, including the ways we go to war. Support for a war is as moralistic as resistance to it. To endorse a war and call on people to kill others and die for the country, Americans must define their role in a conflict as being on God's side against Satan - for morality, against evil. The United States primarily goes to war against evil, not, in its self-perception, to defend material interests. Sound familiar? It should. Recall President Bush's 2002 State of the Union Address: "North Korea..., Iran..., [and] Iraq... constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. ... History has called America and our allies to action, and it is both our responsibility and our privilege to fight freedom's fight."Remember, the book was written in 1996. (I'm not trying to be profound here, just making sure we keep perspective.) |
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I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of
men whatever in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else where
I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation
of a free and moral agent.
Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Francis Hopkinson (March 13, 1789) |
