It is with a bit of trepidation that I begin discussing with my students in positive sociology this week Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America. Is a work written in the 1830s relevant nearly 200 years later? When I assign readings from 1985 my students say, "Gee, this is old and out of context," so how will they respond to a book from 1835? Will they dismiss Tocqueville's insights or writing style as irrelevant to their everyday concerns and the concerns of our nation?
March 21, 2013 What, Exactly, Is Evangelical Christianity?
Hi, love your insights. I totally reject tolerance, tolerance is not a biblical goal in the kingdom of heaven. We are a called to love,. This is not a platform for arrogance, but love focuses on the eternal reality of the person, not just their soul here on earth, but their eternal design and delight of the father. We were made for freedom that is to be manifested here on earth through the power of the Holy Spirit of Christ living through me, not living by principles of the tree of knowledge of good or evil but the tree of life, which is abiding in Christ.
I have always found that it is easier to critize something than to find a solution. When we put forth a solution then we put ourselves in the position of one day being ineffective. But it is much simplier to show how other social arrangements are not working. Perhaps it is this ease of criticism that we get that instead of real and innovative solutions towards a positive society.
Some people are just not cut out for freedom. That might be OK, *up to a point*, if a person wants to make such a choice. Such people need to remember that some of us *are* cut out for freedom, and that it is in everyone's best interest to preserve that as a choice that others can continue to make. Yes, I am an American, and this understanding is what makes me so. A free person has no need to answer the question "What is the meaning of life?" A free person *invents* life.
I am a Heathen, a religious outlook that might be summed up as "Life is hard, then you die. Now what are you going to do with this opportunity you have?" Or perhaps even more succinctly as "Stand up and *be* something!" Which something? That's up to you. Choose well.
It's sooo refreshing to encounter a mind that operates as rationally and well-founded philosophically as Margarita's. She makes excellent points and references important other works. I would also recommend Xavier Suarez's "Democracy in America: 2010." It's packed full of wisdom and perceptive analysis.