“The modern nation-state, in whatever guise, is a dangerous and unmanageable institution, presenting itself on the one hand as a bureaucratic supplier of goods and services, which is always about to, but never actually does, give its clients value for money, and on the other as a repository of sacred values, which from time to time invites one to lay down one’s life on its behalf. As I have remarked elsewhere, it is like being asked to die for the telephone company.”
—Alasdair MacIntyre, “A Partial Response to My Critics,” in After MacIntyre (University of Notre Dame Press, 1994), p. 303.
What do you say of a political figure who promises to feed you your daily bread, to fix the world, and calls you to lay down your life for it?
Should we expect our nations to have a wider vision of 'the good' than thier own survival?
So, which messiah shall we follow?
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5 comments:
So true.
If it's Winston Churchill, I'm in!
Should we expect our nations to have a wider vision of 'the good' than their own survival?
Yes. We should expect them to restrain evil and reward the just, to refrain from seeking spiritual power to combine with their temporal powers and to joyfully submit to Christ.
And to studiously avoid splitting their infinitives.
It'll come:
http://www.bullartistry.com.au/wp/2009/05/02/blood-and-soil/
though not sure about the infinitive splitting.
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