Magee concludes that the tragedy of Woodrow Wilson "had more to do with Jerusalem than Athens. It was a tragedy of faith." And so it was. The lesson of Woodrow Wilson's presidency is not that Jerusalem has nothing to say to Athens in the realm of international politics; rather, it is that good intentions inspired by misguided theology can lead to disastrous foreign policy consequences.
The antidote to idealism of the Wilsonian sort is a deep knowledge of the contours of history, a keen understanding of the moral ambiguities that delimit human action in the "meanwhile" in which we live, and a commitment to honing the virtue of prudence in defining the purposes to which we direct national power. In short, Reinhold Niebuhr is not a bad place to start after all.
For those of you interested in some of the nuances of twentieth-century American Calvinism, Matthew Tuininga offers a slightly different perspective on Wilson.
2 comments:
Matt is one of my former students. Keep an eye out for him. A great guy and a rising star, I think.
How many Straussians does it take to change a light bulb?
---None. The light is conspicuous by its absence.
In this case, "Bush" and "neo-conservative."
;-P
Not that it isn't appreciated. But I think the moral case for intervention here is simplified to the point of erasure. Pontius Pilate is not a moral exemplar.
Post a Comment