In light of the actions of Hitler and the Japanese, his "Christian Realism" theory forced him to re-examine many of his previous views on the world. Niebuhr severed all socialist connections after Hitler and Stalin signed a non-aggression pact in 1939 and was a staunch supporter of America's entry into the war. He viewed sin as part of the world, felt it was more important to have justice in the world than universal love, felt the pacifist movement was unable to stop sin in the world, and that power could be balanced by power. He criticized the members of the pacifist movement for using intellectual arguments to respond to real threats. He claimed that the pacifist and non-interventionists "…shrouded the conflict in an ambiguity that operatively established a 'moral equivalency' between Nazism and the admitted flawed democracies." (Bullert) the United States, Allies, and other democracies represented the hope for the human race, that they would counter the evils of the world. He proposed realistic answers for the complicated issues confronting the world at that time.
After the war. Reinhold Niebuhr focused his attention on ethical meaning of American History. His 1952 book "The Irony of American History" took a hard, ethical look at the history of the United States. His interpretation of American history determined that liberal democracy was a better method of creating common good than Marxism, and that "…on the whole, [American government] is expected to gain its ends by moral attraction and limitation." (Berke) He criticized "American Idealism" as either pro-war imperialism, or anti-war non-interventionism. The pro-war crowd, he argued, viewed power as a virtue, while the anti-war movement was embarrassed by power. Niebuhr concluded that there were two major ironies concerning the United States; that the United States has acquired a great deal of power without actively seeking it, and that possessing such power come with it global responsibilities which limit the United States ability to control it's own destiny. (Berke)
It may seem strange that a person who spent his entire life working of the good of society would endorse segregation, but that is exactly what Reinhold Niebuhr did. Believing that the solutions to social evils should evolve in society, he viewed segregation as a pragmatic solution to a complicated problem, that forced integration would cause...
Niebuhr Material Niebuhr, H. Richard. Christ and Culture. New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1951. The author of Christ and Culture Richard Niebuhr is today largely remembered as one-half a famous pair of siblings. Reinhold was the more famous of the two Niebuhr brothers, but both Niebuhrs redefined Protestant theology for the 20th century. While his brother Reinhold described himself as a devout Lutheran, Richard Niebuhr was "more inclined toward Augustinian, Calvinistic
POLITICAL ACTION & HOW DO ARENDT AND NIBUHR RECOMMEND GOING ABOUT POLITICAL ACTION? The objective of this work is to answer the question of what is political action and how do Arendt and Nibuhr recommend going about political action. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines political action as "action designed to attain a purpose by the use of political power or by activity in political channels; specifically: such action by organized labor through recognized
Niebuhr The reaction that I had to Reinhold Niebuhr's Moral Man and Immoral Society was extremely complicated, but I ultimately found the implications that Niebuhr's beliefs would have for the American political system to be exceptionally troubling. The problem here comes when Niebhr endorses the necessity of propaganda in a civilized society. Since Niebuhr believes in "the stupidity of the average man" (21) and believes these people must be persuaded by
Neo-Orthodoxy The term "neo-orthodoxy" refers to a 20th century movement among Protestant theologians -- in the United States and in Europe -- that emerged following the bloody carnage of World War I. The disillusionment that several Christian theologians -- and millions of others impacted by the War -- experienced led to a rejection of the liberal Christian movement which had urged the adaptation of an ongoing sense of optimism that seemed
American Religious History Defining fundamentalism and liberalism in Christianity is hardly an exact science, especially because prior to about 1920 there was not even a term for fundamentalism as it exists today. While present-day fundamentalists often claim descent from the Puritans and Calvinists of the 17th and 18th Centuries, Puritans were not really fundamentalists in the modern sense. They were not in conflict with 20th Century-style liberals and supporters of evolution
The New Era and The Old Problems�The s 2The New Era and The Old Problems�The 1920sAccording to Reinhold Niebuhr, they visited some automobile factories, and to their surprise, things looked artificial that they felt like strangers. He argues that everyone is looking up to what comes out of the factories minus the consideration of how much the efficiency of modern factories costs in human value (Locke & Wright, 2019). Even
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