Reply #8: Hi, Old Crusoe... [View All]

[Adsos Letter]

yeah...demagoguery seems to be a standard accompaniment to American politics, at some level, and especially in difficult times. It is what I consider to be the greatest internal threat to our freedom and democracy in any particular period, and especially in the situation we may well soon face.

I believe that American's have shown a resiliency in our history which will allow us, with intelligent leadership, to meet and overcome any difficulty we face; suffering may be guaranteed, as well as extreme personal sacrifice, but the outcome will be positive given the proper leadership.

It is the propensity of humans to fall prey to the temptation to scapegoat, to persecute, to accept loss of freedom for the illusion of safety, to surrendering their critical thinking to the will of demagogues which frightens me most.

It can happen here, and the temptation has been there at various periods of our history, and I think we are heading into a historical cycle ripe for it.

The user name is from a 10th century letter sent by Adso of Montier-en-der to Gerberga, queen of the Franks, answering her query as to whether or not the Viking raids being carried out along the French coast were the long-expected "pre-cursors of Antichrist," an eschatological scenario common to the middle ages.

Adso was considered an expert on the subject, and his reply is an inclusive, concise example of how people constructed the "Antichrist Legend" common to the middle ages, containing memes which continue to show up in today's eschatology even though the bible says very, very little about the Antichrist figure. If you're interested in his description just google "Adso's letter... ."

Anyway, I am working on a graduate degree in History and all of my undergrad work focused on how the lens of Christian eschatology functioned at various historical periods and settings.

:hi: :D