ellauri119.html on line 644: There is a very good side to Christianity and a very bad side to Christianity. Rosenbaum strengthened the bad side: zionism, the irrational hatred of Arabs and the sense of choseness of the “elect” in Protestantism; while concurrently weakening the good side of Christianity: social conscience, opposition to usury, communal responsibility, duty, group honor, charity, selflessness, etc.
ellauri159.html on line 782: Honor: Traditional honor is not the same as integrity — living up to your own, personal standards. Traditional honor is a reputation for strength, courage, and mastery — as judged by other men. Honorable men care about being manly, knowing that each individual member’s prowess in the tactical virtues bolsters the strength and reputation of the gang as a whole and thus deters attack from rival gangs. Dishonorable men, on the other hand, evince indifference or hostility to the standards, weakening the group and leaving it more vulnerable.
ellauri163.html on line 873: In the last presentation we looked at Durkheim’s ideas on the weakening of the collective conscience through modernity—the division of labor, weakening of primary groups and general social change. As we saw, this left the individual without much moral guidance. As Durkheim was concerned with moral behavior and social justice he naturally turned to the study of religion.
ellauri163.html on line 889: By worshiping God people are unwittingly worshiping the power of the collective over them—a power that both created and guides them. They are worshiping society itself. Religion is one of the main forces that make up the collective conscience; religion which allows the individual to transcend self and act for the social good. But traditional religion was weakening under the onslaught of the division of labor; what could replace religion as the common bond?
ellauri196.html on line 629: The major legislation was the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, called the Wagner Act. It greatly strengthened organized unions, especially by weakening the company unions that many workers belonged to. It was to the members advantage to transform a company union into a local of an AFL union, and thousands did so, dramatically boosting the membership.
xxx/ellauri075.html on line 168: Despite his weakening condition Shestov continued to write at a quick pace, and finally completed his magnum opus, Athens and Jerusalem. This work examines the dichotomy between freedom and reason, and argues that reason be rejected in the discipline of philosophy. Furthermore, it adumbrates the means by which the scientific method has made philosophy and science irreconcilable, since science concerns itself with empirical observation, whereas (so Shestov argues) philosophy must be concerned with freedom, God and immortality, issues that cannot be solved by science.
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