Gorbachev (1931-2022)

RIA Novosti archive
Vladimir Vyatkin

Mikhail Gorbachev, who died yesterday at age 91, leaves behind a Russia caught up in the troubles engendered by the breakup of an empire he tried in vain to salvage. Lionized by the west, he was vilified at home, a tragic figure whose good intentions were insufficient to free Russia from the weight of its own turbulent past.

He will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the great leaders of the last quarter of the 20th century, who brought to a fairly peaceful end one of the most oppressive regimes in history, yet without being able to alter for the better the political culture that had nurtured it. Successfully ending the Cold War after just over four decades, Gorbachev proved more skilled at initiating good relations with the major western powers than at securing and maintaining the support of his own people. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher memorably called the Soviet leader "a man one could do business with." Nevertheless, co-operation at élite levels does not necessarily lead to lasting friendship between nations, as we are seeing at present with Russia's international isolation over its attack on Ukraine.

I will have more to say about Gorbachev's legacy in the near future.

The respectable Christianity of Life with Father

In many ways this classic 1947 film has not aged well, with its portrayal of a stern patriarchal father and a manipulative mother who actually controls the household and invariably gets her way. What was thought humorous seventy-five years ago might be thought insufferable today. Nevertheless, I found the film fascinating, even as I admit I had to take it in small doses to get through the entire thing. Starring two of the best known actors of their day, William Powell (1892-1984) and Irene Dunne (1898-1990), Life with Father is a cinematic version of a 1939 play, based in turn on the 1935 autobiography by Clarence Day, Jr. (1874-1935), played in the film by 24-year-old Jimmy Lydon (1923-2022), better remembered for playing Henry Aldrich in the eponymous radio programme and film series. The score was composed by Max Steiner (1888-1971), known for his music for Gone With the Wind (1939), Casablanca (1942), and A Summer Place (1959), among many others.

 

The source of my interest lies in its portrayal of turn-of-the-last-century upper-middle-class urban Christianity. The Day family are New York City Episcopalians (Anglicans) in the 1890s (1883 in the film), their church affiliation playing a major role in the story line. This comes out in three subplots.

Iron Sharpens Iron interview

As I mentioned in my August newsletter, Jonathan Chaplin interviewed me on the subject of my book, Political Visions and Illusions. The interview has now been posted on YouTube:

Hopeful realism or patient hopefulness?

Last month three esteemed colleagues of mine published a statement in Public Discourse: the Journal of the Witherspoon Institute: Hopeful Realism: Renewing Evangelical Political Morality. The authors, Jesse Covington, Bryan McGraw, and Micah Watson, I know from conferences we have all attended. Last May, during my visit to Calvin University, I was privileged to have coffee (well, tea actually) with Watson, who teaches political science there. This article was a collaborative effort, and I recommend a close reading of their argument, which is that the future of evangelical politics lies in a recovery of the natural law under the broad rubric of a hopeful realism. The authors outline four principles of a hopeful realism:

Tradition as a Way of Life: Yoram Hazony’s Winsome Defence

Mere Orthodoxy has published my review of Yoram Hazony's Conservatism: A Rediscovery: Tradition as a Way of Life: Yoram Hazony’s Winsome Defence. An excerpt:

I personally found the book a delightful read. Few nonfiction books are likely to be page turners, but this one is. Despite its nearly 400 pages, Conservatism is difficult to put down once you’ve begun, so it’s best to set aside some time to do it justice. Indeed, virtually every page is brimming with wisdom rooted in the biblical tradition with which the author, an observant Jew, is familiar. He shows considerable insight into human relationships and the qualities needed to maintain them over the long term. In fleshing out his conservative vision, Hazony succeeds in making the rival liberal and Marxist worldviews look thin and remote from lived reality. Nevertheless, despite the book’s considerable strengths, I was not persuaded by his overall argument for two reasons that I will explain below.

To learn what those reasons are, click here.

Three years ago I reviewed Hazony's earlier book, The Virtue of Nationalism, at Kuyperian Commentary: Is Nationalism Worth Defending? Both books are worth reading and pondering.

Probing the Russian and Ukrainian political cultures

At the time of communism's collapse in the Soviet Union and its former client states, some observers believed it was possible that Russia and the other post-Soviet republics would finally adopt democratic forms of government. One such scholar, Nicolai N. Petro, published a book titled, The Rebirth of Russian Democracy: An Interpretation of Political Culture (Harvard, 1997). I used to assign this book when I was teaching Russian politics, not because I found Petro's thesis entirely persuasive, but because the author plausibly focussed on the country's tradition of "constrained autocracy," Orthodox Christianity's "Symphonic Ideal," and the possible role of "Russia's Alternative Political Organizations" in paving the way to democracy. Sad to say, Russia's tradition of less constrained autocracy reasserted itself at the turn of the millennium, with President Vladimir Putin making a concerted effort to rein in and ultimately suppress alternative organizations that might have constrained his authoritarian proclivities. The current war with Ukraine has only increased the power of an autocratic leader—something scarcely surprising to students of Russian history.

August newsletter

I have now posted my latest Global Scholars newsletter online, including a request for prayers for my health: August 2022 newsletter.

Cardus conversation and populism

This week I travelled (virtually) from one end of South America to the other, while last evening saw my return to Canada, where I conversed with Cardus' 2022-2023 NextGen Fellowship Cohort, consisting of twelve people ages 25 to 34 with impressive résumés who are at the beginning of their careers in public service. They have been reading and discussing together Political Visions and Illusions, and last evening was their opportunity to talk with the author. One of the participants asked a question about populism, as did one of my Brazilian readers a day earlier. I did not cover populism as such in my book, although my treatments of conservatism, nationalism, and democratism certainly have relevance. Five years ago, however, I did write an article for the Autumn 2017 issue of The Bible in Transmission, of the Bible Society (also known as the British and Foreign Bible Society): Populism in Christian Perspective. An excerpt:

Remote lecture and conversation: João Pessoa, Brazil

The Brazilian city of João Pessoa is on the other side of South America from Santiago, Chile, and this is the location of the hosts for my next lecture, which took place last evening. The sponsoring institution was the Faculdade Internacional Cidade Viva in the tropical northeast of the continent's largest country. Every day between 8 and 14 August, to open the new semester, the faculty is discussing Political Visions and Illusions. I spoke to them on "Ideologies and Idolatry," taking the form of a first-person account of how I came to write the book and a brief glimpse into my plans for a sequel.

Remote lecture: Santiago, Chile

Last evening I delivered a remote lecture to the community associated with the Facultad de Teología Reformada in Santiago, Chile. This is a winter seminar (Chile is in the southern hemisphere of course) devoted to the Well-Being of the City (based on Jeremiah 29), connected with a larger discussion of Christian Faith, Political Action, and the New Constitution. After the turmoil of 2019, Chile is in the process of formulating a new constitution to replace the 1980 constitution adopted during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. A plebiscite on the document will take place next month.

Here is my lecture and subsequent discussion below. I especially liked the question about the element of truth in anarchism, something I did not cover in Political Visions and Illusions.

Reaching the hispanic world

Christian Courier has published my monthly column here: Reaching the hispanic world, with the subtitle: "¡Que Dios bendiga a su pueblo en el mundo hispano!" An excerpt:

Sources differ on the numbers of Spanish speakers in the United States, but their presence is enough to make that country one of the largest hispanophone nations in the world, possibly outranking Spain itself. Indeed, automatic teller machines in banks will prompt you to choose between English and Spanish, even though Spanish is not an official language of the United States . . . .

In 2014 the Pew Research Center reported that the Catholic share of the Latino population was declining, with evangelical and unaffiliated numbers growing. According to the report, Hispanic evangelicals attend church at higher rates than Catholics and are more involved in related activities such as Bible studies and evangelism. With the Latino population increasing in the U.S., it seems likely that Christianity will become more Hispanic as religious observance declines among the white middle class.

Read the entire column here.