The American Missionary Spirit, 1828–1835

1938 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Orin Oliphant

Within the years indicated in the title of this paper, missionary activity in the United States came to be permeated by a spirit of enterprise that was truly remarkable. The enthusiastic outbursts of those years, presently to be noticed, were in truth novel expressions of faith grown militant, but they were not uncharacteristic of the time. Rapid change within a generation had made thoughtful Americans keenly aware of the fact that they were living in a new age, an age distinguished, among other things, for Christian benevolence. As the democratization of American life proceeded, latent energies were released and the mobilization of such energies in associations for the promotion of change was revealing to the common folk of America a new and effective way of social action and was implanting in their consciousness a belief in the idea of progress. By the decade of the 1820's Americans generally were coming to believe that it was possible by united effort to achieve emancipation for the more fortunate many and amelioration of the lot of the less fortunate few. The multiplication of associations revealed an eager striving to attain these aims. In the realm of religious activity the urge to accomplishment took the form of united endeavor for the conversion of the world.

Worldview ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 14-16
Author(s):  
Lionel Gelber

When the United States fostered the recovery and underwrote the security of Western Europe she had more than sentiment to impel her. That salient zone is a pivotal sector of the world balance, and while she may station fewer of her own troops upon its soil, she can entertain no total disengagement from it. But there is another West European item, the future of the Common Market, which calls for a fresh American scrutiny. The West will be better off if Western Europe acquires more of an ability to stand on its own feet. Gaullism, however, revealed a less modest goal, one that was not confined to France and did not vanish with the departure of General de Gaulle. On the contrary, it may have gained new leverage from his downfall.


Author(s):  
Diana L. Eck ◽  
Brendan Randall

The United States is among the most religiously diverse countries in the world. Although such diversity is not a new phenomenon, its degree and visibility have increased dramatically in the past fifty years, reigniting the debate over a fundamental civic question: What is the common identity that binds us together? How we respond to religious diversity in the context of education has enormous implications for our democratic society. To the extent that previous frameworks such as exclusion or assimilation ever were desirable or effective, they no longer are. Increased religious diversity is an established fact and growing trend. The United States needs a more inclusive and robust civic framework for religious diversity in the twenty-first century—pluralism—and this framework should be an essential component of civic education.


Literator ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andries Visagie

The socialist sympathies that inform the writing of Flemish author Walter van den Broeck align him with a well-established tradition of socially engaged writing in Flanders. In his novel Terug naar Walden (Back to Walden), published in 2009, he revisits the Walden project of the Dutch reformer and writer Frederik van Eeden (1860−1932). Van den Broeck suggests that a reconsideration of the socialist ideals that inspired Van Eeden to establish settlements in the Netherlands and the United States is warranted in the light of the economic crisis triggered by unchecked capitalist practices in 2008. In Terug naar Walden Ruler Marsh, the richest man in the world, unleashes a global financial crisis as a form of retaliation against the capitalist system that ruined his parents. Marsh returns to the Kempen in Flanders where his family originated. In a Heideggerean affirmation of the local as exemplified by the country road, Van den Broeck articulates his vision of the common, that theorists Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri in their Empire trilogy have attempted to salvage from communist thinking, with a utopian notion that a stronger connection with the land and the people within one’s immediate environment may provide a useful premise for the development of viable alternatives to capitalism.


1884 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 81-89
Author(s):  
W. H. Edwards

I am asked to write for the Can. Ent. a paper on breeding butterflies, and on taking observations of the larval stages, and I comply with pleasure, hoping that what I shall say may be the means of inducing some collectors to cultivate this field. There are many local collections of butterflies in Canada and the United States, and a few general North American collections, more or less complete. But their owners are mostly satisfied with mere collecting and accumulating specimens of the imago. Very few know anything of the larval and other stages of the butterflies, unless of some of the common species. And where anything is known, very little is given to the world. Some collectors, however, have also been breeders of butterflies, sphinges and moths on a large scale. As for example, our friends, John Akhurst and Professor Julius E. Meyer, of Brooklyn, each of whom could fill a good-sized volume, if they would relate one half of what they know on these subjects. Such an one was the late William Newman, of Philadelphia, who lived to a good old age, and had spent his spare hours for many years in collecting and breeding lepidoptera. But none of these gentlemen have published a line that I am aware of, and the entomological world is not much the wiser for their private experience. So that practically here is a great field almost unworked.


Author(s):  
David A. Hamburg ◽  
Beatrix A. Hamburg

The media, even in democratic societies, have been faulted for glorifying violence, especially in the entertainment industry. And we have seen how the harsh use of hateful propaganda through the media, by nationalist and sectarian leaders, can inflame conflicts in many parts of the world. The international community can support media that portray accurate information on current events, show constructive relations between different groups, and report instances in which violence has been prevented. Foundations, commissions, and universities can work with broadcasters to help provide responsible, insightful coverage of serious conflicts. For example, through constructive interactions with the Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict, CNN International moved to balance coverage of violence and strategies for peaceful conflict resolution. Social action for prosocial media may become an effective function of nongovernmental organizations, similar to their achievements in human rights. Research findings have established a causal link between children’s television viewing and their subsequent behavior in the United States and a variety of other countries (e.g., Australia, Finland, Israel, the Netherlands, Poland). Both aggressive and prosocial behaviors can be evoked, depending on the content of programs. There is no reason to assume that the impact of movies is substantially different. As early as age 2, children imitate behaviors (including violent behaviors) seen on television, and the effects may last into their teen years. Must violent content predominate forever? How can the media help to prevent deadly conflicts in the future? The proliferation of media in all forms constitutes an important aspect of globalization. Films, television, print, radio, and the Internet have immense power to reach people with powerful messages, for better and worse. At present, the United States is largely responsible for the output of film and television content seen by people worldwide. But advances in technology are making it increasingly feasible for media to be produced in all parts of the world—all too often with messages of hate, and they may become even more dangerous than the excessive violence in U.S. television and movies. Films have great, unused potential for encouraging peace and for nonviolent problem solving. They entertain, educate, and constitute a widely shared experience.


Author(s):  
Richard Lippke

This chapter examines the fundamental values that ought to inform criminal procedure. More specifically, it considers what we ideally should want from the rules and procedures that exist in legal jurisdictions throughout the world. Three fundamental values are discussed—human dignity, truth, and fairness—and the ways in which they can be upheld or subverted by criminal justice practices. Illustrations are drawn primarily from the United States, but reference is also made to criminal procedure in other countries, including those in the civil law tradition. The article concludes by analyzing two further candidates for inclusion on the list of fundamental values of criminal procedure: the “effectiveness” of criminal procedure and the value of “expertise” that highlights the distinction between the common law and civil law traditions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 313-316
Author(s):  
Brian McGarry

During his presentation, Mr. McGarry critiqued the common wisdom that the United States is not well served by acceding to compulsory jurisdiction systems and proposed his draft text for a declaration accepting the World Court's compulsory jurisdiction with reservations and conditions that advance American interests.


Daímon ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 113-127
Author(s):  
Jean-Fabien Spitz

Nacido en 1790 y fallecido en 1932 víctima de la pandemia de cólera, Thomas Skidmore es uno de los principales representantes del agrarismo en los Estados Unidos de la primera mitad del siglo XIX. Inspirado por las ideas desarrolladas por Thomas Paine en Agrarian Justice, en 1829 publicó el libro The rights of Man to property en el que desarrolla las consecuencias de la idea según la cual, siendo el mundo una propiedad común de todos los hombres, cada uno tiene un derecho imprescriptible a una parte igual de los recursos naturales. Entre estas consecuencias figura la tesis de que este derecho hace imposible todo derecho a testar, pues tal derecho haría de todo punto imposible que cada nuevo individuo incorporado tuviera acceso a la justa parte de propiedad a la que tendría derecho. Skidmore elabora así una teoría precisa acerca de las razones por las que el testador, tras su muerte, no puede tener derecho alguno sobre los bienes de los que fue propietario en vida. Born in 1790 and victim of the cholera pandemics in 1832, Thomas Skidmore is one of the main representatives of agrarianism in the United states during the first half of the XIXth century. Inspired by the principles Thomas Paine had put forth in Agrarian justice, Skidmore publishes in 1829 a book entitled The rights of man to property in which he states the consequences of the idea that, the world being the common property of all men, every individual has an imprescriptible right to an equal share of natural resources. Among those consequences is the claim that such a principle makes any right of bequest and inheritance absolutely impossible, since such a right would make it impossible that each new individual arriving in the world has an effective right of access to the just share of property he is entitled to. Skidmore builds in consequence a precise explanation of the reasons why the testator, after his death, can no longer have any right over the properties he owned during his lifetime.


2011 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 230-260
Author(s):  
Lawrence Azubuike

AbstractThe influence of the United States of America in the world is reflected not just in the export of its values and policies, but also in the spread of US jurisprudence and legal norms around the world. Many nations try to emulate US trial practice and procedure, while others measure the utility of their procedural rules by US standards. The rule generally prohibiting the admissibility of hearsay evidence is firmly rooted in the common law which is the basis of the legal systems in both the USA and Nigeria. This article explores and compares the jurisprudential and other rationales underpinning the hearsay rule in both jurisdictions. It finds that, although there are slight differences in the trial procedures of the two systems, the general stricture against hearsay evidence is informed by similar rationales in both jurisdictions.


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