America has a God-shaped hole in its heart, argues New York Times bestselling author Ben Shapiro, and we shouldn't fill it with politics and hate.
In 2016, Ben Shapiro spoke at UC Berkeley. Hundreds of police officers were required from 10 UC campuses across the state to protect his speech, which was -- ironically -- about the necessity for free speech and rational debate.
He came to argue that Western Civilization is in the midst of a crisis of purpose and ideas. Our freedoms are built upon the twin notions that every human being is made in God’s image and that human beings were created with reason capable of exploring God’s world.
We can thank these values for the birth of science, the dream of progress, human rights, prosperity, peace, and artistic beauty. Jerusalem and Athens built America, ended slavery, defeated the Nazis and the Communists, lifted billions from poverty and gave billions spiritual purpose. Jerusalem and Athens were the foundations of the Magna Carta and the Treaty of Westphalia; they were the foundations of Declaration of Independence, Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail.
Civilizations that rejected Jerusalem and Athens have collapsed into dust. The USSR rejected Judeo-Christian values and Greek natural law, substituting a new utopian vision of “social justice” – and they starved and slaughtered tens of millions of human beings. The Nazis rejected Judeo-Christian values and Greek natural law, and they shoved children into gas chambers. Venezuela rejects Judeo-Christian values and Greek natural law, and citizens of their oil-rich nation have been reduced to eating dogs.
We are in the process of abandoning Judeo-Christian values and Greek natural law, favoring instead moral subjectivism and the rule of passion. And we are watching our civilization collapse into age-old tribalism, individualistic hedonism, and moral subjectivism. We believe we can reject Judeo-Christian values and Greek natural law and satisfy ourselves with intersectionality, or scientific materialism, or progressive politics, or authoritarian governance, or nationalistic solidarity.
We can’t.
The West is special, and in The Right Side of History, Ben Shapiro bravely explains that it’s because too many of us have lost sight of the moral purpose that drives us each to be better, or the sacred duty to work together for the greater good, or both. A stark warning, and a call to spiritual arms, this book may be the first step in getting our civilization back on track.
3 有用 Defi 2020-05-16 18:03:25
作者是保守派的政治评论家,在这本书里详细的讨论了耶路撒冷和雅典两大道统,以此发展出的宗教基因、文化传承、价值观,通过梳理西方思想史的脉络,评述了西方文明是怎么强大起来的,驳斥了20世纪以来的新启蒙运动,自由主义等左派思潮,尤其是对近年来美国出现的很多“白左”现象,比如过度的平权,福利和政治正确等,不过作者也没拿出什么实际的办法……虽然对作者一些言论并不赞同,他的思维系统和逻辑还是很有启发,值得一读
1 有用 Laz 2020-01-13 18:57:29
啥啊 全没听进去
2 有用 visiona3r 2021-08-17 23:01:35
Ben同学在他的Podcast上一直力推的新作,读了还是有点失望的,和严肃的思想史扯不上关系,耶路撒冷和雅典作为西方文明基石的论点过于简单化了。还真是如他所说是给保守派孩子看的书。
2 有用 霉狮♛ 2020-12-06 23:07:52
◢历史感 【读层次】人物故事/经济政治战争科技/思想(西方指导行动) 【脱离历史】 ①意义难定(国家冲突历史判) ②条件:历史包容未来不着急 ◢西 【支柱】 ①神性意义_追求:平等接近于上帝_为己负责_进步而非循环 ②理性能力:历史证明有限 【凡人觉醒】 ①上帝过渡人:科学思想副产品实用 ②民主:人欲_平等战争_宽容人权 【崩塌:身份人权】 ①矫枉过正受害者心态:环境>主动/主观(身份变意义)>客... ◢历史感 【读层次】人物故事/经济政治战争科技/思想(西方指导行动) 【脱离历史】 ①意义难定(国家冲突历史判) ②条件:历史包容未来不着急 ◢西 【支柱】 ①神性意义_追求:平等接近于上帝_为己负责_进步而非循环 ②理性能力:历史证明有限 【凡人觉醒】 ①上帝过渡人:科学思想副产品实用 ②民主:人欲_平等战争_宽容人权 【崩塌:身份人权】 ①矫枉过正受害者心态:环境>主动/主观(身份变意义)>客观 ②享乐而非追求:如不幸福则因敌人 ◢中 ①思想和稀泥悬置:阴阳矛盾环境关系/长远 ②实用:高执行 (展开)
2 有用 jack 2020-04-02 16:02:53
看了preface: conclusion:大概是说从古希腊的natural law,philosophy中反思美国当代的civilization和conflict 看来美国问题也很多。 还有我的观点是,从虚无去分析虚无,我觉得是徒劳的。 第一个观点 q:we left our soul in desperate need of sustenence a:persuading moral p... 看了preface: conclusion:大概是说从古希腊的natural law,philosophy中反思美国当代的civilization和conflict 看来美国问题也很多。 还有我的观点是,从虚无去分析虚无,我觉得是徒劳的。 第一个观点 q:we left our soul in desperate need of sustenence a:persuading moral purpose me:disapproval (其实看到这里觉得标题改为 美国xx问会好点。还有不知为啥标题是那样) 其实里面提到了心理学家。我觉得现在的心理学虽然可以解释提高认知,但是却不能够真正解决问题。在happiness的问题上并不看好心理学的作用。反而我认同达尔文的理论 。 (展开)
1 有用 陈宇俊 2022-04-11 14:37:29
一个问题的解决方法无法在问题自身的层次上被求得。上帝、telos、民族、国家各种意义推动人存在的源动力,科学技术不断探索意义的边界甚至创造新的意义。
0 有用 克洛伊木马 2022-03-25 20:49:17
读着怪怪的= =
1 有用 魔法师的世界 2022-02-13 17:03:17
到了人几乎无所不能的未来,人类恰恰就只能从历史中寻找意义。 我们为什么活着?因为我们要传承历史……否则整个人类的存在,都毫无意义。
1 有用 L’HommeRévolté 2022-01-10 22:46:32
死 @2021-04-08 09:03:07 @2021-07-25 00:21:55
2 有用 visiona3r 2021-08-17 23:01:35
Ben同学在他的Podcast上一直力推的新作,读了还是有点失望的,和严肃的思想史扯不上关系,耶路撒冷和雅典作为西方文明基石的论点过于简单化了。还真是如他所说是给保守派孩子看的书。