Grant, I am quite intrigued by this line of argument. This reasserts the importance of reading Arendt for me.
A further twist on the issue: Miroslav Volf’s “Exclusion and Embrace” is a brilliant Christian argument against what you are detecting as “set-apartness” of Nazis, Jews, Palestinian zealots, IRA, Armenian nationalists, etc. He argues that though it is not possible (or desirable) for us, as historically limited and socially circumscribed creatures, to escape our identification with particularities of our ethnic history, clannishness, etc., as Xans we are called to embrace our enemies. Maybe because the blood of Abel is still on our hands, it is so difficult for us to forgive and embrace.
sgassanov
Sep 21 2002
02:39 pm
Grant, I am quite intrigued by this line of argument. This reasserts the importance of reading Arendt for me.
A further twist on the issue: Miroslav Volf’s “Exclusion and Embrace” is a brilliant Christian argument against what you are detecting as “set-apartness” of Nazis, Jews, Palestinian zealots, IRA, Armenian nationalists, etc. He argues that though it is not possible (or desirable) for us, as historically limited and socially circumscribed creatures, to escape our identification with particularities of our ethnic history, clannishness, etc., as Xans we are called to embrace our enemies. Maybe because the blood of Abel is still on our hands, it is so difficult for us to forgive and embrace.