I am still reading and digesting Adler's words, am still, indeed, in the beginning of the address where he is laying out the conditions of the world which cry out to him of the need for this new religious organization. Without yet considering what he seeks to establish, it is worthwhile to pause to consider what and why he seeks to establish something new. And, given my already proud admission of being a lover of words, the language, dear ones, the language!
The broader context for Adler's address is interesting in itself. He only alludes to strife, corruption, and the general disarray of society and its institutions. With very little detailed knowledge of history we already know that, in 1876, the United States was still undergoing the social upheaval of the Civil War which "ended" just 11 years before. Adler also alluded to "this festal epoch of [the Nation's] marriage to Liberty," 1876 being the nation's first centennial. One can imagine this to be an anniversary of great moment in the minds of a people who had just shed so much blood to maintain its unity, giving them even more pause to think about the principles on which the nation had been founded. Lincoln was assassinated, his vice-president and successor impeached, his Commanding General elected president and presiding over an administration widely criticized for its corruption. Rutherford B. Hayes, president at the time of Adler's address, was proposing reforms to which Adler refers directly:
But the renovation of our Civil Service, the reform of our Primaries, and whatever other measures may be devised, they all depend in the last instance upon the fidelity of those to whom their execution must be entrusted. They will all fail unless the root of the evil be attacked, unless the conscience of men be aroused, the confusion of right and wrong checked, and the loftier purposes of our being again brought powerfully home to the hearts of the people.Adler cites a reduction in moral presence from already established religious institutions ("Morality, long accustomed to the watchful tutelage of faith, finds this connection loosened or severed. . . "). He spends even more time addressing "a fierce craving desire for gain [that] has taken possession of the commercial world . . ." He calls for a "powerful check and counterpoise, lest the pursuit of gain be enhanced to an importance never rightfully its own, lest, in proportion as we enhance our comfort and well-being, comfort and well-being become the main objects of existence, and life's grander motives and meanings be forgotten."
In the latter statement, Adler parallels my own thinking--that we are not merely animals who live by consuming, excreting, and making whoopee--that we have minds and consciousness of our own being and the world around us and so can and should contemplate the nature of ourselves and our world, preferably to act to make of them both the best that they can be. Adler says it so much more elegantly, of course, the language of his day being more specifically shaped for rhetorical effect and circumlocution, while the language of our day is more truncated, direct, and coarsened.
The Founding Address has echoes in the present in the greed of commerce, the ubiquitous pursuit of happiness at the expense of higher values, the concerns of public policy and the corruption of policy makers, the need to provide real moral direction to our children. I will continue studying this address for its content but also for its perspective. I'm sure I will find more in this address that speaks to me/us today.
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