Patriotism

 

Adler Study, Case A, Shelf 5

As part of my work on the Bibliography of Ethical Culture, I have begun to try to make a case for a better record of the contents of the Adler Study at NYSEC.  It wouldn't be any of my business, of course, except that there is a literal treasure trove of history, knowledge, and seriously interesting stuff on those shelves.  One step that I am recommending is the use of photography to document the current configuration of each bookcase and shelf.  The above photograph was taken with my old Android phone (don't ask me the model).  

Recently, just out of curiosity, I enlarged this photo to see if I could read the spines of these books.  Decades of light exposure have faded many of the titles, but I could see a few.  One struck me as a matter of interest for the Bibliography, so I checked it out on archive.org.  Sure enough it is there, since it was published in 1918 and is now out of copyright.

The volume is by Horace J. Bridges (1880 - 1955), born in England and recruited by Stanton Coit as an Ethical Culture leader; Bridges served in the Chicago Society until about 1945.  This one of his many publications, On Becoming an American:  Meditations of a Newly Naturalized Immigrant, can be seen in the picture above (the red book between the black one on the left and the green one on the right).  I really can't read every item that I add to the Bibliography, although I sincerely wish I could.  In this case, however, I took advantage of the scan published in the Internet Library and took a look at the Preface.  A faint underline in pencil caught my attention, and I read the following:

. . . Patriotism denotes the spirit which is ready to live and die for the ideals of one's country, not only in war with foreign enemies, but also when its standards have to be asserted against the perverted sentiment or irrational impetuosity of one's fellow citizens.  It implies, accordingly, that one shall be ready to think for one's nation as well as fight for it. (pp. viii-ix)

Yea, verily.

And this is why I do this work.  Lacking an Ethical Culture leader in the Ethical Society of Austin, we must conduct our own conversations with the past, because the past is not only our foundation in Ethical Culture, it is our passport to the future.  Without it, we wander in circles, repeating the same mistakes and solutions, making little forward progress into new paths. 

Lest we continue to wander in circles while I try to get to my point, let me say that I find this "message from the past" very relevant to our present.  Even more so when I connect it to Adler's reminder in his Founding Address that "the future calls to us."   I believe that we are called by our future--our future country--the fellow citizens of our future--the children and grandchildren of our future--to serve our country well as we go into this election.  Yes, we should register to vote--and encourage others to register.  Yes, we should vote--and encourage others to vote.  We should also "think" for our country, think for the future, about the issues being used by candidates to influence voters.  Are they being accurate?  Are they being fair?  Are they looking at the whole picture?  Are they recommending ethical policies?  How can we turn our thinking into action--into words--that clarify the ethical issues that will have a positive or negative effect on our future?