[Peace-discuss] Re: Reply to Dahlheim

[n.dahlheim at mchsi.com]

Carl,
     I appreciate the thoughtful response.  I wish so badly I could agree with your optimism in a 
progressive movement making a difference in American politics.  Even so, I wish that your general 
philosophy would be more widely accepted in a culture of mass ignorance such as ours.
     I wish very badly that I could agree with the optimism Jefferson had in the people.  But, Jefferson's 
own presidency revealed how much even he favored the centralization of power when he occupied the 
keys to the kingdom.  The Louisiana Purchase and the Embargo Acts show this to be the case.  I just 
don't see the basis in that optimism given the contemporary social condition of American society.  
     Also, I don't want to be seen as endorsing the support Hoffer received from the Right.  But, his 
arguments revealed how the New Left failed, even if his prescription for dealing with 60s Leftists were 
well off the mark.  The New Left quickly abandoned issues of economic justice and the hard issues of 
war and peace in favor of identity politics and esoteric cultural politics.  The history of mass movements 
has been exceedingly poor with regards to the advancement of genuine liberty and social equality 
(some exceptions notwithstanding).  So, at least on this point Hoffer's overall pessimism is well-
founded in his elucidation of history found in "True Believer."
     In regards to the role of religion in America, yes, the established "High" churches in the North played 
crucial roles in mobilizing opposition to political injustice---especially black slavery in the South.  
However, "low" churches cutoff from the scholarship of the High Churches and the discipline imposed 
by traditions easily wandered into the absurd.  Tent revivals led by Elmer Gantry figures in the 19th 
centuiry are the ancestors of today's Ted Haggard-like megachurches.  They infected the masses with 
Millenarian apocalyptic eschatology and rampant anti-intellectualism.  Furthermore, these church 
groups interesected with white working class racism directed against the freed blacks as well as 
nativism directed against Catholic and Jewish immigrants.  Only the bourgeoise churches of the North 
really helped transform the mood of the country from one supporting slavery to one more opposed to 
it.  The proletariat in America has not had a good record promoting equality and social justice through 
their religious faith as people like Richard Hofstadter (even though some of his work like the Age of 
Reform overplayed the racist elements in American proletarian culture) have shown.  So, I think the 
record on American religion being a bastion for progresive causes until recently might be a bit of a 
stretch.