Given the season, I decided to be reflective on Christian thinking and decided to read a famous work by Reinhold Niebuhr, the Irony of American History.  Given how many American politicians claim to be inspired by Niebuhr, from President- elect Obama to his opponent Sen. McCain, it seemed wise to see what he says.

While this book is by no means an exhaustive look at his overall corpus, it was illuminating.  Written during the tumultous early years of the Cold War when nuclear annihilation was a possible outcome of the conflict, Niebuhr eloquently points to the serious flaws and dangers of Marxist-Leninism.  Yet, while defending America from much criticism (and generally supporting America in its conflict with Marxist-Leninism), he finds flaws in America.  He finds "irony" abounding throughout history.  He notes that man can transcend nature, but by being a creator as well as a creature of history, he finds it difficult to find ultimate meaning.

This can facilitate situations where even those who believe themselves to be doing the morally correct thing can actually become imperious and distrusted by their friends due to their blindness and unwillingness to examine their own limitations.  Niebuhr is clear that human life should not be seen as "tragic" where the great hero is evemtually toppled due to a conscience decision born of hubris, nor is he "pathetic" or trapped completely within a prison of circumstance wholly beyond his control.  Rather, man is "ironic" in that he is capable of transcendence, yet he often has his wings clipped as result of decisions made not so much through willful calculation, but almost by organic movement growth.

Unsurprsingly, he calls for humility and makes clear this is the cornerstone of Christian faith (though he wisely refuses to make the humility of the poor the be all and end all of morality, recognizing that the resentments of the poor are often as self-interested as the conceit of the rich).

Several snippets below I fond particularly insightful as we continue to struggle with determining how best to wield the power that we have. 

"Ironic contrasts and incongruitites have an element of the comic in them in so far as they exhibit absurd juxtapositions of strength and weakeness; of wisdom through foolishness; or foolishness as the fruit of wisdon; of guilt arising from the pretensions of innocency; or innocency hiding behind ostensible guilt.  Yet contrasts are ironic only if htey are not merely absurd, but have a hidden meaning.  They must elicit not merely laughter but a knowing smile.  The hidden meaning is supplied by the fact that the juxtapositions and contrasts are not merely fortuitous.  They are related to each other by some foible of the person who is involved in both.  The powerful person who is proved to be really weak is involved in an ironic contrast only if his weakness is due to some pretension of strength.  If 'pride cometh before the fall,' the fall is ironic only if pride contributed to it...

The Biblical interpretation of the human situation is ironic, rather than tragic or pathetic, because of its unique formulation of the problem of human freedom.  According to this faith man's freedom does not require his heroic and tragic defiance of the forces of nature.  He is not necessarily involved in tragedy in his effort to be truly human.  But neither is he necessarily involved in evil because of his relation to the necessities and contingincies of the world of nature.  His situation is, therefore, not comprehended as a pathetic imprisonment in  the confusion of nature.  The evil in human history is regarded as the consequence of man's wrong use of his unique capacities.  The wrong use is always due to some failure to recognize the limits of his capacities of power, wisdom and virtue.  Man is an ironic creature because he forgets that he is not simply a creator but also a creature."

I come away believing that one cannot ignore the power they have and turn inward, hoping to be merely "left alone" and allowed to return to the tranquility of times past.  This means, we must be engaged. 

I also recognize that we, in America, often do not appreciate how we are perceived by others.  This lack of appreciation yields anger and resentment when we are called to account by other nations and people for actions we take to be virtuous and necessary. 

We cannot escape our position and we cannot escape our condemnation for being in such a position.   The truth is we are not as noble as we wish to believe, though we are simultaneously far more noble than we are typically accused by others of being.  I suspect an ironic smile and acknowledgement of this would help us to not ignore the opinion of our fellow man, yet also not flagellate ourselves ceaselessly as some are so desirous of doing.