[The letter below is my reply to a stranger who responded to my letter to the Boston University alumni magazine "Bostonia" in which I satirized BU President Brown's use of the term "the right side of history."]
July 2, 2023
Dear Passionate Responder,
Thank you for your response to my BU letter. While I am
disappointed you dropped the “F-bomb” and used the default Nazi rhetoric, I
will attempt to reply to your concerns regarding the ideas expressed in my
letter.
I was not attacking the BU position on fossil fuel divestiture;
I was critiquing President Brown’s smugness on using that old worn out
expression on “the right side of history.” My criticism was written as satire but
the condensed version published did not seem satirical at all so I can see how
I may be misunderstood.
For me the “right side of history” rhetoric is moral smugness.
The language is used by both traditionalists and progressives to advance their
causes. And if the cause ultimately “wins out” our confirmation bias kicks in
and with an arrogant shrug of the shoulders we announce, “Of course, it was
indeed the moral and right thing to do.” And in many situations, it was indeed
the right thing to do. Nevertheless, our “victories” can lead to hubris and a
lack of humility, just the opposite of the situation described by David Brooks in
the first chapter of his book The Road to Character.
Our historical hubris can lead to a sense of no limitations
on our part, a lack of prudence in misguided attempts to manipulate and engineer
history in a scientific way for our own selfish purposes, however noble. And
our hubris can lead us to demean and dehumanize those who hold opposing
positions. For example, on the basis of a short and edited letter you associate
me with Nazis, racists, homophobia, anti-vaccers, ignorance, ideocracy and immorality. Whew! {And I thought we could
be friends!)
So, you think you know me? Did you check my LinkedIn
profile? I wish to introduce myself at the risk of you justifying to yourself
that I “protest too much” and am therefore guilty of all charges. Briefly, I am
a(n)
o
Christ-follower since 1969
o
Husband since 1971
o
Father of two adult children
o
Grandfather to four children
o
Great grandson of a farmer
o
Grandson of a tavern owner and shipbuilder
o
Son of a carpenter and construction worker
o Admirer of Edmund Burke, Peter Drucker, Lisa Kennedy Montgomery, William Wilberforce, Caroline Cox, Abraham Lincoln, Harry Truman, Jimmy Carter. Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, Winston Churchill, George Marshall, Margaret Thatcher, and Barry Goldwater
o
Political independent
o
Social conservative
o
Limited government libertarian
o
Retired elementary school principal
o
Theologian
o
Historian
o
Active blogger at https://jmarlow750.blogspot.com/
o
Oklahoma Sooners fan
o
Like to eat/drink Rocky Road Ice Cream and Diet
Dr, Pepper
o
And finally, I subscribe to the NCM Theory of
history- history is nuanced,
contradictorily, and messy
And I would like to know more about you before I make
assumptions based upon one rude and condescending letter.
In the meantime, I ask you to consider who was on the right
side of history in the following situations and request your commentary:
· The US
assassinating Japanese Admiral Yamamoto in April 1943?
· The US
exiting from Afghanistan in August 2021?
· The
lesser native tribes joining Cortes in assisting him in conquering the Aztecs?
· Theodore
Roosevelt entering the 1912 election thus giving Woodrow Wilson the presidency?
· Soviet
POWs being sent back to the USSR at the end of World War ll?
· The
loss of hundreds of Royal Navy sailors and marines to tropical diseases in the
effort to stop the global slave trade?
Take care--JM
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