On Mon, 18 Jun 2001 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> The reference is from something written by one of the Pilgrim fathers: "We
> shall be as a shining city on a hill." It may be a biblical reference, but
> most people know it from the Pilgrim times.
Winthrop of Massachusets colony. Thank you, Tom.
Some googling around also brought a reminder that in the same speech
where Jesus exhorts his disciples to let their lights shine, he also
reminds them that a city on a hill cannot be hidden.
So, what should have been obvious to me is that America's sense of
self-importance isn't a byproduct of recently gained power and wealth;
rather, it's been there all a long, a byproduct of Puritanism's influence
on a social experiment that looked to scripture for inspiration and
justification (and rhetorical antecendents).
Alas, power and wealth turn righteous ambitions into self-righteous
self-aggradizement.
(So now I'm wondering, just what the hell *did* they say in _Camelot_,
anyway?)
Marvin Long
Austin, Texas
