Os Guinness
Os Guinness
Os Guinnessis an English author and social critic...
NationalityIrish
ProfessionAuthor
Date of Birth30 September 1941
CountryIreland
thinking grandparent polls
Whereas our grandparents lived as if they had swallowed gyroscopes, we think and act as if we have swallowed Gallup polls.
confused thinking views
American views today are weak, confused, and divided. On one side, many progressive liberals still think that we humans are essentially good and getting better and better. On the other side, many postmoderns actually think it is worse to judge evil than to do evil. And in the middle, many ordinary folk plaster life with rainbows and smile buttons and wander through life on the basis of sentiment and clichés.
becomes creed door next point saying
At that point the creed becomes a way of saying what the infidel next door believes, too.
aim influence reach truly
The aim is to truly reach the gatekeepers, those who are astride the doorways of influence and power,
days lost republic since soon unifying
The American 'unum' has been lost since the Sixties. If this continues, there will soon be no unifying American identity and vision to balance the 'pluribus,' and the days of the Republic will be numbered.
brilliant daring possible society stay understand
As I understand the American Founders, the most brilliant and daring idea they had was that it's possible to create a free society that could stay free forever.
citizens depending good government honest lots people worked
There are lots of people depending on the government who are good, honest citizens who have worked all their lives.
america obviously simplistic view
I'm obviously not an advocate of Christian America or a simplistic view of America as 'a city on a hill.'
class few gone known large middle people poor relatively wealthy
American democracy in the past has always been known for its large middle class and its relatively few very wealthy people and very few very poor people, but that is gone to today and the middle class is shrinking.
anyone conscience fought freedom lived prize
I have lived under totalitarian Communism, so I prize freedom as much as anyone and have long fought for freedom of conscience and speech.
lectures quarrel
I give lectures on globalization. I have lived on three continents. I have no quarrel with a global consciousness.
america assess common health looking love loves military nation question research says size strength throw understand weight
Augustine says that you don't understand a nation by the throw weight of its military or the strength of its research universities or the size of its population, but by looking at what it loves in common. To assess a nation, you look at the health and strength of its ideals. And there's no question that the common love in America is freedom.
family freedom future ours pass precious
Like a precious family heirloom, freedom is not just ours to enjoy, but to treasure, protect, and pass on to future generations.
beyond deliberate faith founders freedom linked religion surprising
Beyond any question, the way the American founders consistently linked faith and freedom, republicanism and religion, was not only deliberate and thoughtful, it was also surprising and anything but routine.