The precarious power of a strongly worded letter: Political correspondence, Lutheran theology, and civic participation

IF 0.2 4区 哲学 0 RELIGION
Anthony Bateza
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Abstract

Facing political decisions involving local issues or systemic injustice, we sometimes decide to write a letter. Opinion pieces in the town newspaper, online posts about current events, and letters sent to elected officials all share the presumption that putting words on a page can make the political community a better place. This article examines these practices and the reasoning that supports them by connecting Martin Luther's theology of good works with insights from political theory and current debates about civic participation. Luther claims that good works are needed to discipline the body and serve the neighbor in love. This theological framework is offered as a guide for assessing the value and functions of political correspondence. It contends that writing letters serves to discipline individual and collective political bodies, developing needed skills for sharing and receiving the claims we make while resisting temptations that pull us towards indifference, cynicism, or self-righteous assurance. Letters should be seen as invitations of service and neighbor love that display our competence and commitment to others. Letter writing, as a good work, is risky in that the goodness of our labors remains an open question. The analysis here offers guidance for assessing our better and worse reasons for political postings, whether on the church door or elsewhere.

一封措辞强硬的信的不稳定力量:政治书信、路德神学和公民参与
面对涉及地方问题或系统性不公正的政治决策,我们有时会决定写信。镇上报纸上的评论文章、关于时事的在线帖子以及发给民选官员的信件都认为,在页面上写下文字可以让政治社区变得更好。本文通过将马丁·路德的好作品神学与政治理论和当前关于公民参与的辩论中的见解联系起来,来审视这些实践以及支持这些实践的理由。路德声称,良好的工作是需要纪律的身体和服务邻居的爱。这一神学框架是作为评估政治通信的价值和功能的指南。它认为,写信有助于约束个人和集体政治机构,培养分享和接受我们提出的主张所需的技能,同时抵制将我们拉向冷漠、愤世嫉俗或自以为是的自信的诱惑。信件应该被视为服务的邀请和邻居的爱,展示我们的能力和对他人的承诺。写信,作为一项好的工作,是有风险的,因为我们的工作的好坏仍然是一个悬而未决的问题。这里的分析为评估我们在教堂门口或其他地方发布政治帖子的好坏原因提供了指导。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
0.30
自引率
0.00%
发文量
52
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