Actually his adulation of art is to be expected in the context of his audience, it is however, incorrect. The most enduring and influential cultural historical influence is in fact religion. Religion is the foundation of the West and some fertilization of it was provided via Greek philosophy. The Christian religion in particular has made all advances in Western civilization possible, for it alone provided the social constructs needed for human flourishing on a scale and over time sufficient for advances which humanity was unable to achieve in its absence. There would be no prizes nor speeches, nor any US without the Christian religion. There may yet be none of these as that religion declines and the spine and conscience needed to sustain our civilization erodes and we devolve to feeble animals in heat.
Complete and utter nonsense. Technological AND humanistic progress happened precisely against the Xtian religion! There is nothing in Xtianity that would give birth to modern democracy, to the modern sciences, etc... in fact it was thanks to Xtianity that Europe retrograded until the Renaissance! Leonard and Michelangelo would have been killed by the church if they were openly caught dissecting cadavers! Those of other faiths or of no faith were constantly forced to convert and/or prosecuted! Under Xtianity the only 'rights' bestowed was that of the 'divine right' of kings (of which the pope was one), everyone else had no 'rights', especially not the general populace. There is no line you can draw from the bible to the modern Occidental 1st world government systems...! The disingenuous and wilful ignorance of your post does all of humanity in general and David McCullough in particular a great disservice. Shame on you, for soiling the memory of this wonderful man and all of those who have pushed back against your backwards, human-sacrifice-loving bronze-age goat herder mythology!
I could listen to him for ages.
In my top 10 most respected living Americans. What a story teller.
21 days ago the world lost David McCullough, and it is the poorer for it.
Loved the book! Love this lesson. David McCullough is a national treasure.
Enjoyed the history lesson!
History matters.
skip the intro. Go ahead to 3 minutes
Actually his adulation of art is to be expected in the context of his audience, it is however, incorrect. The most enduring and influential cultural historical influence is in fact religion. Religion is the foundation of the West and some fertilization of it was provided via Greek philosophy.
The Christian religion in particular has made all advances in Western civilization possible, for it alone provided the social constructs needed for human flourishing on a scale and over time sufficient for advances which humanity was unable to achieve in its absence.
There would be no prizes nor speeches, nor any US without the Christian religion. There may yet be none of these as that religion declines and the spine and conscience needed to sustain our civilization erodes and we devolve to feeble animals in heat.
Complete and utter nonsense. Technological AND humanistic progress happened precisely against the Xtian religion! There is nothing in Xtianity that would give birth to modern democracy, to the modern sciences, etc... in fact it was thanks to Xtianity that Europe retrograded until the Renaissance! Leonard and Michelangelo would have been killed by the church if they were openly caught dissecting cadavers! Those of other faiths or of no faith were constantly forced to convert and/or prosecuted! Under Xtianity the only 'rights' bestowed was that of the 'divine right' of kings (of which the pope was one), everyone else had no 'rights', especially not the general populace. There is no line you can draw from the bible to the modern Occidental 1st world government systems...!
The disingenuous and wilful ignorance of your post does all of humanity in general and David McCullough in particular a great disservice. Shame on you, for soiling the memory of this wonderful man and all of those who have pushed back against your backwards, human-sacrifice-loving bronze-age goat herder mythology!