Modern Age - Spring 2016 - 120

MODERN AGE

SPRING 2016

forces were leading: a heaven that was to be achieved in this
world, rather than the next. As such, these movements were
secular religions, modern-day versions of the old Christian heresy
called Gnosticism. Since perfection is unattainable in this world,
these "religions" could never achieve their ends. Instead, their
adherents would engage endlessly in agitation and upheaval. If
the leaders managed to get hold of political power, they would
seek to make it total. And as utopia continued to elude them,
they would employ more drastic means to snoop out alleged
saboteurs and try to force a supposedly malleable human nature
to conform to their prescriptions.
Marxism is an obvious example of the kind of secular religion
that Voegelin had in mind, but Bishirjian's conservative rebellion
is concerned mainly with a home-grown variation that threatens
American freedom. Progressivism, he argues, is a type of Gnosticism that constitutes a fourth paradigm in our history. The first
paradigm was "the Spirit of '76," whose ideas were best summarized by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence
as "inalienable rights." Unfortunately, in Bishirjian's opinion, Jefferson's Enlightenment principles also caused him to insert an
egalitarian message in the Declaration, an inclusion that eventually would cause trouble.
The second paradigm, a reaction against instability under the
Articles of Confederation, was embodied in the U.S. Constitution.
It sought to strengthen the federal government's role in facilitating commerce and defending the nation while also limiting the
scope of its powers through a system of checks and balances. The
Civil War gave rise to the third paradigm, which was best summarized in Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural
Speech. In language that bordered on the theological, Lincoln
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Modern Age - Spring 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Modern Age - Spring 2016

Contents
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