Human Kind in Literature

Abstract

The prophets of suspicion have done their work. Ours is a time of profound skepticism and open cynicism with respect to both the profession and promise of ideals. Too often in the name of some seemingly worthy ideal, we have been led individually and collectively to the deepest and most devastating evils. Religious ideals of the sanctity of life and universal charity sour into zeal and foster self-righteous exclusion and persecution of the non-believer; political ideals of social and economic freedom calcify into operational ideologies which justify enslavement and genocide; moral ideals which acclaim a healthy community authorize censorship, repression, and bigotry.