20 December 2010

Not the only path to hubris

When the tribal nationalists exalt the inner spirit of their people into some mystical realm of superiority and perfection they are actually practicing a sort of hubris that denies the role of God in their national character and condition. The relentless pursuit of excess is not the only path to hubris. 
The Haredi worldview, for example, is such a tribal nationalist one. 
"Politically speaking, tribal nationalism always insists that its own people is surrounded by a 'world of enemies,' 'one against all,' that a fundamental difference exists between this people and all others. It claims its people to be unique, individual, incompatible with all others, and denies theoretically the very possibility of a common mankind long before it is used to destroy the humanity of man." (The Origins of Totalitarianism, Hannah Arendt, 1994; page 227). 

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