Reinhold Niebuhr
Reinhold Niebuhr was a Protestant pastor in the mid-20th century who coined the "Serenity Prayer": "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."
Reinhold Niebuhr wrote the book "Moral Man and Immoral Society."
Reinhold Niebuhr's great nephew is Gustav Niebuhr, director of the Religion and Society Program at Syracuse University.
Christian Socialism
From 1931 to 1948 Reinhold Niebuhr presided over the Fellowship of Socialist Christians , which published Radical Religion, changing its name to Christianity and Society in 1940.
By this time Niebuhr was voting for Roosevelt. Torn between a Socialist Party USA that was pacifist and "the nightmare of tyranny in Russia," Niebuhr led the move to dissolve the Fellowship of Southern Churchmen (FSC) into the Frontier Fellowship in 1948. He left behind such "distinguished disciples and believers" as John G. Bennett, Robert McAfee Brown, Georgia Harkness, Roger Shinn, James Luther Adams, and Paul Abrecht. Up to and during those years, religious socialism was an almost exclusively Protestant phenomenon. [1]
Obama's "favorite philosopher"
President Barack Obama referred to Reinhold Niebuhr as his "favorite philosopher."[2]
Former FBI Director James Comey
College Thesis
Former FBI Director James Comey wrote his College of William and Mary Bachelors of Arts (BA) thesis on Reinhold Niebuhr.[3]
Here is the abstract:[4]
- "The purpose of this thesis is to give full hearing to the theology and political philosophy of each [Jerry Falwell and Reinhold Niebuhr], allowing both men to answer the question -- Why should the Christian be involved in politics? An analysis of the way in which Falwell and Niebuhr use the scriptural tradition they both contend is foundational for their theories will provide a sound basis to be followed by elaboration of their thought. The fourth and final chapter will be a comparison and contrast of Niebuhr and Falwell focusing on the issue of nationalism which plays a major role in Falwell's thought."
Secret Twitter Account
Former FBI Director James Comey was discovered to have a "secret Twitter account" using Reinhold Niebuhr's name.[5]
Mentor of Myles Horton
Myles Horton was a student of Reinhold Niebuhr.[6]
National Committee to Abolish the House Un-American Activities Committee
As of May 1964, Reinhold Niebuhr Theologian, New York City, was listed as a sponsor of the Communist Party USA front, National Committee to Abolish the House Un-American Activities Committee.
References
- ↑ Dem. Left Millennium issue, part 2, 1999, page 36.
- ↑ http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/02/05/Obama.theologian/index.html How Obama's favorite theologian shaped his first year in office, accessed June 30 2017
- ↑ http://publish.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2143&context=honorstheses Reinhold Niebuhr and Jerry Falwell: the Christian in politics, accessed October 23 2017
- ↑ http://publish.wm.edu/honorstheses/1116/ Abstract, accessed October 23 2017
- ↑ http://edition.cnn.com/2017/10/23/politics/james-comey-twitter-account-reinhold-niebuhr/ James Comey confirms he's 'Reinhold Niebuhr' in the strangest possible way, accessed October 23 2017
- ↑ http://kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_highlander_folk_school/ Highlander Folk School, accessed June 30 2017