Professor Stevenson Invited to Poland
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On March 24, 2009 Professor Stevenson and his wife, Rosemary traveled to Poland. He was invited to present a talk at the Center for Tocqueville Studies at the University of Lodz in Lodz, Poland by the Tocqueville Center's director, Professor Zbigniew Rau.
Professor Stevenson and Professor Rau
The title of his talk was “The American Melting Pot as Reductionist Kettle: Religious Liberty’s Worrisome Condition” Here is a brief abstract of his talk.
“American religious liberty-and political vitality-is rooted in a creative tension present at the American founding, one among four distinct intellectual traditions then present: the institutional, covenantal thinking of the New England Puritans; the divinely inspired individual conscience recognized by the Anabaptist and Evangelical groups; the celebration of human reason insisted upon by the Enlightenment liberals; and the public morality sought by the Civic Republicans. All four traditions supported religious liberty, but for very different reasons! As a result, each was able to stand against the presumptive over-reaching of the others. Yet over the past two hundred and forty years, the social and psychic trends arising from American democracy’s “majoritarian” impulses-trends explicitly predicted by the young Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville, in his Democracy in America-have narrowed the field in worrisome ways. In considering the religion clauses of the First Amendment in our day, American courts are faced with an unhelpful choice between intolerant civic moralism and unhinged liberal secularism. A genuine religious institutionalism, one recognizing the importance of both church and state as distinct-and divinely authorized-institutions is needed to recover the balance and so place religious liberty on more solid ground.”
Professor Stevenson’s talk was attended by about 75 people, mostly students and faculty of the School of Law and Administration at the University of Lodz, but there were a few non-specialists there, too. He said the reaction was very positive, both from the members of the audience and from the people who had invited him to speak.
Professors Rau and Stevenson, and |
While in Poland Stevenson and his wife took in the rich history of Poland.
Bike Rickshaw Ride on Piotrkowska Street, Longest Pedestrian Street in Europe
Early in the 19th century Lodz had a population of 1,000 people. At this time Poland was controlled by Russia who designated Lodz to be their manufacturing center, particularly for textiles, and by the end of the 19th century the small village had grown to over 600,000 people. This industry died after WWWII. However, most of the large textile factory buildings and both owners' mansions and workers' block apartments which were built alongside the factories are still there.
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Factory and Owner's Palace |
Factory turned museum |
Restored Factory Mall |
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Jewish Cemetery |
The city of Lodz had the largest Jewish population of Poland before WWII. Sadly, after WWII there were hardly any Jews in Lodz because the Germans sent most of them to death camps.
Lodz has one of the world's largest Jewish cemeteries, still an important historical site.
Close to Lodz are other towns that have churches and military fortifications dating back to the 12th century or earlier.
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12th Century Church |
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Catholic Church |
Stevenson said that it was “a truly wonderful week.” At this time Poland is one of the most pro-American countries in Europe, and they felt very welcomed in the University and city of Lodz.
