To those of you who responded (and that is most of the class) thank-you for your cogent thoughts! You are all bringing up very important questions and concerns about discerning the sometimes very tricky line between valid, rational use of authority, and invalid, sometimes irrational, and, unfortunately, often abusive use of authoritarianism. One of you even mentions that on the first reading of one article (“I Worry About Muslims”) it seemed sarcastic. Yes, often, people simply disagree about what is valid authority and what is not, and this confusion can sometimes lead one to wonder if a specific author can possibly be serious. Trying to decide which actions are valid and which are not is where, I believe, the heart of so many of our global problems lie, because to truly decide, we must often work to understand those with whom we vehemently disagree, and this is not an easy task.
In this course, we will be examining the line between authority and authoritarianism quite closely. We will be reading various texts, both print and online, from historical documents to current reportage, but please feel free to suggest any readings/activities that you believe will benefit your classmates for this course.
I look forward to meeting you all on Feb. 3rd!
Jeanne Stauffer-Merle