ACT & College Preparation Course for the Christian Student

Moral Man and Immoral Society, by Reinhold Niebuhr, was written during the period of the Great Depression (1929–1940). In Moral Man, Niebuhr insists on the necessity of politics in the struggle for social justice because of the sinfulness of human nature, that is, the self-centeredness of individuals and groups. He fervently hopes that a person can experience redemption and redeem his society by a Hegelian, reductionist struggle with sinfulness. Niebuhr advanced the thesis that what the individual is able to achieve singly cannot be simply regarded as a possibility for social groups. He marked a clear distinction between the individual and the group, lowering significantly the moral capacity of the group in relation to that of the individual.

He sees the limitations of reason to solve social injustice by moral and rational means, “since reason is always the servant of interest in a social situation.”1 This is his critique of liberal Christian theology, which strongly believes in the rational capacity of humans to make themselves be moral, and he accepts the tentativeness of this view. In other words, Neibhur correctly saw the immorality of systems in society (e.g., social welfare) and its futile attempts to ameliorate individuals and their needs through systemic interventions. In other words, Niebuhr was not naïve — he knew that systems and cultures change and individual hearts change.

Niebuhr cautions us about embracing “herd mentalities.” According to him, individuals are morally capable of considering the interests of others and acting. That is, individuals can be unselfish. Societies, however, cannot. “In every human group there is less reason to guide and to check impulse, less capacity for self-transcendence, less ability to comprehend the needs of others, therefore more unrestrained egoism than the individuals, who compose the group, reveal in their personal relationships.”2

My point is, individuals may be sincere in their understanding about several issues. In fact, they may be right about some issues. But they are wrong, too. But when that group gains political hegemony, it can lose focus and direction.

Individuals can be moral in purpose and in actions. But combining a bunch of individuals into a coercive group can cause the group to become immoral. For example, Adolf Hitler’s rise to power was initially a good thing for Germany. He brought jobs and prosperity to his nation. However, as he gained power, the good was replaced by the bad. This may not be inevitable, but it happens so often that we should be cautious in giving so much power to groups. As an interesting sidebar, Niebuhr is directly contradicting the liberal Dewey who applauded the notion that the community, or larger society, created the greater good.

The answer to this apparent contradiction is, of course the gospel. Niebuhr stresses the role of the Holy Spirit (what he calls the “religious imagination”). In a sense the group remains moral because the individuals in that society answer to a “higher power,” not to the coercion of the group or to the agenda of the group. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German World War II martyr, for example, was perhaps the most patriotic of Germans because he loved his God and his country enough to obey God and His Word above all persons. This was the only way, Bonhoeffer understood, that his nation could be moral and right before the God he served. Unfortunately, he was a lone voice in the wilderness!

Today, young people, as you look ahead of you, do the right thing. All the time. Every time. Do not seek to overcome evil with evil, even if your society tells you it is all right. Make the Word of God central to your life and, as you do, and as thousands do, society will change, too.

EADING

Text Development

When, on the 22d day of April, 1898, Michael Mallia, gun-captain of the United States cruiser Nashville, sent a shell across the bow of the Spanish ship Buena Ventura, he gave the signal shot that ushered in a war for liberty for the slaves of Spain.

The world has never seen a contest like it. Nations have fought for territory and for gold, but they have not fought for the happiness of others. Nations have resisted the encroachments of barbarism, but until the nineteenth century they have not fought to uproot barbarism and cast it out of its established place.

Nations have fought to preserve the integrity of their own empire, but they have not fought a foreign foe to set others free. Men have gone on crusades to fight for holy tombs and symbols, but armies have not been put in motion to overthrow vicious political systems and regenerate iniquitous governments for other peoples.

For more than four centuries Spain has held the island of Cuba as her chattel, and there she has revelled in corruption, and wantoned in luxury wrung from slaves with the cruel hand of unchecked power. She has been the unjust and merciless court of last resort. From her malignant verdict there has been no possible appeal, no power to which her victims could turn for help.

But the end has come at last. The woe, the grief, the humiliation, the agony, the despair that Spain has heaped upon the helpless, and multiplied in the world until the world is sickened with it, will be piled in one avalanche on her own head.

Liberty has grown slowly. Civilization has been on the defensive. Now liberty fights for liberty, and civilization takes the aggressive in the holiest war the world has even known.4 (Trumbull White , Our War with Spain for Cuba’s Freedom)

What language does the author use to persuade his audience?

Test-Taking Insight

English Test-taking Tips

• Be aware of the writing style used in each passage. Rarely are you asked to ascertain writing style, but it affects most everything: theme, tone, and plot.

• Consider the elements of writing that are included in each underlined portion of the passage. Passages should be read holistically, but remember that underlined portions are the crux of the matter for these particular questions.

• Be aware of questions with no underlined portions — that means you will be asked about the passage as a whole.

• Examine each answer choice and determine how it differs from the others. Many of the questions in the test will involve more than one aspect of writing.

• Read and consider all of the answer choices before you choose the one that best responds to the question.

• Determine the best answer, not the perfect answer.

• Reread the sentence, using your selected answer. (Informed by the ACT test site.)

RITING

Achieving Unity

Every paragraph and every essay will have unity if all its sentences support the main idea. Remove the sentences that do not belong in this essay.

Samurai Warriors

As the effective influence of the imperial court gradually waned from the 9th century through the 12th century, power moved away from the emperor to local warriors (bushi or samurai). The warriors were typically landholders, many minor landholders, yeoman farmers really. They were not necessarily rich noblemen. They lived in small, fortified compounds, and they offered the surrounding peasant communities succor and protection. Often warriors served as local district officials, judges, even priests. They were, however, quintessential warriors. Much of their time was devoted to the cultivation of warfare. As a result they were very effective administrators and warriors. With their land holdings, military skills, and administrative skills, the warriors were a powerful presence in Japanese society.

At times, samurai families joined together for protection into larger groups based on kinship ties. The emperor, with no standing army, relied on samurai families to maintain local law and order.

By the middle of the 13th century, samurai had become so valuable to the emperor that he appointed a “head samurai” called a shogun. A shogun was a military governor, so to speak, who answered directly to the emperor. He was responsible for maintaining peace in the provinces. He arbitrated differences between rival samurai and other divergent groups.

In the 1870s Japanese leadership sent a group on a diplomatic mission around the world. Under the leadership of Iwakura Tomomi, they were to learn about technologically advanced countries of the West. The Iwakura mission’s direct observation of the West left them feeling challenged but hopeful and it seemed possible that Japan could catch up with the Western nations.

In 1232 the shogun promulgated the Joei Code. It clarified the duties of samurai and other officials. The code also restrained unruly samurai by requiring them to respect the rights of the religious temples and shrines.

This era, called the Hojo era, saw the spread of Buddhism. Buddhism stressed personal salvation for ordinary believers. This was in direct contrast to much Japanese thinking that emphasized the needs of the community above the needs of the individual.

There were a series of civil wars that resulted in great turmoil from 1300–1400. Real unity did not occur until a new religious movement emerged, Shintoism.

Japan lost World War II but emerged as one of the premier economic powers of the post-World War II world.

NGLISH

Identifying Independent and Dependent Clauses

When you want to use commas and semicolons in sentences and when you are concerned about whether a sentence is or is not a fragment, a good way to start is to be able to recognize dependent and independent clauses.

Independent Clause

An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought. An independent clause is a sentence.

Dependent Clause

A dependent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb but does not express a complete thought. A dependent clause cannot be a sentence. Often a dependent clause is marked by a dependent marker word.

Coordinating Conjunction

The seven coordinating conjunctions used as connecting words at the beginning of an independent clause are and, but, for, or, nor, so, and yet. When the second independent clause in a sentence begins with a coordinating conjunction, a comma is needed before the coordinating conjunction.

Independent Marker Words

An independent marker word is a connecting word used at the beginning of an independent clause. These words can always begin a sentence that can stand alone. When the second independent clause in a sentence has an independent marker word, a semicolon is needed before the independent marker word. Some common independent markers are also, consequently, furthermore, however, moreover, nevertheless, and therefore.

Combine two sentences into one.6

Mark is ready. Mary is not.
When I speak . . . I know who is listening.
Nothing matters more to a mom. She loves to see her daughters safe.
Hitting a ball. When I step up to the plate.
I love eating berries. They do not love me!

OCABULARY

The Crucible7

Arthur Miller

The Crucible is set in a time in which the church and the state are one, and the religion is a strict, austere form of Puritanism. Sin and the status of an individual’s soul are matters of public concern. Within this setting a tragedy unfolds.

Suggested Vocabulary Words

I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart! I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men! And now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes? I will not, I cannot! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!
This is a sharp time, now, a precise time — we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world.