Points from the Videos about Perspective
- There are always alternatives. No historical event was predetermined. "Nothing in human history that flowed from decisions of governments has been inevitable. No historical event ever had to happen the way it happened."
- Virtually every event or happening resulted from multiple 'causes'. Every 'cause' was preceeded by some other 'cause'. At some point, asking "why?" may not yield fruitful results.
- What we consider "normal" in our current cultural hasn't always been considered "normal."
- While we can look back at the past actions of groups and individuals with harsh judgments, we should remember that our current generation of groups and individuals will be similarly-judged by future generations who will succeed us.
- Time and events may change our perspectives. A realistic projection as to what is likel to happen may turn out to be wrong.
- Sometimes the reactions to an event may be more revealing, and more consequential, than the event itself.
Read this perspective from a Fort Worth Star-Telegram column, "But what if ...?": Today is graduation day at Texas Christian University. I teach a class in general semantics there, and seven of my 46 students will walk across the stage. Congratulations to them! Their last semester in college provided a variety of learning opportunities — and one notable missed opportunity — particularly during the fortnight in which winter turned to spring. Those two weeks began with a discussion about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright controversy and Sen. Barack Obama's speech on race in America. Then we talked about the decision of TCU and Brite Divinity School to move the March 29 portion of the Fourth Annual State of the Black Church Summit off campus. (Brite is on the TCU campus but is an independent institution.) For a year, Brite had planned the summit for the last weekend in March and had a long-standing invitation to Wright to attend and receive an award recognizing his 40 years of service to his church and ministry. But the executive committee of TCU's board of trustees asked Brite to move the awards dinner off campus, which it did. [more]
