A very nice post by Bruce Rosenstock on the political theology of Lincoln and Melville. Bruce wants to know why Linclon and Melville aren’t included in the political theology discussions. Adam Kotsko thinks it has to do with anti-Americanism and Eurocentrism. I agree and also think it has to do with the antiliberalism and fascism-totalitarianism that inspired so
much of the discourse (Schmitt, Strauss, Benjamin, Taubes, Agamben, Zizek). Once you include Lincoln and Melville, then you’re spitting distance to the liberalism of Emerson and Dewey. The politcal theology stuff is so steeped in Weimar, it’s no wonder that it often seems to turn out rancid.