Program puts focus on Western values
Ward Purrington's trying to save Western civilization.
The retired Raleigh attorney has faced tough tasks before. He once worked as legislative liaison for Gov. Jim Martin, a Republican whose every initiative was batted away by Democratic lawmakers. Before that, he ran for Congress as a Republican in 1974, the year Richard Nixon resigned in post-Watergate disgrace, crippling his party in the process.
But his mission these days has nothing to do with partisan politics. He's founder of the Appalachian Institution, which will begin operations in August with two five-day retreats at Lake Logan conference center in mountainous Haywood County. ...
His agenda looks like summer camp for the high-brow: lectures by distinguished scholars from Notre Dame and Penn, music led by a director from N.C. State, the promise of fine dining, and a cost of $875 per person, double occupancy.
More rustic activities, such as hiking and fishing, are included, too. And the 3,000-foot elevation will provide a lofty setting for an experience that should combine physical and intellectual refreshment, with a serious and important overriding purpose.
The curriculum is meant to promote an understanding and appreciation of Western civilization, Purrington said in a telephone conversation.
"I'm just a great admirer of Western civilization," he said, adding: "I see it being degraded somewhat."
He worries about an attitude that says, "To better appreciate other cultures, we have to find fault with our own."
Purrington is right to detect a decline in academic focus on subjects that once were considered basic to a sound education: Greek philosophy, Latin, Renaissance art, English literature, European history, classical music. In some circles, disdain for these disciplines has replaced respect.
Sure, the world has seen great non-European civilizations -- Babylonian, Egyptian, Mayan, Indian and many more.
I'm reading a fascinating book -- "1421: The Year China Discovered America" by Gavin Menzies. Some of its conclusions may be controversial, but its evidence that Chinese achievements in science, technology and navigation far exceeded those of medieval Europe is compelling.
Nevertheless, the ideas and values of Western civilization bred our own economic, political and cultural systems. What's more, rather than excluding contributions from other societies, the West has absorbed and gained strength from them.
That's why Purrington sees no cultural threat from recent waves of immigrants, who epitomize traditional American values of hard work and providing for family, or from the re-emergence of China as a potential world leader.
The question regarding Beijing, he said, is: "How can we continue to channel the Chinese to adopt principles that are more Western, to devise strategies to encourage them to westernize?"
Referring to Western civilization "is not necessarily talking about Western people," he said, noting that Japan is a country that has adopted many of the traits identified with the West.
"The much larger challenge," he added, "is religious fanaticism as we see in the Middle East."
I agree. The United States, for all its diversity, is still the bulwark of Western civilization and must guard its values and commitment to freedom against such challenges. It can't do that unless those values are understood, taught and preserved.
Purrington's summer school marks a step. Eventually he hopes to create a permanent cultural center somewhere in the North Carolina mountains -- his institution is renting the Lake Logan facilities -- and use it to inspire a resurgence of interest in learning about the foundations of our society.
"The guiding principles of the West are being lost," he said. "Can we regain them?"
Surely that's not a hopeless cause yet.
For more information, go to
www.appalachianinstitution.org
Contact Doug Clark at dgclark@news-record.com or 373-7039.