Malcolm Gladwell: How I Rediscovered Faith
Other people’s power to forgive impressed him sufficiently to renew his faith. I find these cases interesting because they could be symptons of a “Second Religiousness" which both Spengler and Toynbee thought could arise in the late stage of a civilisation. Here are some quotes:
Why are so many successful entrepreneurs dyslexic? Why did so many American presidents and British prime ministers lose a parent in childhood
Where did the people of Le Chambon find the strength to defy the Nazis? The same place the Derksens found strength to forgive. They were armed with the weapons of the spirit.
The willingness to sacrifice one’s own self-interest for higher ideals is not unique to Christians of course.