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Critical Mass, or Born at the Right Time
Aug. 22nd, 2013 10:05 amIt's been amazing to me to notice the groundswell of support for gay marriage and gay rights. Now, as documented here, this groundswell is by no means universal, but it's very much a changed environment since even the beginning of this decade.
It's not clear whether or not Martin Luther actually nailed a copy of his 95 Theses to the door of a church, but what is clear is that those Theses created a massive societal upheaval in Europe which lasted for centuries and molded the modern age. Luther, however, was not the first monk to write a letter to his bishop complaining about Catholic doctrine. So how come everybody knows Luther and only historians know the other monks?
Simply put, Luther was born at the right time. Thanks to the fairly new-fangled invention of Gutenberg, the printing press, Luther's writings were able to reach a larger audience. Similarly, the Church's corruption was well-advertised by those same presses.
In like fashion, Martin Luther King wasn't the first black preacher to get upset at racism. But due to the factors in effect at the time, from TV to the integration of the US military, he succeeded where others did not.
There's a school of history called "Great Men Theory" which says to learn why things happened we need to study what Great Men did. But Great Men don't operate in a vacuum. They are bound by their times and places, and to understand history we need to understand those times and places as well.
It's not clear whether or not Martin Luther actually nailed a copy of his 95 Theses to the door of a church, but what is clear is that those Theses created a massive societal upheaval in Europe which lasted for centuries and molded the modern age. Luther, however, was not the first monk to write a letter to his bishop complaining about Catholic doctrine. So how come everybody knows Luther and only historians know the other monks?
Simply put, Luther was born at the right time. Thanks to the fairly new-fangled invention of Gutenberg, the printing press, Luther's writings were able to reach a larger audience. Similarly, the Church's corruption was well-advertised by those same presses.
In like fashion, Martin Luther King wasn't the first black preacher to get upset at racism. But due to the factors in effect at the time, from TV to the integration of the US military, he succeeded where others did not.
There's a school of history called "Great Men Theory" which says to learn why things happened we need to study what Great Men did. But Great Men don't operate in a vacuum. They are bound by their times and places, and to understand history we need to understand those times and places as well.
