John Schmalzbauer is the Blanch Gorman Strong Chair in Protestant Studies at Missouri State University. (I don’t know if John remembers, but I shared a great Italian dinner with him and a few others at a Lilly Fellows conference in Los Angeles back in 2000 or 2001). Anyhow, he has a great piece over at Immanent Frame entitled “Barack Obama’s Book of Virtues.” Schmalzbauer wonders whether Obama has read William Bennett’s The Book of Virtues. He points out that six of the ten “virtues” listed in The Book of Virtues were mentioned in Obama’s inaugural address. They are responsibility, hard work, courage, honesty, loyalty, and faith.
Perhaps E.J. Dionne was correct when he described Obama as employing conservative values in service of progressive ends.
Hello John,
Yes, I remember our Italian dinner well. It was at a great place once frequented by Frank Sinatra. It has been great to track your career through this blog and the fabulous U.S. Religious History site. Also glad to see you in the great company of Richard Hughes, Jake Jacobsen, and others at Messiah College. Perhaps the way of improvement leads to Grantham, Pennsylvania.
Thanks for the note, John. I forgot about the Sinatra connection to that restaurant.
Jake and Richard are great colleagues and I am glad to be part of the Messiah College community. I hope we will cross paths sometime soon–perhaps at a Lilly event.