I read a couple of books on Confucianism and was very impressed. The ideas were solid. I was very impressed that Confucius never claimed to have received his ideas as a revelation from god. Then I read "Boston Confucianism" by Robert Cummings Neville. This book presented the idea that a person could be a Christian and a Confucianist. I had to agree that I saw no conflict.
Neville's book made reference to books by a professor named Tu Weiming (sometimes spelled Tu Wei-ming). I read one of Dr. Tu's books and found it intriguing. Other professors made Confucianism seem like a relic from the past. Dr. Tu made it seem alive. I have read many of his books and I was hooked.
Now, Confucianism is not only alive to me, it seems to me to offer great hope for moving our country forward. We need to bring a commitment to ethical behavior back into the public dialogue. Confucianism, viewed as a philosophy or an ethical system, is well suited for public discussion.
Now I am promoting Confucianism for Americans.
Robert
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