Eric Voegelin The People of God - Geschwister-Scholl-Institut für ...

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world and its problems were realistic, if the finiteness of
creaturely existence were acknowledged, in brief if would be
acknowledged that the evil of the world can be relieved but not
removed through human action – then there would be no
movement.
dd. Propaganda. The everyday maintenance of the
conviction requires various practices which may be classified
roughly as propaganda. I can select only one or two basic
problems. In its original use the term propaganda denoted the
act of propagating an idea, a cause, or a view by making
people aware of its existence, by familiarizing them with its
content and merits, in order, if possible, to produce in them a
favorable attitude towards the propagated cause. The basis of
the activity in the ideal case is the belief on the part of the
propagator in the objective correctness of his facts and the
objective merits of his principles, and the belief that he can
convince through the impact of the reality with which he tries
to familiarize another person. The effect of propaganda is
supposed to be an enlargement of the intellectual and moral
horizon of the person under propaganda, and enlargement that
will induce him to take the desired attitude. In this sense every
attempt of a person to convince another of the rightness of his
opinion through argument and presentation of facts would be
propagated; and it is advisable, therefore, to restrict the
meaning of the term to organized attempts at conviction which
emanate from organized groups.
The modern broad popular meaning of propaganda has
changed considerably from the original. Let us first consider
the change which expresses itself in the idea of propaganda
entertained by the average democratic citizen. Every language
expression in general concerning a political question, whether
it emanates actually from an organized group or is only
suspected of it, whether it purports to be a factual information,
an argument, or a statement of principle, comes under the title
of “propaganda”. Propagation of a cause is not understood by
the average citizen as an attempt to enlarge his horizon of