4 sentences with “lineage”

Unlike most traditions, Western civilisation is not primarily a geographical place or a genetic lineage. It is an attitude of mind.

Abbas's Iran enjoyed its greatest period of political coherence and military might until the 20th century, and set the precedent of an Iranian state that traced its lineage back to Shia Islam and pre-Islamic monarchy in equal measure.

Regardless of where in the world one is born, to become heir to the lineage of Western civilisation one need only pledge allegiance to reason and individual freedom: to the life-affirming, civilised values that represent "the best of the West".

Whereas the founders conceived of America as a republic, not a democracy, and had placed safeguards such as the Electoral College in the Constitution of 1787 to prevent simple majority rule, by the early 1820s many Americans embraced majority rule and rejected the old forms of deference that were based on elitist ideas of virtue, learning, and family lineage.