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Benjamin Franklin, discussing the Moravian village of Gnadenhut's anti-arms policy with bishop Spangenberg, learns that many of Gnadenhut's residents have recently started to bear arms after the recent Indian attack.
Here, Franklin's pragmatic view of human behavior is exposed. He thinks that the "whimsical" anti-arms policy of the Moravians has had its idealism deflated by the violent reality of the recent Indian attack. The high ideals of the Moravians, being in reality inadequate for their survival, are suddenly being ignored as they begin to acquire arms. Franklin points out a kind of vanity in the Moravians' holding of beliefs that…