Post by Daniel on May 15, 2015 9:17:38 GMT -5
John Stonestreet | BreakPoint |
May 12, 2015
Most people who look at the cultural decline of the United States will say it started in the 1960s with the sexual revolution and the drug culture. But according to New York Times columnist David Brooks, it began not in the psychedelic Sixties, but in the frumpy Forties.
“By the fall of 1945,” Brooks writes, “Americans had endured 16 years of hardship, stretching back through the Depression. They were ready to let loose.”
As Brooks notes, this led to a shift from a more self-denying culture to one that celebrated individualism, and we could add, libertinism. And it actually started in pop culture, advertising, and, interestingly, books.
Notions of sin and service were out. Self-actualization and self-expression were in. A 1946 book by Rabbi Joshua Liebman titled “Peace of Mind,” topped The New York Times’ best-seller list for 58 weeks and told readers to relax and start loving themselves. Liebman even offered a new list of commandments, including “Thou shalt not be afraid of thy hidden impulses.”
Then in 1952, Norman Vincent Peale published “The Power of Positive Thinking,” which, as Brooks notes, “rejected a morality of restraint for an upbeat morality of growth.” Rev. Peale’s book was the No. 1 seller not for 58 weeks, but for 98.
Brooks writes that we’ve gone “from a culture of self-effacement, which says, ‘I’m no better than anybody else and nobody is better than me,’ to a culture of self-expression, which says, ‘Look at what I’ve accomplished. I’m special.’ ” A quick glance at today’s social media environment confirms Dr. Brooks’s diagnosis.
And I think this “look at me, I’m great” philosophy also provides much of the underpinnings of the gay-rights movement, which is becoming ever more aggressive. Just think about it: We’ve gone from “gay pride” parades that celebrate what used to be considered deviant sexual behavior, to threats against Christian business owners. The idea is, “I’m so great, you have to approve of me—or else.”
This attitude also may explain why people tend to be so easily offended these days. Self-worship never stops at self. It eventually looks for the worship of others, too. The god of self is a jealous god, a black hole that draws others into its deadly orbit. No one is allowed to pass. All must worship at its altar.
continue reading
www.christianheadlines.com/columnists/breakpoint/how-did-we-come-to-the-me-first-culture.html
May 12, 2015
Most people who look at the cultural decline of the United States will say it started in the 1960s with the sexual revolution and the drug culture. But according to New York Times columnist David Brooks, it began not in the psychedelic Sixties, but in the frumpy Forties.
“By the fall of 1945,” Brooks writes, “Americans had endured 16 years of hardship, stretching back through the Depression. They were ready to let loose.”
As Brooks notes, this led to a shift from a more self-denying culture to one that celebrated individualism, and we could add, libertinism. And it actually started in pop culture, advertising, and, interestingly, books.
Notions of sin and service were out. Self-actualization and self-expression were in. A 1946 book by Rabbi Joshua Liebman titled “Peace of Mind,” topped The New York Times’ best-seller list for 58 weeks and told readers to relax and start loving themselves. Liebman even offered a new list of commandments, including “Thou shalt not be afraid of thy hidden impulses.”
Then in 1952, Norman Vincent Peale published “The Power of Positive Thinking,” which, as Brooks notes, “rejected a morality of restraint for an upbeat morality of growth.” Rev. Peale’s book was the No. 1 seller not for 58 weeks, but for 98.
Brooks writes that we’ve gone “from a culture of self-effacement, which says, ‘I’m no better than anybody else and nobody is better than me,’ to a culture of self-expression, which says, ‘Look at what I’ve accomplished. I’m special.’ ” A quick glance at today’s social media environment confirms Dr. Brooks’s diagnosis.
And I think this “look at me, I’m great” philosophy also provides much of the underpinnings of the gay-rights movement, which is becoming ever more aggressive. Just think about it: We’ve gone from “gay pride” parades that celebrate what used to be considered deviant sexual behavior, to threats against Christian business owners. The idea is, “I’m so great, you have to approve of me—or else.”
This attitude also may explain why people tend to be so easily offended these days. Self-worship never stops at self. It eventually looks for the worship of others, too. The god of self is a jealous god, a black hole that draws others into its deadly orbit. No one is allowed to pass. All must worship at its altar.
continue reading
www.christianheadlines.com/columnists/breakpoint/how-did-we-come-to-the-me-first-culture.html
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