In a recent essay New York Times columnist, David Brooks, offers some telling points about our contemporary culture. For quite a few years, I have been interested in culture. In fact, my most recent book with a couple colleagues---a business guy and a physician, addresses the importance of culture in good businesses and organizations. In fact, we argue it is virtually impossible to have a healthy culture and high performing teams without character or, what we call, virtues. Essentially, Brooks agrees with us---or we agree with him.
And so I am fascinated to watch him, a very smart, insightful thinker---analyze contemporary culture. His recent essay is entitled, “Five Lies our Culture Tells.” He sets the table with these comments. “College mental health facilities are swamped, suicide rates are spiking, the president’s repulsive behavior is tolerated or even celebrated by tens of millions of Americans. At the root of it all is the following problem: We’ve created a culture based on lies.” I have to agree with him.
Of course, reading his words makes us wonder what are the lies of our culture? His first lie is a little surprising. He states, “Career success is fulfilling.” Allowing that success is probably better than failure, nevertheless Brooks tells us, “but career success alone does not provide positive peace or fulfillment.” Saying this is absolutely correct. Young people need to know this. Too many will become successful, but their lives will not be fulfilling. For most of us, this is going to require becoming spiritual.
The second lie is what Brooks calls “lie of self-sufficiency.” This one says “I can make myself happy.” This sounds like the All-American lie! Surely it must be true. So many of us believe this---or believed it for a long time. Too often, we think it is true, but there is something wrong with us that can’t make it come to be true for us. Clearly Brooks knows the answer. Typically, happiness comes through good relationships. That is where we should put our efforts.
Like the first two lies, the third one seems true and compelling. Brooks says it assures us that “Life is an individual journey.” Interestingly, Brooks says the typical way of traveling down this lying path is to make yourself as free as possible. Freedom is salvation. Paradoxically Brooks acknowledges, “In reality, the people who live best tie themselves down.” Get yourself a bunch of responsibilities and enjoy life. Oddly, I think this has been true for my own life. In fact, that might be one of the scarier things about retirement!
The fourth lie encourages us in this fashion: “You have to find your own truth.” Brooks has an interesting way of describing this when he tells us it is “the privatization of meaning.” I see this a great deal in college students, but don’t think this lie has tempted me as much as some of the other ones. Basically this one says everyone should choose their own values and meanings. Perhaps this lie goes well with the one that values freedom.
The last lie is a trickier one. Brooks describes it as claiming, “Rich and successful people are worth more than poorer and less successful people.” Of course, most of us would claim that we don’t think that way. However, I agree with Brooks that this is the cultural lie par excellence. Theologically, I know I am supposed to affirm that God creates us all in the divine image of God. And in this sense we are all equal. But our culture gets into our minds, and it is like our own fall in the Garden of Eden. For those of us who are rich and/or successful, it is very difficult to avoid this lie. That is why Brooks’ work is so helpful for me. No doubt, I have sinned and need to be healed.
The upshot of all this for Brooks comes at the end of the essay in his call for a cultural revolution. We need to do culture differently and better or we will be a doomed people. This is clearly hard to believe when we see ourselves and strong and right. I don’t normally see myself as a cultural warrior, but given the way Brooks describes our situation, I think that is exactly what I am. And my teaching has been given over to soliciting other cultural warriors. Of course, I am a pacifist and feel uneasy using the language of warrior. But maybe that is the point: in the spiritual world a warrior discovers himself or herself to be at odds with the prevailing culture and engages the conflict with a message of love, peace, servanthood and other spiritual ways of being and acting.
Our call is to live lives of truth and create communities who discover the way, know the truth and live the life God had in mind all along. Indeed, it is about relationship, responsibility and the reward of living the life God dreamed for each of us. It is easy to see how the communal “we” replaces the individual “I.” And to know this way of life deeply is an amazing life.
It is all I want---no lie!
And so I am fascinated to watch him, a very smart, insightful thinker---analyze contemporary culture. His recent essay is entitled, “Five Lies our Culture Tells.” He sets the table with these comments. “College mental health facilities are swamped, suicide rates are spiking, the president’s repulsive behavior is tolerated or even celebrated by tens of millions of Americans. At the root of it all is the following problem: We’ve created a culture based on lies.” I have to agree with him.
Of course, reading his words makes us wonder what are the lies of our culture? His first lie is a little surprising. He states, “Career success is fulfilling.” Allowing that success is probably better than failure, nevertheless Brooks tells us, “but career success alone does not provide positive peace or fulfillment.” Saying this is absolutely correct. Young people need to know this. Too many will become successful, but their lives will not be fulfilling. For most of us, this is going to require becoming spiritual.
The second lie is what Brooks calls “lie of self-sufficiency.” This one says “I can make myself happy.” This sounds like the All-American lie! Surely it must be true. So many of us believe this---or believed it for a long time. Too often, we think it is true, but there is something wrong with us that can’t make it come to be true for us. Clearly Brooks knows the answer. Typically, happiness comes through good relationships. That is where we should put our efforts.
Like the first two lies, the third one seems true and compelling. Brooks says it assures us that “Life is an individual journey.” Interestingly, Brooks says the typical way of traveling down this lying path is to make yourself as free as possible. Freedom is salvation. Paradoxically Brooks acknowledges, “In reality, the people who live best tie themselves down.” Get yourself a bunch of responsibilities and enjoy life. Oddly, I think this has been true for my own life. In fact, that might be one of the scarier things about retirement!
The fourth lie encourages us in this fashion: “You have to find your own truth.” Brooks has an interesting way of describing this when he tells us it is “the privatization of meaning.” I see this a great deal in college students, but don’t think this lie has tempted me as much as some of the other ones. Basically this one says everyone should choose their own values and meanings. Perhaps this lie goes well with the one that values freedom.
The last lie is a trickier one. Brooks describes it as claiming, “Rich and successful people are worth more than poorer and less successful people.” Of course, most of us would claim that we don’t think that way. However, I agree with Brooks that this is the cultural lie par excellence. Theologically, I know I am supposed to affirm that God creates us all in the divine image of God. And in this sense we are all equal. But our culture gets into our minds, and it is like our own fall in the Garden of Eden. For those of us who are rich and/or successful, it is very difficult to avoid this lie. That is why Brooks’ work is so helpful for me. No doubt, I have sinned and need to be healed.
The upshot of all this for Brooks comes at the end of the essay in his call for a cultural revolution. We need to do culture differently and better or we will be a doomed people. This is clearly hard to believe when we see ourselves and strong and right. I don’t normally see myself as a cultural warrior, but given the way Brooks describes our situation, I think that is exactly what I am. And my teaching has been given over to soliciting other cultural warriors. Of course, I am a pacifist and feel uneasy using the language of warrior. But maybe that is the point: in the spiritual world a warrior discovers himself or herself to be at odds with the prevailing culture and engages the conflict with a message of love, peace, servanthood and other spiritual ways of being and acting.
Our call is to live lives of truth and create communities who discover the way, know the truth and live the life God had in mind all along. Indeed, it is about relationship, responsibility and the reward of living the life God dreamed for each of us. It is easy to see how the communal “we” replaces the individual “I.” And to know this way of life deeply is an amazing life.
It is all I want---no lie!
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