14AR19-32

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Apologia Report 19:32 (1,215)

September 26, 2014

Subject: A prophetic warning about the West's sentimentalism?

In this issue:

SIN - secular recognition that narcissism is "factory-loaded in all of us"

WORLDVIEW - how "emotional appeals to a transforming vision end up entrenching evangelicals deeper within their own emotions"

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SIN

How does our secular culture discuss sin, when doing so is unavoidable (even without using that three-letter word) and obviously unpopular? Consider Jeffrey Kluger's feature in the September 1 issue of Time magazine, "The Little Narcissists," which opens: "I was once a sociopath. I didn’t know it, and wouldn’t have cared much even if I had." Why? Because the author was only four years old at the time.

Kluger explores the narcissism that one widely observes in small children: "All of this is psychopathology of the first order - and narcissistic pathology in particular. There is the entitlement of narcissism, the egocentricism of narcissism, the bottomless appetite for attention and rewards of narcissism. And there's the utter narcissistic numbness to how others suffer from your behavior. But it's also a kind of narcissism that babies need for their very survival. Psychologists' growing understanding of the roots and reasons for this behavior - and why some people never grow out of it - is providing insights into how best to manage the healthy narcissistic baby in your life, as well as the less healthy narcissistic adults. ...

"Calling babies' survival-based behavior true narcissism is, of course, nonsense. Babies are moved not by greed and guile but by the primal need to live to the next day - a pretty good reason to behave selfishly.

"But that doesn't mean the seeds of the behaviors that turn into genuine narcissism aren't scattered throughout the baby's temperament, just like the seeds of other personality disorders - the tantrums that, if not brought to heel, become histrionic personality disorder later in life; the deep need for love and attention, and the rage at their absence, that in an adult is called borderline personality disorder.

"Lack of empathy is easily the most important of the baby traits that can later become one of the narcissist's traits, and in many ways is the hardest for babies to overcome. ...

"Lack of impulse control is another big part of both the baby's and the narcissist's temperament. ...

"'The heart wants what it wants,' said Woody Allen in a supremely narcissistic moment as he blithely explained his decision to ditch his longtime partner Mia Farrow in favor of her 21-year-old daughter. ...

"The idea that desire equals license comes factory-loaded in all of us....

"A final and indespensable element of narcissism is lack of remorse. ...

"A 2000 study of identical twins showed that when one member of the pair was narcissistic, there was a 77% chance the other would be too - something that was not true of fraternal twins, whose genes are no more similar than those of other siblings."

A general search of the web turns up plenty of current attention being given to narcissism by the general media right now. Propelling this trend is Kluger's new book, The Narcissist Next Door: Understanding the Monster in Your Family, in Your Office, in Your Bed, in Your World [1], from which the Time magazine piece was adapted.

Library Journal (Mar 10 '14, n.p.) tells us: "Though narcissism is not a disorder for which one can easily find statistics, we probably all have narcissists in our lives - people whose extreme sense of self-worth leads to arrogance, envy, exploitation of others, and unrealistic expectations. The chief science writer at Time ... Kluger knows how to make scientific research accessible to the crowds. So listen up as he explains the latest thinking on this disorder, how it affects us, and what can be done to counter its impact."

Publishers Weekly (Jun 16 '14, n.p.) adds that Kluger "outlines symptoms - including an 'unquenchable thirst for admiration,' lack of empathy, and sense of entitlement - and the condition's potential causes, whether hereditary or camouflage for secret self-loathing. In the workplace, the narcissist is described as an adept interviewer, 'powerfully driven by the prospect of praise and recognition'; they rise quickly through company hierarchies even though they wreak havoc on subordinates, thanks to their charisma and skill at self-promotion. In relationships, they tend to cheat, find partners 'expendable,' and may always be on the lookout to 'trade-up.' A chapter on 'tribal' narcissism explores the pitfalls of mob mentality, which can be seen in phenomena such as racism, war, and the slightly more benign arena of competitive sports. Kluger provides a wealth of (in)famous examples of the disorder, including Donald Trump's 'insatiable hunger to be the largest, loudest, most honkingly conspicuous presence in any room'; Charlie Sheen's effusive confidence; and Sarah Palin's frenzied desperation. Compelling studies investigate the elevated use of first-person pronouns in popular entertainment, narcissistic habits on Facebook profile pages, and a ranking of 39 U.S. presidents on a narcisissm scale. In addition to being informative and engaging, Kluger's account provides some effective tools for dealing with potential narcissists."

In case you were wondering, an item by Kluger on the publisher’s web site <www.ow.ly/BX3Xo> lists the "Top 10 Presidential Narcissists" (in descending order) as Chester A. Arthur, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, Benjamin Harrison, John Tyler, Andrew Johnson, Theodore Roosevelt, John Adams, William Henry Harrison, and James K. Polk.

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WORLDVIEW

In considering the category assignment to head this item, we were tempted to put it under "apologetics" because of its threat level, but chose otherwise because of its pervasiveness. Jay Green, a professor of history at Covenant College, reviews Homespun Gospel: The Triumph of Sentimentality in Contemporary American Evangelicalism [2], by Todd M. Brenneman (assistant professor of Christian history, Faulkner University) in Christianity Today (Apr '14, pp67-69).

"Brenneman draws compelling links between the worlds of religious consumer goods - from Christian CDs, DVDs, and books to toys, home decor, and devotional art - and the 'core evangelical message' of God's love. These products, he argues, 'construct religiosity as a practice of sentimentality instead of one of intellectual discovery. ...

"Homespun Gospel could very well launch a broad reinterpretation of contemporary evangelicalism. By placing sentimentality at its center, Brenneman challenges some long-standing assumptions about the movement's contours and priorities. ... Sentimentalism elevates personal emotional needs - and their satisfaction through divine help - to [the] evangelical's highest priority."

Brenneman "focuses on ... three celebrity pastors: Max Lucado, Rick Warren, and Joel Osteen. During the past 25 years, he says, these profitable 'evangelical brands' have produced mountains of books and merchandise that reflect both the emotional and therapeutic appeal of evangelical teaching and the abiding popularity of sentimentalism.

"Whether it's Osteen's invitation ... to develop a 'bigger view' of a God who wants nothing more than to ensure our happiness, or Warren's attempts ... to elevate the self-authenticating experience of feeling loved by God, these pastors make personal - even narcissistic - feelings the centerpiece of evangelical spirituality. As Lucado shows ... a Christian's greatest ambition is not to have a rich theological grasp of God's work as revealed in Scripture, but to rest in the simple fact that we are all his precious, dearly loved children. ...

"Brenneman says much of what passes for 'evangelical discourse' in theology and public life is mere sentimentalized language that discourages careful reflection. ...

"By making the therapeutic self 'the center of the world' and 'the focus of God's attention,' evangelicals risk obscuring 'the structures of power and inequality that exist in American society.' Ironically, emotional appeals to a transforming vision end up entrenching them deeper within their own emotions." Green concludes by asking "have evangelicals simply bought into the sappier side of middle-brow American life while adding a thin layer of theological gloss?"

At the beginning of an intensive three-year seminary experience in 1981, I (RP) was stunned by the gravity of J.P. Moreland's warning to my classroom about sentimentalism. That experience came to mind again recently after reading that a high majority of people in the western world are physically obese. Is not the above spiritual parallel even more dire?

Last, in James H. Gilmore's discussion of cultural influence from movies in today's society he writes that "it is not entertainment that [threatens] to amuse us to death. If anything, it's a diet of escapist fare...." From "Amusing Ourselves ... Is Dated," in Modern Reformation, 22:3 - 2013, 46-53, <www.ow.ly/BKuxR> - one of multiple related items in that issue.

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SOURCES: Monographs

1 - The Narcissist Next Door: Understanding the Monster in Your Family, in Your Office, in Your Bed, in Your World, by Jeffrey Kluger (Riverhead, 2014, hardcover, 288 pages) <www.ow.ly/BJbAL>

2 - Homespun Gospel: The Triumph of Sentimentality in Contemporary American Evangelicalism, by Todd M. Brenneman (Oxford Univ Prs, 2013, hardcover, 208 pages) <www.ow.ly/BJc9T>

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