A NATION DUMBED-DOWN

CULTURE-DEATH: AMERICA HAS LOST HER STORY

Exclusive: Joshua Charles sees harmful combination of narcissism, collectivism

What a week it has been. We have been told religious liberty is under attack. And so it is, in perhaps the most distressing way it has ever occurred in this republic. We have been told that a fascistic leftist mob is out for blood. And so it is.

But for me, as distressing as these things are, I am yet again drawn to the conclusion that there is something bigger and more distressing going on here – it is a more fundamental and foundational issue: namely, that far too many Americans on both left and right (and those in between) have had their minds dumbed-down to a degree that is simply incompatible with a society seeking to be both free and self-governing. 

The great civic issue of our time is this: that we are quickly, distressingly and with breathtaking speed losing our ability to converse with one another. Our common language is disappearing. We are being overtaken by a flood of superficiality in which very few of us know much of anything beyond zingers, one-liners, clichés and stereotypes.

Look at the state of the church today (and religion in general). Look at the state of education today. Look at the state of our politics today. We used to be a nation of readers. We now are a nation of tweeters. We used to be a nation where whole towns would turn out for seven hours to hear the likes of Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln debate the great issues of the time. Now, most of us can’t and don’t even watch our presidential “debates.” I challenge ever person reading this: Watch a few minutes of the Nixon-Kennedy debate. If you have the time, watch a minute or two of each presidential debate (in order) since then. You will notice a deleterious corrosion in the substance and civility of our presidential “debates.” They began as a stage upon which those vying for the most powerful office on earth could display their civility, their knowledge, their wisdom and their grace. They are now choreographed circuses where those vying for our nation’s most august office do little more than spout their pre-approved talking points and rarely, if ever, offer substantive responses to each other’s arguments.

This is all because of what I called the “Postman thesis,” the prophetic message delivered by Neil Postman in his seminal work, “Amusing Ourselves to Death.” Although published in 1985, its prophetic relevance has only increased with time. Postman observed, and predicted, that the proliferation of electronic media, while not bad in itself, was transforming the way we think (or don’t think): In every area of life, we were being dumbed-down, because we were becoming more and more desirous of entertainment and less desirous of the serious thought and contemplation necessary to sort out complex issues and pressing matters of our time. As a result, we have become a society run on emotion, not reason.

Postman, who was not a Christian, observed, “I believe I am not mistaken in saying that Christianity is a demanding and serious religion. When it is delivered as easy and amusing, it is another kind of religion altogether.” On modern politics, he noted: “Tyrants of all varieties have always known about the value of providing the masses with amusements as a means of pacifying discontent. … How delighted would be all the kings, czars and fuhrers of the past to know that censorship is not a necessity when all political discourse takes the form of a jest.” On education, he lamented: “It would not have come easily to the mind of such a man [Thomas Jefferson], as it does to political leaders today, that the young should be taught to read exclusively for the purpose of increasing their economic productivity. Jefferson had a more profound god to serve. … The question is, ‘What kind of public does it create?’ A conglomerate of self-indulgent consumers? Angry, soulless, directionless masses? Indifferent, confused citizens? Or a public imbued with confidence, a sense of purpose, a respect for learning, and tolerance? … The right answer depends on two things, and two things alone: the existence of shared narratives, and the capacity of such narratives to provide an inspired reason for schooling.”

And it is our shared narrative, and our growing loss of it, that lies at the root of this problem.

America has lost her story, and we need to get it back. It’s become mired in a quicksand of narcissistic hyper-individualism combined with totalitarian collectivist degradation: the exact opposite of our founders’ vision, which imagined an America where the government was efficient, responsible and liberty-respecting, and the citizens were bound together by a common set of moral, religious principles (notice I didn’t say “doctrines”), which allowed them to manage and govern their own affairs in a responsible, society-benefiting manner.

It is because we have lost this vision that we are drowning in the paradoxical, counterintuitive, but ultimately predicted juxtaposition of collectivism and narcissistic hyper-individualism.

Washington predicted it. Adams predicted it. Jefferson predicted it. Franklin predicted it. Tocqueville predicted it. Montesquieu predicted it. Cicero predicted it. Postman predicted it.

And that is why the recovery of this narrative, a recovery of the American mind, a recovery of self-government and true discourse, ought to be the greatest task of all of us most concerned about the future of this republic. For, as Postman noted, “What Huxley teaches is that in the age of advanced technology, spiritual devastation is more likely to come from an enemy with a smiling face than from one whose countenance exudes suspicion and hate. In the Huxleyan prophecy, Big Brother does not watch us, by his choice. We watch him, by ours. There is no need for wardens or gates or Ministries of Truth.”

In such a society, tyranny does not ultimately come from the government, but the people themselves. “When,” Postman eerily predicted, “a population becomes distracted by trivia, when cultural life is redefined as a perpetual round of entertainments, when serious public conversation becomes a form of baby-talk, when, in short, a people become an audience and their public business a vaudeville act, then a nation finds itself at risk. Culture-death is a clear possibility.”

Jefferson’s reminder thus ought to sear our consciences: “Where then is our republicanism to be found? Not in our Constitution certainly, but merely in the spirit of our people. That would oblige even a despot to govern us republicanly [sic]. Owing to this spirit, and to nothing in the form of our Constitution, all things have gone well.”

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/04/culture-death-america-has-lost-her-story/#5hIdELmf25zLwYjx.99

My comments: What Mr. Charles fails to understand is that the godless, Socialist, Secular Humanist don't want to talk. They HATE Chrsit Jesus because Chrsit Jesus tells them that what they do is Evil [John 7:7]. They have been working for decades to SILENCE and ELIMINATE Christianity from the Public Square. Today, they have more power than ever before and they are exerting this power to the maximum extent.