Editorial
Declining Self-Esteem
A First Step in Cultural Salvation
by Thomas S. Buchanan
"May you live in interesting times" is a well-known ancient Chinese curse. Although it may be apocryphal, it certainly applies to the state of the Church today. We Christians see a turning away from the faith that is astounding in its abruptness and impact.
Of course, we have been on a bad trajectory for several decades. We have seen many churches embrace moral positions that Paul clearly condemned. We have faced dilemmas from new technologies—from birth control to embryonic stem-cell research to trans-sexual reassignment surgery—and have not fared well. Many churches today put banners in their front yards proclaiming their acceptance of the ways of those whom previous generations would have considered to be in need of prayer and calling to repentance.
We have no understanding of virtue. We desecrate the memorials of cultural heroes because they were insufficiently virtuous by the standards du jour.
We have seen Christians who stood their ground fired from their jobs and sued in our courts. Professors and cake-makers have been punished for believing orthodox Christianity and daring to follow its tenets.
We worry about our children and our children's children, who are sometimes taught things in school that encourage practices from which Lot and his family fled.
We are told that science is on the side of our oppressors, that there is hate in our hearts, and that our thoughts and actions as Christians will not be tolerated.
All this is nothing new, as books like Out of the Ashes by Anthony Esolen and The Benedict Option by Rod Dreher discuss in detail. The newspapers have a new story on this theme almost every day.
The First Step: Ourselves
In such times, we do well to ask how we should respond. We wish to save our families and keep them Christian. Should we run away, stay and fight, or just go with the flow and hope things work out for the best?
The first step in solving the problem is realizing that we are part of the problem. Our lack of faith, lack of virtue, lack of piety is the first issue we should address. The force of our culture is substantial, and much of it has seeped into our bones. Few Americans are immune to its influences. We do not live truly Christian lives. We live for ourselves, thinking about all that we have and all that we are. Our focus is on ourselves, even as we consider how to respond to the troubles we face. Most of us begin with the thought that we are in good standing with God. We may worry about family and friends, and may even worry about our jobs and about being careful in considering what to say and what not to say, but we feel that we are basically okay. We are good people. We are virtuous because we read Touchstone and think great thoughts.
Thomas S. Buchanan is the George W. Laird Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Delaware. He has studied at UCSD, Northwestern University, and MIT, and has held visiting professorships at the University of Western Australia and the University of Aix-Marseille. He has served as department chairman, deputy dean, and institute director, president of the American Society of Biomechanics, and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Applied Biomechanics. He is on the Board of Trustees of Saint Katherine College, the editorial board of Touchstone, and the board of The Fellowship of St. James.
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