Since when did David Brooks, the conservative voice on the New York Times Editorial Page and one of the smartest columnists in the country, start talking about Original Sin?
Brooks wrote a fascinating column this past week in which he talks about his concern over the stimulus plan and the massive changes that are afoot in the country as a result of the economic crisis. His major concern is not so much in the programs that will be funded by the stimulus and the details of changes to come, but the philosophy behind them.
The debate, Brooks argues, hinges on just how much we can know and just how capable we can be at rapid institutional change. The debate is whether it is even possible to know enough or be competent enough to engineer transformational social change from the West Wing of the White House and the halls of Congress.
While these are debates that so-called conservatives and so-called progressives have been debating for centuries, what is fascinating for me is that this debate goes all the way back to Augustine and to the Garden. If we believe that our minds were warped by the Fall like our bodies and our souls, then our thoughts, our ideas, our motivations are all curved, distorted, and broken as well.
This means that we can never be sure of much, other than that we are flawed and that God is in the process of transformation. This, Brooks would argue and I would agree, requires a serious amount of modesty in estimating just how much we can do and just how effective we can be in government as well as in the church.
Humility and modesty, in both the the government, the church and the world, seems to be the order of the day.
It must be Lent.
2 years ago
2 comments:
I think you are right to express a need for our government to show a degree of humility when it comes to how much it can take on to solve this nation's problems. My agreement with you might end if the implication is that we should only take half measures to bring our country back from the brink.
I am also a seminarian at Fuller Seminary. I consider myself a liberal in the tradition of Howard Dean - speaking truth to power both within and outside the Democratic Party.
Yes, we are fallen creatures. I also believe that human beings are capable of incredible heights of grace, ingenuity, love and beauty. President Obama and the Democratic Congress have been given a mandate by our nation-community to try something different.
Something different than the last 8 years of nearly complete Republican rule which encouraged war, violations of nation's covenant (the US Constitution), and worship of false idols like the free market and the military. Certainly something different than the last 20 years in which Reagan's philosophy of a government that is the enemy of the people.
There should have been some humility from the likes of Reagan, Bush and Bush Jr. - and maybe things wouldn't have had to get so bad that we now require drastic intervention from my side of the political spectrum.
The Kingdom of God, of which I believe each of us can contribute to here and now, every day, can be proleptically realized in little ways. We each should take the gifts we have been given by God and use them to restore community where live...and help others shine their light. This does not require half measures.
Humility yes, but not at the expense of Christ's revolutionary message of peace and social justice.
http://www.greeneggsandham.org/wordpress
Thanks for your comments. I didn't know my blog had that much reach.
I didn't link Brooks work to make a political point, but thought his comments appropriate to think about during Lent.
Brooks, like most conservatives (which does not always equal republicans as we learned the last eight years) seems to have been profoundly shaped by classical notions of falleness and sinfulness, as expressed by Augustine, Niebuhr, etc.
Although I voted for McCain, I like and respect Obama and believe that he has been given a mandate for change. I do think Brooks has a point, however, in that I hope the Obama administration is careful and knows what they are doing, because the enormous amount of money and massive changes that appear on the horizon require prudence and really need to succeed.
If the first few months are any indication, my sense is Obama is doubling down by trying to tackle some of the biggest issues of our time. I think when it is over there will be very little middle ground on this Presidency, much like the last one. It will be either wildly successful or close to as much of a disaster as the last one was. We need him to be successful.
Thanks again for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. I hope to hear from you again soon. Blessings on your work at Fuller.
- Daniel
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