If I still expected the world to make sense, I’d say it’s ironic that the one presidential candidate too young to be part of the 1960s has sparked the most memories of that historic American era. To be clear, the decade we think of as the “sixties” actually ran from the time after JFK’s assassination through 1975 when we scampered out of Vietnam. The earlier part of the sixties is usually considered part of the fifties … you know: Ozzie and Harriet and all that.
The sixties are so interesting because they fostered so many crosscurrents that seemed at odds. It was a time of loud confrontation with the status quo over the war and civil rights, but also a time for quiet transcendence in a nation for which the “promise of America” had come to mean a house in the suburbs and two cars in the garage. The flowering of spirituality in the sixties intersected with pop culture to provide one of its sweetest names: “the Age of Aquarius.”
The sixties produced many trends that could be of value today. One was the tendency to distrust mainstream media and consider it propaganda. Freedom of thought flourished and alternative paradigms no longer had to square with science in order to have value. People tended to dig deeper to find “truth,” and the decade spawned a short-lived resurgence in spiritual reliance. Spiritual truth was embraced as satisfying our profound longing for understanding in a way simple information cannot.
The embers of the sixties have begun to glow again in the candidacy of Barack Obama. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman described Obama’s message as the politics of “transcendence,” but wonders whether enough Americans are seeking transcendence to make him a winner in November. There is much more to Obama’s candidacy -- he clearly stands for traditional Democratic economic issues, but it’s simpler for the mainstream to just “brand“ everything and everyone. Sorry Mr. Obama, one brand to a customer. If he tries to fashion a more complex platform mixing counter-culture and traditional messages, he’s taking a chance. Guys like Wolf Blitzer are easily confused. And anyway, America prefers to swallow its counter cultures, not learn from them. Look at how the sixties were co-opted by Madison Avenue and made over into one more marketing ploy. Maybe Mr. Obama should launch a line of tie-dyed tee shirts while he’s still hot.
Having seen the sixties dream of a more spiritual world whither away, I’m not overly optimistic that Mr. Obama can bring it back. But that doesn’t mean giving up. Jesus said seek and you will find. To seek means doing more than turning on CNN or Fox News, or for that matter clicking on Christianity Today’s online magazine. Once the truth reaches the surface it’s rarely the truth anymore.
A friend, Pastor Larry Davies, publishes a weekly meditation online that holds more truth in a few paragraphs than can be found in all the establishment seminaries in Dallas. In a recent posting he spoke about how, after Peter’s fear-filled desertion of Jesus at Gethsemane, Peter wanted to give up on the spiritual kingdom Jesus had promised: “Maybe I need to walk away,” Davies imagined Peter saying. “I can quit. I'll go back to doing what I do best. ‘I’m going fishing.’” That’s what happened as the sixties came to a close. So many walked away, went back to what they knew, and stopped seeking spiritual answers.
Perhaps the young Americans inspired by Mr. Obama would not describe it this way, but the spirit of the sixties is at the heart of his promise. Strip away all the negatives of that fabled era and what remains is faith that God’s spiritual presence can light our lives. Maybe the dream isn’t dead.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Could We Prove Our Culture is Healthy for Kids?
There’s nothing complicated about whether 14- or 15-year-old girls should be placed in marriages to men in their 40s or 50s. I think we can all say, “No way!” But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing complicated about the child custody battle unwinding in Texas. On one side, the state says it’s a simple child protection case, on the other hand much of what the state has done -- and is doing -- doesn’t feel like what we expect in a democracy.
After the judge continued state custody Friday night, one of the attorneys appointed by the state to represent the children said it would be “a tragedy” if parents lose custody of their children because of something that happened “three doors down” within the compound. For those parents who didn’t force their daughters into mismatched marriages, what is the essence of their crime other than membership in an unpopular religious group? Will the innocent have to prove their innocence?
Hopefully, children who need protection will receive it while the others will be restored -- along with their right to religious choice. A subtext in all this is a prevailing belief that raising children in the narrow world behind those walls is unhealthy by itself. These kids should be exposed to mainstream American culture. But is that in their interest? If you’ve raised kids in contemporary America you might wonder. What if we in the mainstream were forced to show some outside authority that our culture is healthy for children? Could we? Here’s a few factors we might need to explain away:
> TMZ. This is a television show in which supposed adults -- admirable members of our society -- degrade themselves by sneaking up on pathetic cultural “celebrities” for the purpose of dishing out humiliation. I’m sure other shows could be nominated for this hall of shame. And should I mention the violent simulation games we’ve fed a generation of children privileged to grow up outside that Texas compound.
> A culture of wanton death. Any shortage of examples? Abortion for convenience? A needless and murderous war in Iraq which so many love to embrace? A capital punishment system the rest of the world has banished. A love of weapons that empower crazies to create their own killing fields. And then there’s our prisons. More people behind bars than any other nation on earth, with a third of black men doing time at some point in their lives. Yea, let’s make sure these people in Texas don’t deny their children exposure to this wonderful world.
> A culture so materialistic that the very word “success” is defined by our financial portfolios. Don’t deny it. “He’s very successful,“ means he’s loaded. If Jesus walked our world spouting off on the spiritual kingdom he’d be soundly rejected, just like he was in his own day. We’d dance around his sayings like, “no man can serve two masters,” and when Jesus said “no, it means what it says,” we’d toss him out like a can full of rusty old nails we finally admitted we’d never use.
Maybe those people in Texas are the lucky ones. What if we were all threatened by child protective services if we didn’t change our world? Oh, I know it’s a pipedream, but the thought of it makes me want to hug a child.
After the judge continued state custody Friday night, one of the attorneys appointed by the state to represent the children said it would be “a tragedy” if parents lose custody of their children because of something that happened “three doors down” within the compound. For those parents who didn’t force their daughters into mismatched marriages, what is the essence of their crime other than membership in an unpopular religious group? Will the innocent have to prove their innocence?
Hopefully, children who need protection will receive it while the others will be restored -- along with their right to religious choice. A subtext in all this is a prevailing belief that raising children in the narrow world behind those walls is unhealthy by itself. These kids should be exposed to mainstream American culture. But is that in their interest? If you’ve raised kids in contemporary America you might wonder. What if we in the mainstream were forced to show some outside authority that our culture is healthy for children? Could we? Here’s a few factors we might need to explain away:
> TMZ. This is a television show in which supposed adults -- admirable members of our society -- degrade themselves by sneaking up on pathetic cultural “celebrities” for the purpose of dishing out humiliation. I’m sure other shows could be nominated for this hall of shame. And should I mention the violent simulation games we’ve fed a generation of children privileged to grow up outside that Texas compound.
> A culture of wanton death. Any shortage of examples? Abortion for convenience? A needless and murderous war in Iraq which so many love to embrace? A capital punishment system the rest of the world has banished. A love of weapons that empower crazies to create their own killing fields. And then there’s our prisons. More people behind bars than any other nation on earth, with a third of black men doing time at some point in their lives. Yea, let’s make sure these people in Texas don’t deny their children exposure to this wonderful world.
> A culture so materialistic that the very word “success” is defined by our financial portfolios. Don’t deny it. “He’s very successful,“ means he’s loaded. If Jesus walked our world spouting off on the spiritual kingdom he’d be soundly rejected, just like he was in his own day. We’d dance around his sayings like, “no man can serve two masters,” and when Jesus said “no, it means what it says,” we’d toss him out like a can full of rusty old nails we finally admitted we’d never use.
Maybe those people in Texas are the lucky ones. What if we were all threatened by child protective services if we didn’t change our world? Oh, I know it’s a pipedream, but the thought of it makes me want to hug a child.
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