Over the past few weeks, Americans have been faced with a dialogue about race yet again. What's more, we're missing the opportunity to reflect on the ways in which our very real racism is having very real effects on our selves and our culture.
And for Christians I blame the sin of self-deception.
The Bible clearly warns against self-deception. Take, for example:
Christians worry about a great many vices but we rarely warn against self-deception.
Which is odd because we know self-deception is everywhere. Studies show how 94% of us think we do a "better than average job" in our places of work or how 100% of us think that we are "better than average" in getting along well with others. Clearly there is some self-deception at work in all this. Think about the people you will encounter today at work. All of these people think they are "better than average" in getting along with their coworkers! Obviously, some of these people are seriously deluded! But I, of course, actually do get along really well with others ...
So self-deception is everywhere. It affects our ability to be honest -- even with our selves.
Why do we have a problem taking the advice of the ancients?
I think it comes down to a simple reason: When we promote vices in their severity, we tend to have more a problem admitting we engage in said vices. The more severe the vice the greater the social and emotional cost to recognize its effect upon us.
Enter racism.
Lots of us -- myself included -- have a hard time admitting that we correlate the significance of a person's existence to the color of their skin. That hasn't always been so. There have been times and places -- there still are times and places -- where folks have no trouble admitting they think the color of one's skin correlates to their significance. They may or may not use the word racism or race, but they have no trouble admitting that's what they really think.
In the recent history of the American experiment, though, we promoted racism in the list of vices. And rightly so. But with that promotion came the emotional cost of admitting, "I'm a racist". Hence, self-deception. You can experience the satisfaction that rightly belongs to the person who steers clear of the vice of racism if you can but convince yourself that you're not a racist. Unsurprisingly, a great many people take the deal.
Let's use an fictional example, but one that's all too real.
Lucy is a Christian. She's in her 80s. And she's asked to respond to some questions, among which she's asked: "True or false? People of all ethnicities are equally loved by God and valuable, and equally to be respected".
What do you think she'll answer? "True", of course. She'll even get upset that the interviewer would ask the question. She'll claim it's a truism for life.
But -- and here's the kicker -- spend about half a day with her, and you'll start hearing something very different. Her language and behavior exhibit a clear and habitual disdain for African-Americans in her context. She does not believe them to be equally valuable, equally loved by God, and equally to be respected. It's not quite that she's being hypocritical or dishonest. She sincerely thinks that she believes this. But she doesn't.
This sort of self-deception is rampant in the Christian community. And it's not that we're being hypocritical (though some may well be). People really do believe they aren't afflicted by a variety of vices, racism among them.
It's very hard to admit these things about ourselves. But why?
It all goes back to the promotion of vices. The more severe the vice the greater the cost in its recognition. Racism is just one example of this self-deception.
How did that happen.
I blame "authenticity" or "being real". An idea that goes back to modern Existentialism. We traded being good for being authentic. And with that shift, the sin of self-deception got a promotion, even without realizing it. In a culture of authenticity being self-deluded or self-deceived is now one of the greatest sins we can commit. Thus, we just can't admit to ourselves that we might be self-deceived. Beginning with Kierkegaard, the Existentialists (Sartre, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche et al.) elevated authenticity to a place of primary importance in their understanding of the virtues. Due to the writings of the Existentialists and other cultural trends, the "Good Person" was increasingly understood to be the "Authentic Person". Being true to oneself became a -- or, in some cases, the -- chief good. Self-deception, then, was given a promotion in the ranking of vices. What was once a derivative vice -- one whose primary importance was found in its ability to facilitate other, more serious, vices -- became itself the most egregious of all sins.
This sort of stuff, like I said, is rampant in the Christian community. Yesterday, popular Christian writer Donald Miller posted on Facebook and Twitter:
The problem with racism in the Christian community is that we're self-deceptive.
I know I'm a racist. I also know that's not okay. I'm to be honest about my racism and with God's help transform that racism into genuine kindness and hospitality.
And for Christians I blame the sin of self-deception.
The Bible clearly warns against self-deception. Take, for example:
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17.9).In the past, warnings about self-deception were everywhere. Nowadays, though, it's faded from view -- particularly in our Christian communities.
The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, 'Who can bring me down to the ground?' (Obadiah 1.3).
If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself (Galatians 6.3).
Christians worry about a great many vices but we rarely warn against self-deception.
Which is odd because we know self-deception is everywhere. Studies show how 94% of us think we do a "better than average job" in our places of work or how 100% of us think that we are "better than average" in getting along well with others. Clearly there is some self-deception at work in all this. Think about the people you will encounter today at work. All of these people think they are "better than average" in getting along with their coworkers! Obviously, some of these people are seriously deluded! But I, of course, actually do get along really well with others ...
So self-deception is everywhere. It affects our ability to be honest -- even with our selves.
Why do we have a problem taking the advice of the ancients?
I think it comes down to a simple reason: When we promote vices in their severity, we tend to have more a problem admitting we engage in said vices. The more severe the vice the greater the social and emotional cost to recognize its effect upon us.
Enter racism.
Lots of us -- myself included -- have a hard time admitting that we correlate the significance of a person's existence to the color of their skin. That hasn't always been so. There have been times and places -- there still are times and places -- where folks have no trouble admitting they think the color of one's skin correlates to their significance. They may or may not use the word racism or race, but they have no trouble admitting that's what they really think.
In the recent history of the American experiment, though, we promoted racism in the list of vices. And rightly so. But with that promotion came the emotional cost of admitting, "I'm a racist". Hence, self-deception. You can experience the satisfaction that rightly belongs to the person who steers clear of the vice of racism if you can but convince yourself that you're not a racist. Unsurprisingly, a great many people take the deal.
Let's use an fictional example, but one that's all too real.
Lucy is a Christian. She's in her 80s. And she's asked to respond to some questions, among which she's asked: "True or false? People of all ethnicities are equally loved by God and valuable, and equally to be respected".
What do you think she'll answer? "True", of course. She'll even get upset that the interviewer would ask the question. She'll claim it's a truism for life.
But -- and here's the kicker -- spend about half a day with her, and you'll start hearing something very different. Her language and behavior exhibit a clear and habitual disdain for African-Americans in her context. She does not believe them to be equally valuable, equally loved by God, and equally to be respected. It's not quite that she's being hypocritical or dishonest. She sincerely thinks that she believes this. But she doesn't.
This sort of self-deception is rampant in the Christian community. And it's not that we're being hypocritical (though some may well be). People really do believe they aren't afflicted by a variety of vices, racism among them.
It's very hard to admit these things about ourselves. But why?
It all goes back to the promotion of vices. The more severe the vice the greater the cost in its recognition. Racism is just one example of this self-deception.
How did that happen.
I blame "authenticity" or "being real". An idea that goes back to modern Existentialism. We traded being good for being authentic. And with that shift, the sin of self-deception got a promotion, even without realizing it. In a culture of authenticity being self-deluded or self-deceived is now one of the greatest sins we can commit. Thus, we just can't admit to ourselves that we might be self-deceived. Beginning with Kierkegaard, the Existentialists (Sartre, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche et al.) elevated authenticity to a place of primary importance in their understanding of the virtues. Due to the writings of the Existentialists and other cultural trends, the "Good Person" was increasingly understood to be the "Authentic Person". Being true to oneself became a -- or, in some cases, the -- chief good. Self-deception, then, was given a promotion in the ranking of vices. What was once a derivative vice -- one whose primary importance was found in its ability to facilitate other, more serious, vices -- became itself the most egregious of all sins.
This sort of stuff, like I said, is rampant in the Christian community. Yesterday, popular Christian writer Donald Miller posted on Facebook and Twitter:
I stay away from churches in which I feel like I have to pretend I'm a better person than I am. That sort of thing moves my faith backwards.That's wrong headed. We are church not because we find our lives authenticated as they are, but because we find our lives oriented and re-narrated in meaningful ways in light of God's Story. That means a few things will have to change.
The problem with racism in the Christian community is that we're self-deceptive.
I know I'm a racist. I also know that's not okay. I'm to be honest about my racism and with God's help transform that racism into genuine kindness and hospitality.