"The most insular communities, those whose lives intersect in worlds and subcultures that exclude outsiders, often seem to suffer the most crippling jealously and envy. The church and universities are notorious caldrons of intrigue and slander. Neglect breeds insecurity and fear of irrelevance. This fear does not tolerate dissenters within the ranks. There is, in such inbred communities, a need to be perceived as holding a pure, unchallenged orthodoxy. They constantly feel threatened with extinction. They need to hate. They must direct the venom felt toward an indifferent world onto the only people who would bother to listen or care, those who are like them."-pg. 146 of Losing Moses on the Freeway
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I've not read this book, but this quote makes a huge and negative generalization against the church and universities. It is the same kind of negative and unjust generalizations made against Muslims and the mosque.
ReplyDeleteEnvy is definitely not limited to Christian churches but rather can be found rampant in other religious institutions such as mosques. I read the quote as referring to religious institutes in general as well as to elitist ivory tower academic circles.
ReplyDeleteThe ironic thing is that religious institutions and communities preach against envy but yet are so envious. Envy of course is also just simply a human problem that all of us have to struggle with.
Hope you didn't take offense from the comment. I find Chris Hedges to be really interesting - his father was a minister and he himself completed seminary at Harvard Divinity. He wrote this book in 2005 and then wrote American Fascists in 2007 on the Christian Right and then I don’t believe in Atheists in 2008 against Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins and their likes whom he calls the 'new atheists'.
I don’t agree with all of his statements regarding religion but value his statement here. I've witnessed first hand how my own faith community is plagued with ad hominem attacks on scholars, leaders and community members resulting with heated polemics that are probably more a result of envy than anything else.
You are right that envy is a human problem and isn't unique to any one segment of society.
ReplyDeleteI personally didn't take offense to the comment, but simply wanted to point out that it unfairly calls out two groups who are not unique in their sinfulness.
Though I am not a Muslim I am often on the look out for these kind of unfair generalizations against Muslims.