I enjoyed reading Julian Baggini's "Welcome to Everytown" three years ago - a study of the typical English person by reference to the most average post-code district (part of Rotherham) where he went to live as part of his research.
In the May edition of Prospect he writes an interesting study of lying - "The Whole Truth". In passing he refers to his book "Complaint: From Minor Moans to Principled Protest", where he argues that moral ways of thinking are increasingly being replaced with legalistic ones. "We think more of our entitlements, rights and strict legal obligations and less of what is required to be a good person" (shades of Nick Hornby here, who explores what it is to be good in "How to be Good").
It looks to be interesting and I'll add it to my long list of books I'd like to read. Is there a sense in which, when religious faith takes a back seat, we need more rules and regulations to keep society in order? Certainly Christian faith speaks of the heart, the will being renewed (Romans 7 and 8 come to mind). Christian faith which does not lead to more godly living is not true faith (James). But other traditions looks in this direction as well, not least Judaism. For example, my favourite Psalm, 19, speaks of delighting in the law of God. This is a renewal of the heart, which a view of the Old Testament as legalistic (within some strands of Christian theology) does no justice to.
Tom Wright and others are helping us see the Old Testament in a new light. It would be interesting to engage Tom Wright with Julian Baggini to seek insight into where our culture is going.
No comments:
Post a Comment