Letters to the Editor - The Dispatch - 8/11/02

Pop Psychology versus Christianity

          The debate about the so-called “recovering Catholics” is reality a debate between pop psychology and the Christian world view about the nature of man. The gurus of American pop psychology have decreed that self-esteem is the key to psychological health and that guilt is unhealthy. In contrast, the teachers of traditional and Biblical streams of Christianity say that man is fallen, sinful, and in need of a Savior.

          This debate about the nature of man is a very ancient argument with a new spin. Certain pop psychology writers have labeled traditional Christianity as a source of “pathology” (a sickness) which requires therapy.

          The self-esteem cult emerged in the 1960's and 70's. It had its roots in German psychological theory which was transplanted to America in the 1950's. Has the theory stood up to scientific testing? No. According to one test no correlation was found between self esteem and academic performance by children in grammar school. Another test indicates that there is a measurable correlation between high self esteem and a tendency towards violence and antisocial behavior. If the self-esteem theorists are so fundamentally wrong, how can we trust what they say about Christianity?

          Is Christianity a pathology? Let us look at the track record. Christianity gets most of the credit for preserving the intellectual treasures of classical antiquity during the Dark Ages. The church played a major role in the birth of European civilization in the 11^th century and in guiding and nurturing the dynamic and unique new civilization in the centuries to follow. Prior to the Renaissance, the restoration of literacy and scholarship to Europe was almost entirely the project of the church. The church was a key sponsor of the Renaissance and the voyages of discovery. All the early pioneers of science were either churchmen or devout laymen who were educated by the church. A majority of the inventions in the early phase of the Industrial Revolution were by Protestants of “non-conforming” sects of Bible-oriented Evangelicals. Our Ivy League Schools all have Christian roots. Most of the compassion-driven reform movements and charitable organizations which were founded prior to 1930 were founded by Christians. Today, Christian schools produce a measurably higher quality of education than the self-esteem obsessed public schools and do it at less than half the per pupil cost.

          Could a pathology have such a track-record?

Fred Hutchison

2952 Stillmeadow Dr., Dublin, OH 43017

(614) 799-0472