Part of the Problem: We Have Never Been Woke

We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite

by Musa Al-Gharbi

Musa Al-Gharbi persuasively argues that elites (those that already have access to wealth and high status) use cultural means to maintain their own status while claiming to speak for and protect those who are disadvantaged, while not actually doing anything meaningful to better the lives of those they claim to defend. In fact, many elites take actions that actively maintain the status quo or live in such a way to cause additional suffering to those more disadvantaged.

The reading level is a little challenging. (It is written for college graduates, and even more those with terminal degrees.) I decided not to actually assign it in any of the high school courses for my kids, but I am encouraging all my kids to read it while they are in college.

It's a fascinating book that challenged me in many ways. Highly recommended to anyone who has a college degree and works in a job that doesn't require manual labor.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Amazon and Bookshop are affiliates links. I checked this book out from the library.

What Are Christians For?: Radical Christian Life in Modern America

What Are Christians For?: Life Together at the End of the World 
by Jake Meador

My husband and I bought this impulsively when we came across it at one of our favorite local bookstores. He was intrigued by the title and back cover; I was intrigued by the photo and bio of the author. He doesn't look like a man from Nebraska.

Meador explores how Christians in America have shaped and been shaped by the political landscape of our country. He suggests our faith has been watered down and compromised and asks, What would it mean to live by the Gospel when we vote and craft laws in modern America?

Wealth, comfort, and prejudice have too often conditioned and modified the calling of the Christian religion in America. (p. 12)

He says:

It's the way our vision of the Christian life has too often been implicitly conditioned and defined to leave the characteristic idols of the Western world untouched, unscathed, and unchallenged. (p. 13)

The author is speaking from a Protestant viewpoint. In the Introduction, he points to a priest he knew who lived the kind of radical and whole Christianity for which Meador is advocating. But I think the Catholic faith in America has mostly followed the same path, that of convincing ourselves we don't need to feed all the poor, or feed them the same way we'd eat, or give them the same health care we have, or build housing for them too close to our houses.

I'm not entirely sure I agree with all the historical roots Meador proposes for our current political and social climate, but I appreciate being challenged to question our complacency.

In critiquing industrialism our goal should not be to reach back to some pre-industrial era but rather to do what all Christians must do: to assess the health of our society and its history according to Christian ideas of morality and justice. (p. 53)

We should look at our economy and political landscape with a more critical eye. It's not that advances in technology or medicine are inherently bad, but they are also not inherently good.

A Christian approach to technology, in contrast, allows us to treat each technological development individually, asking each time why the tool is needed, what values it will impart to its users, and how it will shape the imagination of society more generally. (p. 60)

The fifth chapter, "The Unmaking of the Real: Wonder Among the Institutions," spoke on issues that probably most impact our life. He talks specifically about education here, even referencing Charlotte Mason and her educational philosophy (in the same paragraph that also mentions John Senior). He contrasts their ideas about wonder, life, and atmosphere, with that of most American schools.

From an early age we learn to interpret the world with the aid of institutions, and we learn that life is chiefly a matter of consumption rather than making. (p. 85)

Modern education (and technology) separates us from the world rather than immersing us in it. 

After laying out how we got where we are and how Christians in today's world are (inadequately) responding to our culture, Meador gives recommendations on how we can better live our vocations as Christians right here and now. Taken together, these recommendations promise to be difficult and to make us uncomfortable (in multiple senses). 

This book is one of the most convicting books I have read. Highly recommended if you want to be challenged to truly live as Christ is calling in the modern world.

I received nothing in exchange for this post. We purchased the book at a local bookstore at full price. Links to Bookshop and Amazon are affiliate links.

Ending Homelessness: Grace Can Lead Us Home

Grace Can Lead Us Home: A Christian Call to End Homelessness
by Kevin Nye

Kevin Nye has lived and worked among the unhoused populations in Los Angeles for many years. In this book, he describes the intractability of the problem, the tragedy of the lives of people without secure housing, some suggested ways to address the situation, and what he sees as the most effective solutions, including responses to those who may not agree with him.

What I appreciated most about this book was how he presented clear policy suggestions that make sense from a financial point of view, but focuses most on what solutions treat people without housing as men and women (and children) with inherent worth and dignity, regardless of their actions, their mistakes, and even their sins.

If grace means that God gives us good things because of who God is, not because we deserve it, then who are we to base our approach to homelessness on whether those on the streets have earned or qualified for our help? If God's grace is enough for us, then it is enough for anyone experiencing homelessness, whether they are in that position because of moral failures, difficult circumstances, or any combination of reasons. (p. 24)

Mr. Nye reminds himself and us of the dangers of separating ourselves from those who are unhoused (or hungry or incarcerated or anything else). Many who serve in shelters experience a kind of "saviorism," seeing themselves as heroes for the work they do each day.

Especially for those who work with the economically vulnerable, it sets up a dichotomy of "us," the financial and moral superiors, who graciously serve "them," the people who need our help. It's a power dynamic that gets reinforced by the gratifying nature of service--we feel good about ourselves when we serve and help others, regardless of whether our impact is long-lasting or even remotely liberating. (p. 34)

One of the ways the author combats this tendency in himself is to meditate on the 25th chapter of Matthew. 

 ...if each unhoused person I meet is Christ, then not only am I called to be kind and to offer help, but I am called in may ways to sit at their feet--to listen, to learn, and to change. (p. 36)

The author doesn't shy away from the "costs" associated with ending homelessness. The work is difficult. We are likely to feel uncomfortable. Our housing investments will not earn as much financially. These are sacrifices, the kind of sacrifices Christians make when we love each other as God calls us to love. 

The idea that "it could have been me" is rooted in the myth that we all start from the same place and are products only of the choices we make along the way. (p. 147)

Those who are unhoused often suffer a fate that has as much to do with their environment as their choices. When we fail to recognize that fact, we place blame where it does not belong and justify our reluctance to provide justice. 

This book is everything I wanted in a book on the Christian response to homelessness. It acknowledges the pain, suffering, complications, and uncomfortableness of the problem without shrinking from carefully and clearly outlining what seems to me what we should do about it. I found the authors arguments entirely persuasive, but I mostly agreed with him before reading the book, so I encourage everyone to get a copy and let me know what you think.

I am tossing around ideas in my head for a senior level high school course focusing on big problems of modern life, like homelessness and high incarceration rates, and how we as Catholic Christians should think about them and what kinds of policies we should support from our government officials, not from an economic point of view, but from a Christian point of view. This book will definitely be on the list for that course.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Bookshop and Amazon are affiliate links. I read a library copy of this book, but will certainly purchase a copy for our home.

Addition to Modern Government for High School: Just Mercy

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

by Bryan Stevenson

Kansas Dad has assigned this book in his college courses. He recommended it when I wanted to cover some modern issues in First Son's government course. It's a powerful condemnation of our justice system, pointing out many ways in which some groups of people consistently do not receive equal treatment under the law.

Proximity has taught me some basic and humbling truths, including this vital lesson: Each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done. My work with the poor and the incarcerated has persuaded me that the opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is justice. Finally, I've come to believe that the true measure of our commitment to justice, the character of our society, our commitment to the rule of law, fairness, and equality cannot be measured by how we treat the rich, the powerful, the privileged, and the respected among us. The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned. (pp. 17-18)

Mr. Stevenson often defends people who claim to be innocent, who face an uphill battle to prove their innocence, in a country where we should all be innocent until proven guilty. But he also defends those who are guilty, but have not been treated justly. Sometimes, our laws are good and must be enforced equally. Sometimes, our sentencing laws deserve to be repealed or modified.

So many of us have become afraid and angry. We've become so fearful and vengeful that we've thrown away children, discarded the disabled, and sanctioned the imprisonment of the sick and the weak--not because they are a threat to public safety or beyond rehabilitation but because we think it makes us seem tough, less broken. I thought of the victims of violent crime and the survivors of murdered loved ones, and how we've pressured them to recycle their pain and anguish and give it back to the offenders we prosecute. I thought of the many ways we've legalized vengeful and cruel punishments, how we've allowed our victimization to justify the victimization of others. We've submitted to the harsh instinct to crush those among us whose brokenness is most visible. (p. 290)

Some of the most powerful stories in the book are those in which the author feels intimidated or fearful. He is a lawyer, but he's also a black man, and often, more often than most of us would care to admit, he is presumed threatening. In one instance, a judge and prosecutor encounter him in a court room and assume he is the defendant. Their behavior toward him is deprecating and generally disrespectful. 

Of course innocent mistakes occur, but the accumulated insults and indignations caused by racial presumptions are destructive in ways that are hard to measure. Constantly being suspected, accused, watched, doubted, distrusted, presumed guilty, and even feared is a burden borne by people of color that can't be understood or confronted without a deeper conversation about our history of racial injustice. (pp. 300-301) 

Though Mr. Stevenson points out many instances where our laws and our justice system are flawed, he asks much more important questions than whether we treat people fairly. He asks if we treat people mercifully. I think this concept is so important for Christians.

I told the congregation [at Walter's funeral] that Walter's case had taught me that the death penalty is not about whether people deserve to die for the crimes they commit. The real question of capital punishment in this country is, Do we deserve to kill?

Finally and most importantly, I told those gathered in the church that Walter had taught me that mercy is just when it is rooted in hopefulness and freely given. Mercy is most empowering, liberating, and transformative when it is directed at the undeserving. The people who haven't earned it, who haven't even sought it, are the most meaningful recipients of our compassion. (pp. 313-314)

If we see Christ in all people, even those who are criminals, who have in some cases committed terrible crimes, how should we behave towards them? What should be our response as individuals, and what should we be asking of our lawmakers and judges? This book will be a great addition to our modern government course.

 I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Bookshop and Amazon are affiliate links. Kansas Dad purchased our copy.

Justice, not just Generosity: Winners Take All

Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World

by Anand Giridharadas

Mr. Giridharadas was pleased to be named a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute. He attended events and talks surrounded by other bright and idealistic professionals. As time passed, however, he became uncomfortable with the message and methodology of the fellowship.

It bothered me that the fellowship asked fellows to do virtuous side projects instead of doing their day jobs more honorably. [...] Instead of asking them to make their firms less monopolistic, greedy, or harmful to children, it urged them to create side hustles to "change the world." (p. 266)

This book argues essentially that large corporations create enormous profits for a minority of people by taking advantage of the poor and marginalized, creating or exacerbating problems of poverty, unemployment, and violence. Then, rather than changing their business practices, they donate a small portion of their profits to organizations of their own design to address the effects of their business practices without accepting responsibility for their role in the problems. 

By refusing to risk its way of life, by rejecting the idea that the powerful might have to sacrifice for the common good, it [today's elite] clings to a set of social arrangements that allow it to monopolize progress and then give symbolic scraps to the forsaken--many of whom wouldn't need the scraps if the society were working right. (p. 7)

The elite decide what to fund, how to address change, and how to measure progress.

For when elites assume leadership of social change, they are able to reshape what social change is--above all, to present it as something that should never threaten winners. In an age defined by a chasm between those who have power and those who don't, elites have spread the idea that people must be helped, but only in market-friendly ways that do not upset fundamental power equations. (p. 8)

Even with the best of intentions, inviting companies and their owners to be involved in addressing inequity or poverty immediately limits the creativity and revolutionary aspects of change. Not many board members are willing to entertain solutions that might inhibit their ability to pass on their wealth to future generations or that might disrupt the very companies that lead to their financial success.

Moreover, the charitable world is now described in the language of business, rather than something like justice or human dignity. Politically, for example, we have fewer people rising in the ranks of government organizations but are filling leadership positions with men and women from the business world, asking them to "regulate" their former colleagues and employers.

Young people who want to change the world are easily drawn into the narrative:

What threads through these various ideas is a promise of painlessness. What is good for me will be good for you. [...] You could help people in ways that let you keep living your life as is, while shedding some of your guilt. (p. 38)

Not only are capitalists able to assuage some of the problems, the prevailing wisdom is that they are better able to do so. However, the author argues this situation merely allows the winners to continue winning and pull even farther ahead.

There are still winners and losers, the powerful and the powerless, and the claim that everyone is in it together is an eraser of the inconvenient reality of others. (p. 50)

One of the key points of the book is how the large corporations manage to impact the messaging from speakers and authors. Many who begin by criticizing the current methods of philanthropy end up adjusting their talks and books as they are invited to conventions or retreats. As their income is more and more dependent on the wealthy, their words transform from calling for radical change to ones calling for change within the current system.

Inspire the rich to do more good, but never, ever tell them to do less harm; inspire them to give back, but never, ever tell them to take less; inspire them to join the solution, but never, ever accuse them of being part of the problem. (p. 155)

Then, not only do they continue to amass wealth at the expense of the week and poor, but they turn around and tell them something like "We know how best to solve your problems."

Leave us alone in the competitive marketplace, and we will tend to you after the winnings are won. The money will be spent more wisely on you than it would be by you. You will have your chance to enjoy our wealth, in the way we think you should enjoy it. (p. 164)

Interestingly, the book describes some companies that were designed to more directly benefit clients.

A company not run purely in shareholders' interests risked lawsuits from its investors. The dominant interpretation of corporate law, as we've seen, has since the 1970s come to regard companies' first duty as being to earn a profit for shareholders. (p. 248) 

Mr. Giridharadas provides many examples showing how the current ideology (allowing capitalists to determine our goals and methods for social change) is failing. He argues we need more government discussion of corporations and their behavior to address the root problems of inequity. I believe he would like to see more government regulation, but what he argues for is actually a more explicit and amicable public discourse on the causes of inequality and the methods for addressing it. Bringing those conversations out of private elite conferences and into the public arena allows everyone to participate.

It is solving problems in ways that give the people you are helping a say in the solutions, that offer that say in equal measure to every citizen, that allow some kind of access to your deliberations or at least provide a meaningful feedback mechanism to tell you it isn't working. It is not reimagining the world at conferences. (p. 227)

This book is written for elites, most of whom are firmly in the American left, politically. Some of the arguments, therefore, are along the lines of, "This is why Trump won the election," in ways that conservatives may find distasteful.

I think it's worthwhile to ask whether the weakest members of our society are making any progress and tying our goals and assessments of progress towards those goals to measurements of the quality of life for the least powerful.

Now that I've read this book, I find myself noticing evidence of its arguments in articles and TED talks. It has helped me to be more critical of those who are promising to change the world without changing our lifestyles or our hearts.

Benedict XVI's Caritas in Veritate offers a rich contemplation of walking in love and solidarity with the poor and marginalized. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in charity or societal change, even if not Catholic. 

For Catholics, though, changing the world is a matter of bringing forth the kingdom of God. Charities and governments can participate in that transformation, but what it requires most of all is allowing the love of Christ to change our hearts and then go forth to love and cherish every human person. Those of us who are comfortable in our lives must learn to sacrifice our own luxuries for the benefit of the marginalized if we want to follow Christ. Part of that sacrifice might mean admitting the deficiencies of our society's status quo.

Generosity is not a substitute for justice... (p. 182)

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Bookshop are affiliate links. I checked this book out from the library. 

Consolation, Peace, and Constant Prayer: Love, Henri

Love, Henri: Letters on the Spiritual Life

by Henri J. M. Nouwen

edited and with a preface by Gabrielle Earnshaw

Nouwen is the author of The Return of the Prodigal Son, which I read and loved a few years ago. This book, a collection of letters Nouwen wrote to friends, acquaintances, readers, and petitioners, offered a chance to get to know the author better and to see development of his thoughts on different subjects like conflict, inter-personal relationships, and vocation.

The letters are organized chronologically (from December 1973 through 1996, the year of his death) and divided into three parts, following his vocation in life and his eventual decision to make his home at a L'Arche community in Canada. The letters were selected because they all touch on "the spiritual life" but the subjects cover multitudes of subjects like marriage, ordination, the birth of children, new jobs, vocations, suicide, death, and divorce.

One of the most striking aspects of Nouwen's letters is his gracious recognition of the gift of the sharing of a soul through the letter he received and to which he is responding. Nearly every letter in this volume begins with a thankfulness to the recipient for the story he or she shared, the fear or loneliness. Nouwen didn't always offer advice in particular situations (though always always he counsels time set aside for regular quiet prayer); it wasn't about solving problems. It was about acknowledging other people for who they are and what they were experiencing. We don't write many personal letters today and perhaps electronic communications discourage such thoughtful introductory paragraphs when we respond to a query, but it occurred to me that I could adjust my own attitude, not only in writing but in person, by outwardly recognizing the vulnerability of others. I'm not exactly certain what this would look like in conversations, but I hope it stays on my mind.

I copied a great many quotes from Nouwen's letters into my commonplace book. For those who are struggling in just about any way, there are bits and pieces throughout this book that will comfort or challenge. Responding in 1981 to a man fearful of nuclear holocaust and war, Nouwen wrote:

But important for me is not if our civilization will survive or not but if we can continue to live with hope, and I really think we can because our Lord has given us His promise that He will stay with us at all times. He is the God of the living, He has overcome evil and death and His love is stronger than any form of death and destruction. That is why I feel that we should continually avoid the temptation of despair and deepen our awareness that God is present in the midst of all the chaos that surrounds us and that that presence allows us to live joyfully and peacefully in a world so filled with sorrow and conflict.

Nouwen championed social justice, peace, forgiveness, and unity throughout his life. He often spoke at social justice conferences and corresponded with those working for social justice throughout the world (especially Central and South America).

Working for social change, to me, means to make visible in time and place that which has already been accomplished in principle by God Himself. This makes it possible to struggle for a better world not out of frustration, resentment, anger or self-righteousness but out of care, love, forgiveness and gratitude.

Nouwen was a Catholic priest who studied psychology and taught at Notre Dame, Harvard, and Yale. (You can read more about him on the Henri Nouwen society website.) He was also a homosexual, though lived a chaste life (as far as I know). His correspondence in the book includes kind and encouraging letters to homosexual men living with partners or hoping for life-partners. So this book has the ability to alienate traditional Catholics and strident atheists both.

There is a particularly moving letter written in February 1993 to young participants at a social justice weekend at which he was invited to speak but declined. (You can find it on pages 307-308.) Near the end he writes:

We have to do any possible thing to heal these wounds of injustice, whether in Europe, North America or Africa, Asia and Australia. But we have to do this not in a spirit of fear, panic or alarm. We need to work for justice in the deep knowledge that Jesus has already overcome the world and that all our actions flow forth from this spiritual knowledge. This spiritual knowledge will grow deeper in us when we remain faithful to a life in community always dedicated to care for the poor. There you will find true joy and peace and this joy and peace will help you to discern where and how to make your life a life for justice in this world.

Later, he writes a lovely response to a woman interested in the doctrine of purgatory.

The doctrine of purgatory is a doctrine to assure us that God will fulfil our deepest desire to be united with him even when our heart is not totally pure yet. God will then offer us this purification. So it has very little to do with punishment. It is an expression of God's infinite desire to unit himself with us, and in that sense, as a doctrine, purgatory offers consolation and help. 

Nouwen was often intense and depended heavily on his friends. Based on the letters, it was sometimes difficult to meet his needs. On the other hand, his letters also show a great compassion for others and a tendency on his part to overextend himself in service to others.

The news today is as terrifying and distressing as it was in Nouwen's day. His letters offer the same consolation and peace he preached during his life.


I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review. The opinions above are my own. The links in this post are not affiliate links.