“We live in a time when we are defined as disabled, bipolar, alcoholic, ADHD, victims of lupus, cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and nearly everything else. Our condition easily becomes our primary reference point. I am an insulin-dependent diabetic, but my disease doesn’t define me.” - Randy Alcorn
Is the Trauma Narrative Helpful?
“As a counselor, I’ve found value in the increasing awareness of how trauma can affect a person. But I’ve wondered if trauma-directed narratives can skew our understanding of ourselves and others.” - TGC
Rich Men North of Richmond: The Trouble with Outrage Anthems
“…the view that your choices have a real impact on your life, tends to predict socioeconomic success. The opposite is also true: When someone views themselves as mainly a victim of things beyond their control, it often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.” - Breakpoint
Why are perceptions of the Church so far from the reality?
“In 1979, sociologist Christopher Lasch wrote The Culture of Narcissism, arguing that as the bonds of religious identity and family erode, Americans were increasingly looking inward for security and meaning. In such a culture, feelings and subjective experiences aren’t just considered the most important thing in the world: They’re considered the most accurate view of the world.” - Breakpoint
Pew: Americans on offensive speech: people are too sensitive, but people are also too offensive
“About two-thirds of U.S. adults (65%) say that ‘people being too easily offended’ is a major problem in the country today, while a slimmer majority – 53% – say that ‘people saying offensive things to others’ is a major problem” - Pew
Is There Such a Thing as a “Sin of Empathy?”
“Can empathy ever be sinful? Well, yes, most certainly… . But I don’t think this is at all what people at the mega-church are complaining about or accusing the pastor(s) of doing.” - Roger Olson
“Increasingly it is victimhood status, not God’s mercy or Christ’s imputation, that is seen as the source of our righteousness.”
“As a result, our culture values fragility over strength, and embellishes a constant good-versus-evil conflict, even over the smallest of issues. From elections to Facebook posts to hygiene practices — almost everything takes on the emotional temperature of a religion.” - Stonestreet
The trouble with perpetual victimhood
“It’s not ‘lived experience’ getting erased in the students’ minds. It’s the obvious difference between assigning blame for an act already committed and forestalling an act that might be avoided. Could it be that some victims and their advocates are not merely camping out on victimhood, but identifying as victims?” - Janie Cheaney
Identity Politics on the Right?
“The final, and perhaps most significant, problem with identity politics as currently practiced on the left is that it has stimulated the rise of identity politics on the right … . the right has adopted the language and framing of identity from the left: the idea that my particular group is being victimized” - Fukuyama via Veith