Most people in our society have certain beliefs that are simply absorbed without questioning. These beliefs didn’t arise out of thin air; they were written in previous decades or even hundreds of years ago by authors few of us have read. In particular, Jean-Jacques Rousseau has impacted 21st Century American thinking in vital and dangerous ways. Because beliefs play such a vital role in how we live, let’s take a few minutes to scratch the surface on some of these ideas we see playing out today.
Rousseau famously believed that it is society that corrupts individuals. If we were able to live in a “natural” and totally free state outside any obligations from society, then we would all be moral because immorality arises from the pressures of living in society. People are innately good until they are corrupted. Many modern beliefs stem from this set of ideas. Anti-society means anti-history and tradition, both of which can only result from society and preserve society. People who live free from society’s restraints are the only truly free people, according to Rousseau. That is interpreted today to mean that people who don’t live out their urges aren’t living “authentically.” In other words, they are living a lie because they are suppressing their urges in order to live according to society’s dictates. Universal moral laws would counter this belief, but Rousseau had an answer for that too.
For Rousseau, all ethics derive from personal sentiment, primarily empathy. He believed empathy was universal and would guide moral action. Unfortunately, we all know that empathy can be overpowered by other desires which stem from our sinful nature. If it feels good, do it is the modern spin on Rousseau’s belief that feelings determine morality, freed from any universal truths. Total moral relativism is the result, where tolerance for others (as long as they aren’t “intolerant”) is the only universal. No one can tell another what is good or evil. In fact, evil no longer exists—only pathology. Those who commit particularly heinous crimes aren’t evil, they’re crazy.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau surely couldn’t have imagined where his ideas would ultimately lead, and who knows if we would have wound up in the same philosophical state without his influence. Suffice to say that ideas matter, and even Christians tend to let non-biblical ideas become part of their worldview without critical analysis. That is why it is important to label ideas and understand their source to make them visible, and thereby more readily analyzed for truth or lack thereof. Lent is a season for introspection. Have we allowed anti-biblical beliefs to slip in?
