Summer Reading and Unrest

It seems every year, my reading list gets shorter. I thought I might catch up on some reading this summer, but it just hasn't happened.  We've had a busy summer, and with everyone home and a series of houseguests, I haven't had a lot of quiet time. I've also been planning a pre-school co-op for next fall, tutoring a couple ESL students, and revising my class for the fall term, which will meet once a week instead of just three times a term. 

But I also admit I don't read as much because of the iphone.  Many hours that I used to spend reading are now spent checking in. (Did you see the article: "Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation" at The Atlantic someone linked to on Facebook? The irony of reading this on an idevice when it was linked to on social media isn't lost. Another article that falls short of its title that I spent time reading and plotting a response in my head was this one: "How American Politics Went Insane". The author, Kurt Anderson, describes a lot of fringe groups, but I don't think he fully answers the question in the title.  He makes some suggestions, but I was left unclear about why the pendulum of left/right extreme fringe groups swings when it does. The article does not seem without bias, and when I finished skimming it, I wasn't sure what sane politics looks like, if it even has ever existed (Anderson does seem to think the Reagan years were a period of relative civility.) I also think he could give more responsibility to the internet for the spread of vitriol, rigidity, and incivility, along with eccentric ideas like conspiracy theories.) I did cut down on social media this summer in between travel and company, but I still would like to limit more of that time. Especially after reading that article about the role of the internet in youth development, I want to set a better example for our kids.

While I pat myself on the back for not letting my kids have smart phones until they are 18, they have plenty of access to media.  We have a communal iphone and an ipad, and computers. The 17 year old has an old iphone that doesn't have cell service which he uses for messaging, music, and Instagram. All of the teenagers have Instagram and Facebook accounts and get text messages from friends.  They aren't out of the loop.

In addition to reading the Atlantic article, I did read a couple of other books that have increased my desire to opt out of the fastpaced digital world, even though I am only marginally a part of it.  One was Rod Dreher's The Benedict Option.  I was excited to see this book at my mom and dad's while I was visiting, because I've been wanting to read it, but didn't want to buy a new book that I didn't have time for.  I really only skimmed it - but I don't need to be convinced that Christians are becoming increasingly marginalized and that we need to support each other in living in the world while not becoming a part of it.  The book blends an historical review of Christian thought, an analysis of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism and the "After Virtue" world Alisdair MacIntyre prophesied and then provides strategies for Christians in a post Christian world, as the subtitle suggests. Some profiles of people who are managing to find community and support for living a life based on Christian virtues are also included. Some of the suggestions include not giving your children phones and free access to the internet, home schooling, forming friendships or joining ecclesial movements or other groups that provide fellowship and mutual support in the Christian life, and taking part in the sacramental life of the Church.

As commentators have pointed out, this conversation has been going on for years - millennia - but each generation must find a way to continue the conversation. The struggle between straddling and sacred and secular worlds has been ongoing in my own life.  Waves of momentum in my faith life have been followed by times of fallowness. Dreher's suggestions all seem good - but some of the critiques also seem justified, namely that in his profiles, he fails to examine the lives of minorities who have traditionally formed strong bonds through Christian communities while being oppressed and persecuted, and that Christians should be more or less politically active or more or less involved in the life of the world.  Especially in light of the recent political upheaval sweeping the country, it seems both necessary to form and nourish strong communities, but also to take action in the wider community. How do we balance service and preservation?

This quandary and others are at the heart of Bishop Barron's Vibrant Paradoxes: The Both/And of Catholicism and in C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters. Both address the fine lines between virtue and vice, between the will and emotion, between action and contemplation, etc.  (The Screwtape Letters has much that is timely - for instance the devil encourages bias, excess emotion, uncertainty, and false humility - a great line about how democracy can be used by the devils to increase a sense of superiority in order for people to distinguish themselves - while God loves the opposing virtues of freedom from bias, acts of free will, rhythm and harmony, and appreciation/gratitude.) For that matter, the fourth big book I read this summer was Anne Fadiman's The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. This book, too, examines intersections (isn't "sectionality" a buzzword in literary studies these days?) and the challenges of attempting acculturation and assimilation while preserving and respecting the practices of traditional communities and cultures.

Really there are no easy answers to the question of how then shall we live.  My husband, son, and I had a good conversation the other night about current events, in between the rise of white supremacists and extreme nationalism in our own country and the terror attacks across Europe.  The role of media in feeding extremist or fringe groups can't be underrated: social media increases a sense of isolation, victimization, and tribalism - the attitudes that increase the likelihood that a young person will identify with a cult or reactionary organization. I also feel that poverty of literacy education has a large role in the inability of  young people to empathize (I acknowledge my bias towards the importance of literacy.)

Our son will be in Barcelona in a few days, right where the most recent attack occurred.  While it is true that cycles of rising abuse of power and oppression, followed by the response of violent and/or peaceful revolutions can be identified throughout all of history, it nevertheless is no less upsetting to live during the upheaval. How do we respond?  How do we encourage justice and the preservation of peace, in the world and in our hearts?

My instinct is to retreat, to pull the curtains on the outside world, and to focus on addressing the fires and flares in our own household and local community.  This is another reason to turn off media feeds. But I also believe that we have a responsibility to our brothers and sisters in the wider community.  We continue to try to do our little bit in between making donations, signing up to serve dinners at the homeless shelter, tutoring, etc.  Stepping away from social media may be described as refusing to stand up against bullies, but in order to have the time to serve others, we need to turn off the devices.

Hmmm, I am out of time, and I think this post may be too disjointed and too undeveloped to be worth posting, but I'm going to throw it out into the evil web anyway.  (Another interesting conversation with our 20 year old was about the deep web, the dark web, and bitcoin.  All of these topics are fascinating in an unsettling way and need further thought and research ... )