The Strange New World of Identity Politics

Welcome to family policy matters and engaging and informative weekly radio show and podcast produced by the North Carolina family policy Council hi this is John Ralston, presidency, family, and were grateful to have you with us for this week's program is our prayer that you will be informed, encouraged and inspired by what you hear on family policy matters and that you will fold better equipped to be a voice of persuasion for family values in your community, state and nation, and now here's our house to family policy matters. Tracy Devitt Griggs thanks for joining us this week for family policy matters. As we look around our world today. Those of us who are a bit older, I struck by how quickly our social wars have changed in the past few decades, and sometimes it seems like everyone has simply lost their minds because many things happening today just don't seem to make sense, but interestingly, there has been a logical progression that is brought us to this disorienting state of identity politics understanding that history can help us think through these issues in a deeper way. We hope address them in a way that's worthy of our standing as children of God will Dr. Carl Truman has just released a book that dives deeply into these questions is called the rise and triumph of the modern self cultural amnesia expressive individualism in the road to sexual revolution been lauded as a must read for thoughtful Christians and one of the most important works of the decade on these issues. Dr. Truman is professor of biblical and religious studies at Grove city College and a fellow at the ethics and Public policy Center joining us today to give us a glimpse into the gems that can be found in this new work, Dr. Carl Truman.

Welcome to family policy matters. Everything you argue that while what we see as insanity in the world today is irrational. It's not necessarily illogical. So what you mean by that. I'm a woman trapped in a moment boldly. For example, the movie was quite good. It's quite logical. In some ways to hold such a dramatic difference between abilities and actual identity. But if you trace the super history of full history of Saudia Villa through €400 what you notice is that we've increasingly emphasized feeling's constitutive of who we actually increasingly downplay the importance of the ball be so while the statement itself lacks the kind of rationality itself. Story of how the statement of emerged makes a kind of strange that feelings have become ultimate authority in our culture and anything that gets in the way of acting on those feelings. And I could be parents. The church authorities are to be rejected, and sometimes even considered the enemy. So tell us why this is important and why this is having such a big impact on everything in our culture. What we imagine.

So human beings century the molten proof and imagine himself to be autonomous self-governing to be somebody who know intrinsic dependencies upon others, but is intolerable able to decide who they are full of himself know when you think about the extremely important that we imagine our selves to be.

It makes everybody else in every relationship we have. First and foremost, potentially will I would say several potentially something that stops us being happy that it leads us to treat people like objects protections for abortion, for example of the baby in the womb ceases to be a person's body to the extent that the content will make me happy by keeping them will make me happy by getting rid of them.

So this universe really revolves around me. A nominal Thomas individual touches how we think about pretty much everything and of course the sexual revolution is one way that were seeing a lot of practical impacts in our culture is an yes the sexual revolution when you think about sexual activity. In times past are two things I think that much about long. It was never traditionally. As my identity loads of homosexuality in ancient Greece, for example. But nobody identified his day sex was something to do and secondly it was always carefully overall controlled by what we might describe the natural world sleep go to get a practical consequences about sleep and some do this to do you get enough the disease. You might never be cured from technology's men.

But now we can get a pregnancy to catch a disease that we we have a drug for the technological revolution has really reshaped the way we think about sexual activity is of the risk-free recreation if you like really saying is if you are coming together of the answers are given on the one hand, we now imagine ourselves as being held to determine our identities and to be whoever we want to be makes us happy.

On the other hand, we have sex. It is become just pleasurable recreation with no consequences no risks involved. Well, when you imagine the world that way when somebody comes along and scission my identity is grounded in my my sexual desire to press back against that because we all want people to be happy. We don't want to stop people being happy and when sexual activity, sexual desire is the means by which an individual realizes himself realizes that happiness is intuitively difficult for us to push back against that because whatever personal convictions might be as Christian believers or whatever society is training to instinctively think that we should not get in the way of other people's happiness, providing mental hurting somebody else is setting us up as Christians in our ability to speak into the culture. Do you think the extent of this is become a kind of human rights cools and is finding its way into legislation that yes it is shutting us up because it's raising the risks of speaking at tremendously when I was young. The offense of Christianity was the a lot of people thought it was nonsense, but they were particularly worried that somebody down the corner of the street within the church that believe nonsense nonsense is relatively high us. In many circumstances now cools what we believe strikes at the very half of molten people conceive of their identities.makes Christianity dangerous slugs so much legislation coming into place that make you very very difficult to enjoy traditional freedom of religion in the public square. You mentioned that our society or culture is training us to accept some of these ideas and that is a dangerous thing.

Then if we don't stop it now.

So we do need to be concerned about these things, don't we.

Yes, the real problem is I could give you genealogy where we thought looking at people or groups nature of Freud's people to read the weather getting their ideas from the getting their ideas from the way that their imaginations are being shaped their intrusions being formed by soap opera, sitcoms, conversations with friends, so we need to resist this move, but it's very very difficult to do so because it mediates all of the things that shape us as human beings within our water culture something sickly were talking a lot about worldview ardently. We talk a lot about that on her show the importance of having what we call a Christian worldview. You talk about what a worldview is how it's formed and how that affects everything we do. Worldview is essentially an overall way of thinking about the world you think about yourself and your place within the world will have a ball shape at a meeting or is it just stuff is outsourcing how worldviews fold 12 formal education would be one of most obvious upset about imagination, intuition is correct it's not just formal education is also things like how we choose to be related to technology. It's the culture we consume. So problems the sitcoms we watch the conversations we have is the friendships we have all of these things. I think shape the way we think about the world so obviously for somebody like me. The educational aspect to this is very important, but I don't think that simply attending a course on the correct worldview will correct somebody's worldview is part of a way of life as well but has to be addressed holistically, so I think something like the church is very important because it's in the liturgical rhythm of the church attend the worship of the church in the singing of God's praise praying hearing the word preached the minds, hearts and imaginations for both in ways not even aware of the topic Grove city.

It's a Christian liberal arts college, and I would imagine answer. Confronting these undergraduate students, most of whom probably come from Christian backgrounds. If they end up at Grove city what you think about the worldviews that they're coming in with and what did they think about some of the things that your teaching as far as the history and how far we've come so quickly. Backgrounds were pretty shocked what's going on and hopefully Mike will help them to understand why what's happened this come about finger with the younger generation. My own take on teaching is when I teach the essentially my book place a lot of emphasis upon what we love seeing other things that we believe that ideas we drop hold off. But all of our lives are ultimately motivated by love and thought presents my cools is okay. This course is a quest to find what we need to love in order to be properly fulfilled. What we need to love and always feel free to belong.

So I found a kind of existential type on this material is being very helpful with the students, not simply a case of saying this ideas right, but I did is wrong, but this what is right because actually when you see it. It really reflects who we are as human beings in this world touches our desires, touches our density in a deep level. That's what you mean by natural law right that Christians need to have a better understanding of natural law.

Yeah I think that's one of the things that Protestant Christians are not done well. This is emphasized the fact that the world has a moral shape to go through the origin of the will of your physical shape to jump off the top of the building.

I plunged my death are not a good faith has a natural shape at the mall shape as well, but if you behave sexually in certain ways that yourself simply physically but also mentally, emotionally and psychologically. If society puts itself against demolishing the natural family. It will not go well for society but there is actually a structure to the world that we need to respect and to conform ourselves to in order to fully flourish as human beings.

One of your book review stated that the tone of your book with gentlemanly which I thought was such a contrast to the way it seems like most people communicate on these issues these days why you think that was important but I will think what I wanted to write a book that I would not be embarrassed to lesbian, Gay, bisexual, transgender person I wanted to write a book that if they took offense that it was because they want to take offense, not because I said anything offensive and secondly the same applies to my students on where the students may not think as I do on some of these issues and I'm aware that many of them may have approximate convictions on these issues. I want to write a book that would make some think they couldn't dismiss it because it's time that has to wrestle with its actual narrative documents just appropriate for Christian we have to obey the ninth commandment, we have to be very careful in how we speak about other people, including our enemies. So I wanted to model something about what I was doing as well. Sometimes we look around in our culture. I think we feel like it's hopeless. How can we walk this back but do you feel like there is hope here and clearly from a Christian perspective promises to the church when the church is going to win something that we have great confidence in in the long run think is plenty of hope in the short term they did on the national level or near the local level where we have real relationships with really damaged people. People would be really really messed up their lifestyle choices, etc. etc. individual personal friendships love and care can be very, very powerful sites. I'm also hopeful about the national context of the moment, but I think of a local level. Many local churches have a great opportunity here to be a place where people can come and belong. I am very grateful that you took out the time to speak with us today. Thank you very much course, people can go to learn more by getting your books, the rise and triumph of the modern self is out now.

It's the longer 400 page book and then I a more concise version that has some study helps in a strange new world is coming out in March so thank you very much for being with us. Dr. Carl Truman on family policy you been listening to family policy matters.

We hope you enjoyed the program in plaintiff to do it again next week to listen to the show online insulin more about NC families work to inform, encourage and inspire families across Carolina. Our website it NC family.award that's NC family.org. Thanks again for listening and may God bless you and your family