On the toxic nature of pride
Some of the greatest religious thinkers - the most accessible today probably being C.S. Lewis - were convinced that Pride was the most dangerous of sins because it had most power to corrupt a person's thinking and lead to other forms of cruel, selfish and ultimately wicked behaviour.
That is not a popular view these days.
I was interested to read yesterday a piece by John Pollock,
"We need to talk about Jeremy: on the toxic nature of left-wing pride"
which worked it's way back to a similar concern about the dangers posed by pride from the view of a tolerant left-winger who was not approaching the issue from a religious position.
His warning about the dangers of seeing yourself as better than people because of the ways you differ from them was aimed particularly at intolerant socialists who think they are better than those who do not share their views - but although most people reading it will recognise individuals they know who match the picture painted by the article, this is a danger that people on the right or of any other perspective need to be aware of too.
All of us should remember that if someone has different views then - within reason - that does not necessarily make them evil. Indeed, since all of us make mistakes, it does not even necessarily make them wrong.
That is not a popular view these days.
I was interested to read yesterday a piece by John Pollock,
"We need to talk about Jeremy: on the toxic nature of left-wing pride"
which worked it's way back to a similar concern about the dangers posed by pride from the view of a tolerant left-winger who was not approaching the issue from a religious position.
His warning about the dangers of seeing yourself as better than people because of the ways you differ from them was aimed particularly at intolerant socialists who think they are better than those who do not share their views - but although most people reading it will recognise individuals they know who match the picture painted by the article, this is a danger that people on the right or of any other perspective need to be aware of too.
All of us should remember that if someone has different views then - within reason - that does not necessarily make them evil. Indeed, since all of us make mistakes, it does not even necessarily make them wrong.
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