Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Thought Life

Home
Evangelical
Making Men Moral: Jean Belke Elshtain on True Freedom

Making Men Moral: Jean Belke Elshtain on True Freedom

Last updated on: February 26, 2009 at 9:12 pm by Owen Strachan

Making Men Moral: Jean Belke Elshtain on True Freedom 2009-02-26T21:12:53-07:00 Owen Strachan

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

moral16 The biography of Jean Belke Elshtain, the conference’s fifth speaker:

“Jean Elshtain is a political philosopher whose task has been to show the connections between our political and ethical convictions. She is the author of several books and scores of articles as well as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and chair of the Council on Civil Society. She has served on the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University and is currently on the Board of Trustees of the National Humanities Center and on the Board of Directors of the National Endowment for Democracy. She has been a Phi Beta Kappa lecturer, is the recipient of nine honorary degrees, and received the 2002 Frank J. Goodnow Award, the American Political Science Association’s highest award for distinguished service to the profession.

In 2003, Professor Elshtain was the second holder of the Maguire Chair in Ethics at the Library of Congress. In 2006, jeanbethkeelshtain-1502 she was appointed by President George W. Bush to the Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and also delivered the prestigious Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh, joining such previous Gifford Lecturers as William James, Hannah Arendt, Karl Barth, and Reinhold Niebuhr. The lectures are forthcoming under the title Sovereignties: God, State, and Self (2008).”

The following is a summation of Elshtain’s incisive, often poetic remarks (errors mine, gems hers) from “Why Selves Cannot Be Sovereign.”

Introduction

How do we make human beings moral agents?

On this question, Elshtain commended her book on sovereignty, the state, and the self. She wondered out loud how we can maintain the sovereign self, on the one hand, and chasten and tame this notion of self-sovereignty on the other.

Notion of self-sovereignty has been deeded to us by our history. Pridefulness and self-loss are opposite extremes. We don’t want to be trampled on, so we choose self-sovereignty.

We face a certain attitude today that sees only ignorance and error in the past. But this approach assumes that we can create a new world de novo. We seek a self, then, that is neither triumphalist nor abject, relying on that which has gone before.

Toward a “Chastened Autonomy”
So what does a “chastened autonomy” look like? What does freedom of limits offer, and what might those limits be? It is helpful to bring into the conversation the writer Albert Camus. In “The Rebel,” he believes that the person who claims absolute freedom ends up rejecting any limit and in “blind indignation” ends up believing that killing is a matter of indifference. This accords with twentieth-century thought in some corners, that argued that some people, some groups, deserve death. This totalitarian way of thought argues that it can kill whom it wants.

A state is called to treat its citizens responsibly. This marks states as mature members of the international community. This translates to the individual as considered today. Initially, some claim, people are not initially responsible and mature, and thus do not need to be treated as such. The self cannot be a point of reference complete unto itself, as Augustine made clear. If you consider present-day versions of the self, you see homo economicus, man as a willful invention, man as a genetic ball of clay, man as nothing more than DNA. None of these molds are antagonistic to strong self-sovereignty but are themselves liable to its weaknesses.

Elshtain’s emphasis is on becoming persons of self-control. If we refuse to acknowledge limits, we become destroyers. Camus: we need to be become men among others, not merely men for ourselves. Above all, we are created to love and to be loved, said Augustine.

Living Double-Mindedly: Helping the Disabled While Ridding the Earth of Them
There are people today who certain societies do not deem as worthy of life. This goes against “liberal” views. We live double-mindedly today: we talk about giving the disabled access even as we work to genetically phase them out. It is no surprise that 80% of Down’s Syndrome pregnancies end in abortion (or the elimination of non-sovereign selves).

How, then, do we fight these totalizing tendencies?

We can’t forestall calamities, unseen dangers, and the like. We complete our natures by assisting them with growth and development that comes from engagement with society. Brave New World once seemed fantastic, but now looms ominously as possible. There is a strange abstractness today in the cultural air that keeps us ungrounded. This is common today. Without embodied history, political philosophy is all words, no action, all spirit, no flesh.

Reasoning Birthed the Death Camps

Primo Levy points out that the death camps proceeded from a process of reasoning. If indeed there are some who are unworthy of life, then it naturally follows that those who are worthy of life should remove them from this earth. In the camps, the Germans attempted to reduce the Jews to phantoms. It is not enough to kill; the evil must first rob you of dignity. And yet, try as hard as the Germans did to make life purposeless, purpose exists in every fiber of man’s beings. Levy learned through his experience that even the death camps could not rob his fellow sufferers of their inherent humanity. This reflects, for Elshtain, on our hope for the fight for dignity.

The 20th century dealt out death to a flattened type of person; the 21st century has done the same. Elshtain noted that some of the cannibals of Cambodia had trained at the Sorbonne (Paris) and were simply implementing what they had learned. The flattened, desiccated view of the self championed by totalitarians has grave consequences. Elshtain cited authors Milos Forman and Marilynne Robinson to prove her points.

How The Body and Life Relate
Several theologians have taught us to be careful in how we handle human nature. It is interesting to note that the Nazis moved away from face-to-face killing. The distance placed between people helped the Nazis to kill. The ecology of human relationship doesn’t deal with human beings in separate categories. The dignity of humans is irreducible.

Bonhoeffer taught us that the body and human life belong inseparably together. Even the most wretched lives are worth living, and many who seem utterly downcast nonetheless enjoy much happiness and significance. Freedom is a relationship between persons, being free for the other. In relationship with the other, I am free. No individualistic concept of the same can produce freedom. Freedom only flourishes in community.

Back to Camus. The culture of self-criticism pervades the West. We do something, and then stand back and critique it. Exploring a relativistic, nihilistic world, Camus indicts those who squelch freedom and enact death camps in its name. When a person rebels, he identifies himself with others, eschewing anti-humanity. In rebellion, he finds not isolation, but solidarity. The loss of this right means the murder of all. The totalitarian enjoys unbridled freedom not to create life, but to take it.

Camus disavowed atheism but claimed unbeliever status. He believed that one had to learn to live without grace. We must reassert a view of the self that fights those who would destroy it. Selves who affirm true freedom find pleasures in the sweet, small things of life. Without them, we are empty husks, willful, abstract spirits drifting into the abyss.

Conclusion

Elshtain told a personal story of a trip to Rome that illustrated that there is a need for definitions of life that do not relate to productivity or a certain mode of being. The handicapped are fully human. One of the dangers in our world is wanting to do big things, huge things, but we are called to do little things lovingly. One does not need full pockets to be a citizen of this ecology.

My Take

Following the talk, Seana Sugrue of Ave Maria University responded, as did a number of other audience members, including David Novak. It was not long before Robby George took the mic. The man is simply calibrated for this kind of give-and-take environment, and he waited patiently to give his two cents. He is, it seems, the honorary respondent, something like an all-time quarterback of this conference. This is not a problem, however, because a) he’s brilliant and b) the conference is dedicated to him. These notes aside, discussion centered around notions of sin, “excarnation,” and how Christians may make men moral.

Elshtain’s talk exposed the totalizing tendencies of those who promote the “culture of death,” revealing that abortion, euthanasia and genocide proceed from a deeper worldview that marginalizes personal freedom and shrinks the self. It is essential that Christians realize that the battle for human life focuses not simply on when an embryo becomes human, but on what it means to be human in the first place. Elshtain located her definition in a restricted, communalist selfhood that, though undoubtedly complex and requiring much further discussion, seems consonant with notions of personal identity common to the American founders.

On a level apart from the session’s topic itself, Elshtain’s notion of a “chastened autonomy” bears thinking out by all Christians. How is it that this idea, as defined above, relates to the Christian worldview? How may we be both “chastened” and “autonomous” (if we accept this term)? Have not many of us imbibed a culturally conditioned view of the self that eschews self-control and communal obligation? On this point, Elshtain’s talk was deeply profitable. I commend the audio to you and urge you to think about this concept, if nothing else.

down's syndrome babies

jean belke elshtain

making men moral

robby george

Previous Post

February 26, 2009

Making Men Moral: What Is Union University?

Next Post

February 26, 2009 Making Men Moral: Christopher Tollefsen on "Disability and Social Justice"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "heaven is a world of love" 9Marks abortion academics Adam Sandler adoption adultery adulthood aesthetics aging ajith fernando al mohler alice walker America american education american shaolin apologetics architecture atheism atonement august rush barack obama baseball basketball batman beauty berry mauve or muted wine Bible biblemesh biblical studies biblical theology biblical womanhood billy wolfe blogging bob kauflin body book culture book reviews boston celtics boston college bowdoin college bowling alone boyce college boyhood Brooke Fraser Bruce Ware bullies bullying business business ethics C.S. Lewis calling calvinism canada Capitol Hill Baptist Church carl henry carl trueman carolyn mahaney cbmw celebrity Chicago child's play children Christ Christ and culture Christian education christian hedonism christian ministry Christian vocation christian womanhood christianity and culture church government church history church internships church life church matters blog church membership church planting cities CJ Mahaney colin adams college college admissions college life college ministry collin hansen complementarianism conferences congregational worship conservative thought consumerism conversion council on biblical manhood & womanhood council on biblical manhood and womanhood covenant life church creativity credo magazine credobaptism cross movement crossway books crucifixion culinary culture cultural engagement cultural theology culture culture shift d. a. carson dads daily mail dan barry dancing with the stars daniel dennett darrell bock dating David Barash davy rothbart death death of God debt desiring God developmental league devotional thoughts dick morris dining disability discipleship doug sweeney douglas groothius economics economy education egalitarianism eliot spitzer ella rose strachan enlightenment entrepreneurs entrepreneurship environmentalism Eric Metaxas ethics evangelical theological society evangelicalism evangelism extended adolescence extreme home makeover family fatherhood feminism fiction film flame food foodstuffs football four gospels frank miller friendship gay gay Christianity gender roles genderblog george marsden girltalk gk chesterton God gospel gospel of John gospel risk gq greek mythology guillermo del toro happiness harold ockenga Harvard health heaven height hell henry center herb london higher education hillsdale hip hop historical theology history holidays holiness Holy Spirit home-school homemaking homes homosexuality hope human dignity human flourishing human life image of God imagination intellectual Christianity intellectual life iron man Islam J.I. Packer james mcavoy James Q. Wilson jeremy lin Jesus Christ jim hamilton joe namath John Calvin John McCain john owen john piper john rockefeller jonathan edwards journalism justice justin taylor kairos journal keira knightlet la times leadership lesbian life of the mind Lifeway links literature Lord's prayer louie giglio love male sex drive mall manhood manners Mark Dever Mark Driscoll marriage mars hill martial virtue martin luther masculinity materialism matthew hall maureen dowd memoirs of an ordinary pastor mentoring military millennials ministry missional missions monergism moral argument morality motherhood music national review nba new atheism new england New Testament new york new york times new yorker newsweek nietzsche northeast notre dame npr obedience oprah oprah's big give orphan care overheated prose award owen wilson pain parenting Park Community Church pastor-theologian pastoral ministry pastors persecution philosophes philosophy political philosophy politics poverty prayer preaching presidency presidential race pro-life professors proverbs psychology public school public square public theology publications quebec quilting race racism radical womanhood rap music rc sproul rebecca walker Reformation 21 relevant magazine religious liberty resources revelation revival richard dawkins richistan risky gospel robbie george robert putnam ron chernow Russ Moore salvation salvo magazine sam harris same-sex attraction sanctification scholarship science scripture secularism seminaries seminary life sex sex drive sexual ethics sexuality sexualized culture shooting sacred evangelical cows shootings simple church singleness social justice social media social networking Southern Baptists southern seminary sovereign grace Spanglish spirituality sports sports illustrated sports injuries stanford steve mccoy suburbia suffering superhero t. suzanne ellder Tea Leoni technology television the darjeeling unlimited the gospel coalition the southern baptist theological seminary the wackness theological journalism theology theology of work thinking Thom Rainer tim challies tim keller time magazine titan Together for the Gospel tom carson tom wolfe tragedy transgender travel trinity trinity evangelical divinity school truth twitter ty pennington unashamed workman Uncategorized violence virtue vocation voddie baucham war wayne gretzky wayne grudem weddings wikipedia will smith williams winnie hu womanhood work world magazine worship writing youth sports

Select a Month August 2021 July 2021 May 2021 March 2021 December 2020 October 2020 June 2020 February 2020 January 2020 October 2019 August 2019 June 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 October 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 November 2017 October 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who did God ask to sacrifice his only son as a test?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Jacob Abraham David Moses