A Prophecy of 1953 Revisited

With the perspective of hindsight, it seems hard to fathom, but there was a distinct possibility that the Cold War could have ended in the Spring of 1953.  Joseph Stalin had just died, bringing his murderous, twenty-six-year reign over the Soviet Union to a close.  The overtures made by the new Soviet leadership gave recently-elected President Eisenhower hope that the burgeoning eight-year conflict of ideas and arms that had become the Cold War and that was consuming the globe could be brought to a speedy end.

Divergent paths

Acutely aware of the financial burden of the accelerating arms race, the fear and fatigue that it caused the American people and its corrosion of the American soul, Eisenhower wanted to provide the most compelling narrative possible for a change in course.  He sought to do this by presenting the world with a powerful vision for the future that starkly contrasted with the expanding Cold War. In the president’s view, only one question mattered in presenting this alternative, which was: what did America have to offer to the world?

In many respects, the present moment is not that different from those months in 1953 when divergent paths were potentially open for the world to take.  A continuation of the Cold War was not a forgone conclusion for America then, nor is a return to the brokenness of the pre-pandemic world now. Much of the answer today will lie in whether the Church takes a stand, or not.

A vision for humanity

The COVID-19 crisis has given pause to most of the globe; there is a unique space in time in which many are considering the direction in which the world has been moving.  Humanity is largely fearful and fatigued, as it was in 1953, and many are looking for an alternative course and vision for the future.  Arguably, part of the current difficulty that the world faces is because the Church’s vision and narrative has largely been discarded.  But the current juncture presents the Church with an opportunity to reframe the discussion about the future of humanity in a way that is elevating and edifying in keeping with the Christian vision.

In order to do so, however, the Church must answer the same question posed by President Eisenhower almost 70 years ago. What does it have to offer to the world?  In addition, it needs to know how to present that vision in a compelling manner in order to affect change.

A vision without visionaries

In presenting his vision for the future, Eisenhower produced one of the greatest and most important pieces of presidential oratory, his “A Chance for Peace” address.  The most well-known and powerful portion of his 27-minute speech describes not what America had to offer the world in 1953, but rather the perilous road upon which the humanity was traveling.  It reads:

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.

This world in arms is not spending money alone.  It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.

The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities….It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals…We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people…

This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.

While much less well-known than the above-cited portion of the address, the alternative path that Eisenhower laid-out for the world was all the more powerful.  In it, he made clear what America had to offer.  The president stated a ready willingness to commit the United States to a global limit on men under arms, an elimination of all nuclear weapons and a contribution of all these savings to a global humanitarian fund in order to end hunger and poverty.

In 2020, the issue of nuclear arms is largely moot and the world finds itself in a new cold war of ideas and words with both sides viewing the other in almost chimerical terms.  These ideological lines now run through nations instead of between them and have resulted in a breakdown of social bonds, a disintegration of trust in institutions, a polarization of societies, and a sense of injustice and despair that has resulted in an overall fatigue of humanity with the current state of affairs.  Ironically, these divisions are deepest in many parts of the world that have never been wealthier or more comfortable.   For many in these regions, increasing consumption and security have not resulted in greater contentment but a seemingly emptied life.

The Church’s vision discarded

So what does the Church have to offer the world?  The obvious answers for the individual are meaning, fulfillment, ultimate truth and everlasting life.  On a societal basis, it offers a vision of a better and world that is just and in which all humanity has dignity.  But why is such a compelling message not resonating more strongly at such a critical hour when so many want to change the world?

Sadly, it would seem that it is because this message is not what is heard or believed in many quarters, including within the Church.  Essentially, the vision that the Church espouses is no longer known and its narrative has largely been dismissed such that a majority of Americans question the value of Christianity itself.

According to a Pew study from 2019, 56% of Americans believe that churches and religious organizations either do more harm than good or don’t make much difference in society.  Further, the same study found that 74% of Americans believe that religion is losing influence in the US.  25% of respondents thought that this development was a good thing while only slightly more (27%) thought that it was a bad thing.  The remaining 22% thought that this change made no difference.  These numbers reveal that while many Americans may hold some personal belief, the Christian vision has largely been discarded as point of guidance for the future of humanity.

Failing to influence

Within the Catholic Church, the picture is not too different from the one painted by Pew for the general American public.  A RealClear opinion survey of Catholics taken at the end of 2019 found that only 41% of registered Catholics voters between the ages of 18 and 34 believed that Christianity had a positive impact on American culture.  This number increased to 51% for registered Catholic voters between the ages of 35 and 45.

What these numbers reveal is that the Christian, and specifically Catholic vision are losing sway in the US.  Brain science shows that these narratives are incredibly important in that they shape societal views, influence decision making and actually shape the physical brain by training the mind to use certain neural pathways as default settings.

While the Church and any other Christian denomination have always reflected the imperfection of the people who comprise them, their collective narratives or vision largely seemed to hold sway.  People might take issue with the failings of the various churches, but they largely believed in the overall Christian vision or narrative.  That seems to be changing.  The narrative of the Church seems to be failing.

Narrative and true belief

Why is this happening and what can the Church do about it at this critical time?  Perhaps the answer is best articulated by the Roman stoic philosopher, Seneca, with some help from St. Paul.

In his Letters from a Stoic, Seneca takes a deep look at the practical ways in which philosophy can be taught such that the individual can attain wisdom and virtue.  Specifically, Seneca explains the role of precepts, doctrines and an overall school of thought, which could be called a narrative or vision.  He argues that while precepts, which might also be called rules, are helpful, alone they are weak, because individually, they only instruct certain behaviors and provide no overall sense of direction.

The more holistic view is given by doctrines and ultimately by a school of thought.  In the case of stoicism, the pursuit of virtue and wisdom, which leads to God, becomes the all-fulfilling goals that transforms the individual and can draw humanity away from the dross of greed, avarice and fear that enslave it.  It is vision, or narrative, that allows humanity to connect and make sense of the individual precepts or rules.

Seneca takes the stoic narrative one step further and couples it with the power of true belief.  He argues that this conviction of faith that comes from the knowledge of the rightness of the overall vision engenders a deep confidence in one’s direction.  This sense of self that is guided by the overall vision differentiates the truly wise person and causes that individual to be curious and compelling to those around him or her who are still mired in the belief that physical comfort is the road to happiness and that there is nothing more to the human condition.

Person versus precept

In St. Paul’s terms, the compelling narrative or vision is summed up in Christ’s love.  When this is missing, he cautions that believers risk sounding like a clanging cymbal or that they may cause the nations to blaspheme the name of God.  Seneca and St. Paul make clear that rules and precepts are not enough.  Yet sadly, the numbers seem to indicate that many Catholics and Americans think Christianity at its core is just about disjointed rules, or a form of non-demanding self-help.

The vision and conviction seem to be gone and only the precepts remain in the public consciousness.  Perhaps no data point more acutely indicates this phenomenon than the fact that, among younger Americans, studies have found that Christianity is most associated with the two terms: homophobic and anti-abortion.  More central precepts of the faith, such as its vision for the individual to be perfected in God and for society to be transformed, are seemingly unknown.

The encounter with Christ is meant to be life-altering for the individual and in terms of the world.  If there is no vision, if there is no narrative for the individual or for the world that gives meaning, a vision that points to a better way, that leads to God, then there is no change. There are only rules that will eventually be questioned and discarded.

The world today is a tinderbox and ready to be set ablaze by the Church given its vision for a better road than the one on which humanity is traveling.  The Church needs to make clear to its members and to the world this overarching vision for the individual and for humanity.  The compelling nature of its narrative, that there is more to life than just self-satisfaction, that sacrifice and love can lead to something far more fulfilling and beautiful, might never be more needed than at the present.

Seize the moment

President Eisenhower was largely alone in his vision in 1953.  Few of his cabinet or national security advisors shared his view that a true peace could be achieved with the Soviet Union.  Thus, the path that he sought so strenuously to avoid became the inevitable road that the world took.

In the present moment, the Body of Christ that is the Church, even wounded as it may be, is whole.   Collectively and individually, we have Christ’s promise that He will walk with us and that His Spirit will guide us.

We need only seize the moment – to live the transformative truth of that message that can put the world on a different course.  The reality and the strength of that vision, the divine narrative of Christ’s love will be compelling and will change the world.

So how does the Church make this happen?  It does it through you and me.  History has shown that no bull, no decree, writ or statement is as compelling as the faith of one true believer who stands in a truly divine vision and so states: there is a better way.