“The Joy in Righteousness” (probably somewhat obviously) rings true to Christians like me even when my convictions aren’t necessarily super strong. If there really is some kind of objective morality built into the world, then it makes sense we could experience deep joy in living out that morality, even when it was against the tide or in the face of suffering. This joy can stand without objective morality at all, as the author put so well “When you strongly believe that you are right, that your beliefs are consistent and based in reality, it can feel good to stand up for those beliefs
I agree that there is a special power in living both righteousness and humility together. Great leaders like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and Gandhi managed to maintain both righteousness and varying degrees of humility, which made both their leadership more powerful and their impact larger.
I don’t think I agree that righteousness “can become” arrogance exactly, I think they are different things that unfortunately often combine, or even grow in our character together. The problem isn’t necessarily “too much righteousness” , rather that we let ourselves feel superior to others, or diminish the significance of others we think are “less righteous” than ourselves. We can be doing something we believe is right, but full of pride and arrogance. This can diminish the power of our actions, as well make people even more likely to dislike us and not listen.
Combining arrogance and doing “the right thing” can become a form of self-righteousness, and I think unfortunately this has become a norm across the political spectrum. If we believe and act like we are morally superior to others, our actions can lose power and significance. Unfortunately organisations like PETA have sometimes become examples of this both through their actions and in the way they communicate in public. Often as arrogance rises as well, we diminish our ability to change our mind and maintain a scout mindset. Also EAs are often seen to be self-righteous whether it is true or not.
I think people are sometimes worried they will seem “too righteous” and so tone down their actions or communication, when often a beautiful combination of humility and crazy “righteous” actions might go down better than we expect. Or perhaps I’m naive.
Thanks Nick! I really appreciate that thought, that righteousness doesn’t become arrogance. I guess I was thinking of it like an Aristotelian virtue, where an excess of righteousness is arrogance — but I see now that that doesn’t make sense. Righteousness + arrogance or + pride = self-righteousness rings more true.
“The Joy in Righteousness” (probably somewhat obviously) rings true to Christians like me even when my convictions aren’t necessarily super strong. If there really is some kind of objective morality built into the world, then it makes sense we could experience deep joy in living out that morality, even when it was against the tide or in the face of suffering. This joy can stand without objective morality at all, as the author put so well “When you strongly believe that you are right, that your beliefs are consistent and based in reality, it can feel good to stand up for those beliefs
I agree that there is a special power in living both righteousness and humility together. Great leaders like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and Gandhi managed to maintain both righteousness and varying degrees of humility, which made both their leadership more powerful and their impact larger.
I don’t think I agree that righteousness “can become” arrogance exactly, I think they are different things that unfortunately often combine, or even grow in our character together. The problem isn’t necessarily “too much righteousness” , rather that we let ourselves feel superior to others, or diminish the significance of others we think are “less righteous” than ourselves. We can be doing something we believe is right, but full of pride and arrogance. This can diminish the power of our actions, as well make people even more likely to dislike us and not listen.
Combining arrogance and doing “the right thing” can become a form of self-righteousness, and I think unfortunately this has become a norm across the political spectrum. If we believe and act like we are morally superior to others, our actions can lose power and significance. Unfortunately organisations like PETA have sometimes become examples of this both through their actions and in the way they communicate in public. Often as arrogance rises as well, we diminish our ability to change our mind and maintain a scout mindset. Also EAs are often seen to be self-righteous whether it is true or not.
I think people are sometimes worried they will seem “too righteous” and so tone down their actions or communication, when often a beautiful combination of humility and crazy “righteous” actions might go down better than we expect. Or perhaps I’m naive.
Thanks Nick! I really appreciate that thought, that righteousness doesn’t become arrogance. I guess I was thinking of it like an Aristotelian virtue, where an excess of righteousness is arrogance — but I see now that that doesn’t make sense. Righteousness + arrogance or + pride = self-righteousness rings more true.