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Because Western culture is dominated by Leftist elites in media, education, entertainment, politics, and the major denominations, many Christians and other conservatives resist and resent all forms of elitism. But elitism of some sort isn’t merely desirable; it’s unavoidable. No society can either emerge or survive apart from elites.
The United States, for example, was founded by elites. Nearly every founding father was an elite: intellectual, academic, religious, economic, or military, and often more than one of these.
The same is true in the Bible. The great leader of the OT church (Moses) and the NT church (Paul) were both elites. Christendom was unthinkable without elites: Athanasius, Origen, Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, Edwards, Kuyper— and thousands of others.
God often accomplishes his purposes without elites, but he chooses to use them all the time. He grants them evident gifts, and he employs those gifts for his salutary purposes.
Today‘s leftist elites are what Thomas Sowell calls “the anointed.” They are the self-appointed social engineers, they alone the wise, the virtuous, the intelligent, and, above all, the humble.
Ungodly elites are never properly countered by rabble-rousing populists, but by godly, or at least faithful, elites. The siren song of populism that we need to return society to “the people” is actually just another recipe for tyranny. For populists never seem to realize that “the people” are no more collectively virtuous than elites are as individuals. Unbridled populism leads to tyranny just as swiftly as unbridled elitism does.
Elitism is inescapable, so one objective of Christians and other conservatives should be to replace the present “anointed” elite with a faithful, self-sacrificial elite.
Elitism Is Inescapable
Thanks for reading CultureChange! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
Because Western culture is dominated by Leftist elites in media, education, entertainment, politics, and the major denominations, many Christians and other conservatives resist and resent all forms of elitism. But elitism of some sort isn’t merely desirable; it’s unavoidable. No society can either emerge or survive apart from elites.
The United States, for example, was founded by elites. Nearly every founding father was an elite: intellectual, academic, religious, economic, or military, and often more than one of these.
The same is true in the Bible. The great leader of the OT church (Moses) and the NT church (Paul) were both elites. Christendom was unthinkable without elites: Athanasius, Origen, Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, Edwards, Kuyper — and thousands of others.
God often accomplishes his purposes without elites, but he chooses to use them all the time. He grants them evident gifts, and he employs those gifts for his salutary purposes.
Today‘s leftist elites are what Thomas Sowell calls “the anointed.” They are the self-appointed social engineers, they alone the wise, the virtuous, the intelligent, and, above all, the humble.
Ungodly elites are never properly countered by rabble-rousing populists, but by godly, or at least faithful, elites. The siren song of populism that we need to return society to “the people” is actually just another recipe for tyranny. For populists never seem to realize that “the people” are no more collectively virtuous than elites are as individuals. Unbridled populism leads to tyranny just as swiftly as unbridled elitism does.
Elitism is inescapable, so one objective of Christians and other conservatives should be to replace the present “anointed” elite with a faithful, self-sacrificial elite.
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