Herman Bavinck and Our Selfish Obsession with Authenticity
July 15, 2013 By Ryan Hoselton Leave a Comment America’s white whale is authenticity, and according to Simon Critchley and Jamieson Webster, our naïve optimism drives this futile and destructive search onward with no promise of ever landing the harpoon. In the opinion column of The New York Times , Critchley and Jamieson address the newest form of the American dream: “ The Gospel According to Me .” In the “gospel of authenticity”—a by-product of the burgeoning self-help industry and New Age spirituality— “well-being has become the primary goal of human life.” It’s religious commandments to “Live fully! Realize yourself! Be connected! Achieve well-being!” have replaced demands on a community with motivational tools for the individual: In a seemingly meaningless, inauthentic world awash in nonstop media reports of war, violence and inequality, we close our eyes and turn ourselves into islands. We may even say a little prayer to an obscure but benign Eastern g...