Today's Takeaway: Narcissism Sucks! or Excessive Self-Love and American Culture
Season 2, Episode 210, Nov 07, 2019, 04:18 PM
Today’s takeaway: Narcissism sucks! And other deep thoughts about excessive self-love in our culture today.
Our fall focus on increasing our listenership was a success: thanks to you, our listenership is up 40% since last spring, and 60% from where we started in Season One. We are a small show, and we are growing. We believe we are offering something valuable to the public conversation, and our growth suggests that we’re not alone in thinking that way. So thank you! We will continue to think about ways to expand our engagement with you, and to introduce our show to new people and groups.
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Learn more. Our website: www.whatingods.com
What In God’s Name approaches current events and culture not from a partisan political angle, not from a money and economics angle, not from a technological and scientific angle, but from a theological and philosophical angle.
Here are timecodes to help you navigate through today’s show:
02:30 Basic question: why even talk about narcissism? What can we learn about what in God’s name is going on in our culture, by considering the role of narcissism?
04:08 What is healthy self-love, and how do we discern the line where self-love becomes excessive?
07:14 How is limitlessness related to narcissism?
09:09 How are old age and death the ultimate threat to narcissism? Do you think narcissism accounts for some of our culture’s denial of the inevitable decline and death of each of us? What other factors might be involved? Is pain intolerance related to narcissism?
12:32 Trace the connection between narcissism and empathy.
14:55 How are communities that can grieve together counter-cultural?
16:55 What is the connection between suffering and service?
20:11 How is rampant narcissism a threat to American democracy?
20:41 Is excessive acquisitiveness another facet of narcissism in our culture?