Less Reckless Than He Fears

Patrick Deneen argues in Democratic Faith that Americans turn to the recognition of human humility in a way that is consonant with traditional religious faith. But to ask Americans to embrace a more humble understanding of themselves is a difficult task, even if that understanding accords more closely with truth of human existence. In a contemporary American culture that is awash in unreality, even churches have adopted language that suggests an infinite perceptibility of man. This suggests that the kind of turn Deneen advocates may have to emanate from some cultural source other than a religious one.