The Road to Character

Short Review: The profiles of people of Character are interesting, but continually I was frustrated by Brooks inability to really point to what was different between those with Character then and those without character now. He keeps saying that things were not better in the past, but much of the nature of why people acted differently was related to other cultural issues that we do not want to bring back. Submission to authority and willingness to just keep your head down and plug away may be one way to built character, but it is also a way to ignore injustice around you. Repressing your feelings to the outside world may be a way to make your life look like it is better than it is, but is that fundamentally different from the ‘Facebook perfect' that Brooks and others also seem to be condemning.

What was most frustrating was the overt religious discussion of the motivation of many of the characters profiled. That discussion was concerned with Grace, Sin, Mercy, Forgiveness, Love, but with almost all of the Christian theological meaning stripped out. What was left was mostly a civil religious utilitarianism. It was a communal understanding of utilitarianism, so the work you are doing may not benefit you individually but it is good for society. But it is still utilitarianism.

I am all for focusing on character, but I think character has to mean something with an intrinsic purpose. I strive after good character and work on repressing my sin, not for the purposes of repressing sin or getting what I want or earning salvation, but to become the person that God intends me to be. I overcome sin and express love to those around me, through the grace of God with the assistance of the Holy Spirit and the Christian community around me not for the purpose of building character but in thankfulness to God for the mercy that he has demonstrated to me already.

It is not all bad, but it is frustrating. My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/road-to-character/