TruthBook Religious News Blog

Happiness Is Looking Up
J. Walker Smith,
Sunday, March 1, 2009

Productivity: Happiness Is Looking UpA recent story in the new york times bore a telling headline, "Even if You Can't Buy It, Happiness Is Big Business." It's true. The happiness trend has not appeared out of nowhere. In fact, it is an expected correlate of an increasingly materially affluent society, a pattern of development called "post-materialism."

In his work running the World Values Survey, University of Michigan political scientist Ronald Inglehart has found that as material development increases, value priorities gradually pivot from materialistic to humanistic. In the United States, journalist Bill Bishop found survey data clearly shows the pivot point for this post-materialism shift occurred during the autumn of 1965, and got a lot of attention at the time. This trend has accelerated during the last two decades.

As everything around them has gone awry, people look within for strength and inspiration. They feel no hesitation in doing so, drawing from the reserve of self-assurance built up during the consumer empowerment revolution of the past decade. What they find within is a determination not to be daunted or overwhelmed and an ability to look up even as things head down, from which optimism and happiness find expression in the marketplace. Indeed, getting past fear makes people happy.

People are learning that it takes work to be happy. That happiness is not an entitlement and must be learned and earned, particularly if it is to be sustained and not a transitory moment of elation. In the Yankelovich monitor, 74 percent agree that "people have unrealistic expectations about how easy it is to find and maintain happiness."

Two generations are poised to embrace the work involved in happiness - baby boomers and millennials. Boomers are transitioning to a late life stage in which they want one more chance at the fulfillment and meaning that was the early promise of their generation, especially given the events of the past year. Millennials are now coming into their own as the so-called civic generation, and want careers and lifestyles that contribute to issues of substance and impact. Witness the turnaround in youth voting during last year's presidential election in which millennials accounted for 90 percent of Obama's popular vote margin. Both generations are determined to find happiness in everything they do going forward.

The happiness trend is now finding expression in the marketplace. The Happiness & Its Causes conference has sold out in Sydney, London, Singapore and San Francisco and is now entering its fourth year. Pepsi unveiled its "Optimism" campaign during the New Year's holiday. Dunkin' Donuts launched its You Kin' Do It campaign the first week of January. Coke announced its Open Happiness campaign a week later. In the middle of last October's financial meltdown, Oprah showed off her impeccable timing again with the release of O's Big Book of Happiness, just what we needed when we needed it and right on trend with what we want more of right now.

Labels: happiness, humanism, J. Walker Smith, materialism, Ronald Inglehart

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Friday, January 30, 2009

Testing the Limits of What I Know and Feel

by John Updike

John Updike won two Pulitzer Prizes for his series of novels chronicling the life and death of Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom. He is also a noted poet and essayist, as well as a critic of literature and fine art.

John Updike died this past week...

All Things Considered, April 18, 2005 · A person believes various things at various times, even on the same day. At the age of 73, I seem most instinctively to believe in the human value of creative writing, whether in the form of verse or fiction, as a mode of truth-telling, self-expression and homage to the twin miracles of creation and consciousness. The special value of these indirect methods of communication — as opposed to the value of factual reporting and analysis — is one of precision. Oddly enough, the story or poem brings us closer to the actual texture and intricacy of experience.

In fiction, imaginary people become realer to us than any named celebrity glimpsed in a series of rumored events, whose causes and subtler ramifications must remain in the dark. An invented figure like Anna Karenina or Emma Bovary emerges fully into the light of understanding, which brings with it identification, sympathy and pity. I find in my own writing that only fiction — and rarely, a poem — fully tests me to the kind of limits of what I know and what I feel. In composing even such a frank and simple account as this profession of belief, I must fight against the sensation that I am simplifying and exploiting my own voice.

I also believe, instinctively, if not very cogently, in the American political experiment, which I take to be, at bottom, a matter of trusting the citizens to know their own minds and best interests. "To govern with the consent of the governed": this spells the ideal. And though the implementation will inevitably be approximate and debatable, and though totalitarianism or technocratic government can obtain some swift successes, in the end, only a democracy can enlist a people's energies on a sustained and renewable basis. To guarantee the individual maximum freedom within a social frame of minimal laws ensures — if not happiness — its hopeful pursuit.

Cosmically, I seem to be of two minds. The power of materialist science to explain everything — from the behavior of the galaxies to that of molecules, atoms and their sub-microscopic components — seems to be inarguable and the principal glory of the modern mind. On the other hand, the reality of subjective sensations, desires and — may we even say — illusions, composes the basic substance of our existence, and religion alone, in its many forms, attempts to address, organize and placate these. I believe, then, that religious faith will continue to be an essential part of being human, as it has been for me.

Labels: creative writing, freedom, John Updike, materialism, politics, religion

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Friday, January 02, 2009

The American Dream is now simpler

There are two distinct groups of American Dreamers: Traditional Materialist and Secular Spiritualists. A poll shows 37% are the latter, and growing. More Americans are moving away from personal fulfillment at shopping malls.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008
by John Zogby

The New Year is typically a time to look ahead and hope that this will be the year to lose weight, get a promotion, to improve our lives in some significant way. But for many Americans, 2009 is shaping up to be the year they hope to be able to put enough food on the table and still afford health care for their families, to have enough money to cover the mortgage and the car payments, and to hold on to the job they have. Nevertheless, the American Dream is very much alive.

We at Zogby International have been tracking beliefs and attitudes about the American Dream since 1998, wondering if the American Dream is considered to be mainly about achieving material goods or more about finding spiritual happiness. Even in these uncertain economic times, my polling shows the American Dream is still alive and well, but is undergoing an historic transformation.

The Secular Spiritualist view of the American Dream has been adopted by Americans across the nation, in all walks of life. They are Americans who are becoming more satisfied with fewer material assets and less wealth, even as the nation's harsh economic climate has made living with less a reality for many.

Who are these Secular Spiritualists? It comes as no surprise that people who attend religious services at least weekly are more likely to share this life goal. However, these frequent service-goers who make up 44% of Secular Spiritualists are just one component of this group - 33% of Secular Spiritualists rarely or never attend services, demonstrating this is a philosophy about far more than religious faith alone.

The growth of Secular Spiritualism is not simply the result of making do with new personal and national economic realities. I believe it is something more: A growing rejection of a lifestyle obsessed with consumption and too often devoid of deeper meaning.

As more Americans make the conscious choice to move away from materialism to seek the kind of personal fulfillment that can't be found at a mall, business will need to adapt to target these shifting values. Understand that for many with a shrinking dollar, as well as for those who want to leave the rat-race behind and simplify their lives, products still reflect a mix of values - from wanting to express our uniqueness to feeling a sense of community. These consumers don't need or want to feel more macho, glamorous or cool.

Older values like patriotism, sexual prowess, avarice, and social status are far less effective than ethical practices, social responsibility and just plain utilitarianism. And above all else, authenticity works.

Labels: John Zogby, materialism, spiritual happiness, The American Dream, Zogby International

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Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The Way We'll Be - Book Review

By Adam Goldstein, Special to the Rocky
Thursday, August 14, 2008

* Nonfiction. By John Zogby. Random House, $27. Grade: B

Book in a nutshell: Americans will face the challenges of the 21st century with creative approaches to consumerism, a cooperative worldview and an inclusive view of spirituality.

That's according to Zogby, president and CEO of Zogby International, a polling company that canvasses about half a million people every year to gauge public opinion on everything from the best laundry detergent to the most promising political candidate.

In The Way We'll Be, Zogby draws on his company's vast network of surveys and polls to try and predict popular trends and attitudes for the near future. Specifically, he seeks to chart general shifts in the American attitude toward a host of issues, from materialism to religion, from environmentalism to the latest take on the American dream.

His results point to a populace much less taken with the traditional signs of status and success. In survey after survey, he finds respondents more apt to be satisfied with less material wealth and more spiritual satisfaction.

Zogby's data also shows that the current generation of 18- to 29-year- olds, what Zogby terms "first globals," are more than willing to make adjustments in the face of dwindling natural resources, threats to the environment and international tensions. His results reveal a young generation tempered by the immediacy and inclusiveness of the Internet, one that's more likely to hold broad and inclusive spiritual views in lieu of rigid definitions of religion and one that's more willing to cooperate on the international stage to find solutions to pressing problems.

Best tidbit: Zogby draws on polls showing more moderate political trends among evangelical voters and a shift toward spirituality across the political spectrum as symptoms of a larger domestic movement. "A new American dream characterized by lower expectations, less want and more civility has begun to emerge; and as that has happened, a new American consensus is being born."

Pros: Zogby's exhaustive data points to heartening trends at work in the U.S. As the cost of living balloons and traditional sources of energy begin to founder, it seems the American populace is willing to innovate, cooperate and sacrifice to find solutions.

Cons: Zogby spares few details in describing his polling procedures, an element that tends to obscure the larger messages of his data.

Final word: A fascinating glimpse into how we'll be.

Labels: materialism, polling, religion, spirituality, youth, Zogby International

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Thursday, April 17, 2008

Religion Not Just a Private Affair, Affirms Pontiff

Encourages Prelates to Remove Obstacles to Encounter With God

WASHINGTON, D.C., APRIL 16, 2008 (Zenit.org).-

Benedict XVI says that any tendency to treat religion as a private matter should be resisted, and that faith should permeate every aspect of life.

The Pope affirmed this today in an address to the bishops of the United States at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. His discourse ranged in topics from immigration to the formation of priests. As he left the shrine, the prelates sang him "Happy Birthday," -- the Pope turns 81 today.

The Holy Father emphasized the key role of bishops during his address, asking how, "in the 21st century, a bishop can best fulfill the call to 'make all things new in Christ, our hope'? How can he lead his people to 'an encounter with the living God'?"

"Perhaps he needs to begin by clearing away some of the barriers to such an encounter," the Pontiff proposed.

He explained: "While it is true that this country is marked by a genuinely religious spirit, the subtle influence of secularism can nevertheless color the way people allow their faith to influence their behavior.

"Is it consistent to profess our beliefs in church on Sunday, and then during the week to promote business practices or medical procedures contrary to those beliefs? Is it consistent for practicing Catholics to ignore or exploit the poor and the marginalized, to promote sexual behavior contrary to Catholic moral teaching, or to adopt positions that contradict the right to life of every human being from conception to natural death? Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted. Only when their faith permeates every aspect of their lives do Christians become truly open to the transforming power of the Gospel."

Obstacles

Benedict XVI proposed further obstacles to this "encounter with the living God," perhaps particularly faced by Americans. One such barrier is materialism, he said: "People today need to be reminded of the ultimate purpose of their lives. They need to recognize that implanted within them is a deep thirst for God.

"It is easy to be entranced by the almost unlimited possibilities that science and technology place before us; it is easy to make the mistake of thinking we can obtain by our own efforts the fulfillment of our deepest needs. This is an illusion. Without God, who alone bestows upon us what we by ourselves cannot attain, our lives are ultimately empty."

Another possible obstacle, the Holy Father affirmed, is an overemphasis on freedom and autonomy, which makes it "easy to lose sight of our dependence on others as well as the responsibilities that we bear toward them."

"This emphasis on individualism has even affected the Church, giving rise to a form of piety which sometimes emphasizes our private relationship with God at the expense of our calling to be members of a redeemed community," he noted. "If we are truly to gaze upon him who is the source of our joy, we need to do so as members of the people of God. If this seems counter-cultural, that is simply further evidence of the urgent need for a renewed evangelization of culture."

Public life

The Pontiff further encouraged the bishops to give priority to education and to participate in the exchange of ideas in the public square.

"In the United States, as elsewhere, there is much current and proposed legislation that gives cause for concern from the point of view of morality, and the Catholic community, under your guidance, needs to offer a clear and united witness on such matters," he said. "Yet it cannot be assumed that all Catholic citizens think in harmony with the Church's teaching on today's key ethical questions.

"Once again, it falls to you to ensure that the moral formation provided at every level of ecclesial life reflects the authentic teaching of the Gospel of life."

In this context, the Bishop of Rome encouraged the formation of families: "How can we not be dismayed as we observe the sharp decline of the family as a basic element of Church and society? Divorce and infidelity have increased, and many young men and women are choosing to postpone marriage or to forego it altogether.

He added: "To some young Catholics, the sacramental bond of marriage seems scarcely distinguishable from a civil bond, or even a purely informal and open-ended arrangement to live with another person. Hence we have an alarming decrease in the number of Catholic marriages in the United States together with an increase in cohabitation, in which the Christ-like mutual self-giving of spouses, sealed by a public promise to live out the demands of an indissoluble lifelong commitment, is simply absent."

"It is your task," the Pope told the prelates, "to proclaim boldly the arguments from faith and reason in favor of the institution of marriage. […] This message should resonate with people today, because it is essentially an unconditional and unreserved 'yes' to life, a 'yes' to love, and a 'yes' to the aspirations at the heart of our common humanity, as we strive to fulfill our deep yearning for intimacy with others and with the Lord."

Labels: God, individualism, materialism, morality, Pope Benedict XVI, religion