Cory Bennett
November 20, 1996

People today are extremely arrogant. Take, for example, the sport of baseball. There is nothing wrong with the sport, it helps build teamwork and keeps the body fit. But "professional" baseball players make more money than I could ever hope to make, and what do they really do? They don't produce of fix anything, they just play a game. As if it isn't bad enough that they get paid for this, they had to go on strike and demand to get paid more. Is this arrogant or what!

Scientists have learned so much about the functions of the body that they think they understand it. In "Body Wars," Andrew Kimbrell wrote, "scientist's for the first time in history could become the architects of the human body—its genetic creators and designers." Not only has God been removed from the body, but He has been retired as the Creator and replaced by the scientists. Regardless of whether you believe that God is the Creator or that creation is just a natural process, it is safe to say that scientists are trying to take control of this natural process arrogantly thinking that they can do better. When they complete the Human Genome Project (the project charting the Human DNA) what will the future hold—special order babies with money-back guarantees? Something about this image is a little disturbing, but not too far fetched. And what if the scientists are wrong? Are they going to accidentally make a generation of sterile people incapable of reproducing? Are they going to reduce the gene pool by genetic manipulation that natural reproduction will cause birth defects similar to those caused by inbreeding? This arrogance of thinking that they understand could be devastating.

Kimbrell also wrote, "It was the genius of the market system to treat human work, formerly simply a part of daily life, as a commodity." Why waste time making and selling products when you could use your body to make money. You could be a baseball player, an actor, a scientist, or even a teacher, none of which actually make a thing for their money, yet they all get paid. Dick Stull said, "create something out of nothing, that's genius, that's living life as art." This may be genius but its also arrogant to take money when nothing has been produced. This may be difficult to understand because our society sees entertainment and knowledge as useful if not necessary products, but are they needed for survival? These occupations are just perks of being in a first world economy and are definitely not needed to survive. We have enough products being produced by modern technology to spare some on entertainers and intellects. It is the fact that we do have these extra products that makes us arrogant. How could an entertainer (who produces nothing for others) take food and shelter when there are people out there that are starving and homelss? Arrogance.

In the Early Judeo/Christian traditions it would be okay to play baseball for its own sake, for sport, but to get paid to play takes away from the integrity of the game and the person who plays it. The game changes "from a gift of God into an instrument of the demon" (Tertullian in "The Spectales"). The traditions also would write off the scientist as a demon for even trying to recreate God's work. As for the body as a commodity, the traditions would feel that the body is for the soul, and should not be used for profit. The person should grow his own food, or something equally valuable, so he can be productive and not get something for nothing. The Boy Scouts of America, which was founded on many Judeo/Christian traditions, has a principle that won't let scouts take money for the good deeds that they do. This concept specifically avoids the arrogance of taking money for nothing, where the good deed is done for its own satisfaction and being paid for it would only take away from the integrity of the person and the deed.

As technology advances we are also becoming more and more lethargic. The need for physical exertion to survive has become unnecessary. No longer are we forced to be hunter/gathers, rather we are Safeway shoppers. The most exertion we do in acquiring food is driving! Our jobs, for the most part, are not even physical. In old times we would have had to work in the fields cultivating food, or work in some trade, like woodwork or metalwork, to make a product to sell. Now, one can sit in a vehicle and harvest an entire crop with little help and we have machines to produce most of the products on the market. We do not need to exert ourselves to survive and we have become lazy.

Not only are we lethargic but we won't admit it. The greatest example of this is the latest fitness frenzy that has consumed America. People go to the gym and work out to increase their muscle mass, cardiovascular fitness, and physical endurance, but this does not mean they are not lethargic, contrary in fact. In "The morality of muscle tone" Tracy Walker wrote, "I probably can chop wood or unload trucks, not that I ever will." She has exercised enough that she is physically capable of the exertion needed to chop wood, but her capability is wasted because even though she has worked out she is still lethargic. There would be no need for gyms if people were normally active, if we were not so lazy. Instead people drive to their gyms then drive to work, where they sit at a desk all day. If we did simple things like walking to work or riding our bikes instead of driving everywhere we would not need to go to the gym. We would not be so lethargic, and maybe life would be less stressful and less polluted.

Tertullian wrote, "[early Christian writers] attacked the very nature of these amusements [athletic contests, and gladiatorial encounters] and found them incompatible with the idea of god as Creator of the world and with man's right and dignity. Accordingly, they assert that it is the stern duty of all men to absent themselves from such pastimes." Exercising is no different than athletic contests or gladiatorial encounters but instead of competing for an athletic prize now people are competing to look better than each other. Ralph B. Ballou wrote, "the Fathers [of Christianity] found no evil either inherent in man or in activity. Whatever evil existed related to the attendance at, or the participation in, the forms of sport as they existed in the society of the time." These activities were considered evil because of the moral decay that they caused. These sporting events caused people to feel superiority or inferiority after they win or lose an event, and it is this same problem that the Judeo/Christian traditions have with exercise. A person more fit will feel superior over one who is not as muscularly strong. This is the attitude that has transformed our society from valuing the performance of an activity or playing a sport into a society that values the superior performance of an activity and winning a sport.

Finally, when the idea of the body was secularized the peoples actions ceased to be for God. If peoples actions were not for God then the actions were for themselves. This thought of action for the self along with the above idea of superior physical conditions through exercise has lead to a society of narcissists.

Perhaps the best example of this is the fact that Americans spend more money on plastic surgery, exercise equipment, and diets than on education or social services! In 1990 we spent $33 billion on diets and diet-related services and by 2000 we are expected to be spending $77 billion a year (Kimbrell). Any society that spends more money on the body than they spend on education or social programs is extremely narcissistic.

The looks of the body have become so important that startling stereotypes have become associated with body characteristics. In "Bustin' Loose," Terri Sutton reports that women "who appeared to be bigger-breasted were generally judged to be less competent and intelligent, less moral and modest, than their smaller-breasted peers." It is simply absurd to think that breast size has anything to do with intelligence, yet this stigma still exists. This only adds to the narcissism of the society. Women become self conscious about their bodies and what people are thinking about them. Sutton also reports that women have become so concerned with their body that "a 1987 study of 500 elementary school girls found that more than half felt they were overweight. In elementary school."

With the development of the market system and the body becoming a commodity more emphasis was put onto the looks of the body. Trade skills are no longer necessary because many of the original trades have been mechanized and most of the occupations left could be filled by people with minimal skills. Now the occupations could be filled by many different people, so rather than fine tuning their abilities the majority have decided the fine tune their looks. As well as the body being used for an economic commodity now it is being used for a romantic one. "With half of marriages and second marriages expected to end in divorce, more and more aging Americans are out in the singles marketplace" and in this singles market the primary commodity is the body (Kimbrell).

As with arrogance and lethargy early Judeo /Christian traditions also view this narcissism as demonic or evil. They feel that "the importance of the body in comparison with the importance of the soul is considerably less" and the exact opposite has become the modern trend (Ballou). America's fitness frenzy and our obsession with plastic surgery and diets is all part of a process trying to better the body, but in this trend we have neglected the soul. The traditions feel that body is important only as a vessel. We should be clean and healthy but never is the body more important than the soul, and never should you partake in activities where the sole purpose it to make the body look better. But even before the body was secularized by modern science narcissism became accepted in the Christian Church. This occurred during the large Cholera epidemic in Europe. Before they knew what Cholera was, the Church saw the epidemic as God punishing people for not being strong and healthy. Naturally the Church decided that God liked strong and healthy people and this idea, knonw as Muscular Christianity, also contributed to modern narcissistic society. It became acceptable, even encouraged, to work out and build your body, to make yourself stronger than what was needed for everyday life. So the stronger one was, the more God liked him and the more other people wanted to look like him. It seems quite ironic that the Church developed an idea in response to this disease that would emphasize the importance of the body over the importance of the soul. This emphasis on the body, supported by the Church, was not the cause of, but definitely a factor that led to, a society devoid of soul, an almost entirely secular society.

There is no doubt about it, humans are ingenious. We have created technological advancements that build our products, process our food, greatly simplify transportation, and so much more. But where has it gotten us? There are people that make millions for playing a game while others starve. We are physically fit, yet lazy. We look good, but have no skills! Our technological advancements have created many wonderful things but instead of using them to the fullest potential in helping better mankind we arrogantly waste them on making our lives easier and our bodies prettier. We must cease to wallow in our self-worth and consider the others that have not been blessed with the technology to provide plentiful food and shelter. Only then do we have a chance to free ourselves from this arrogance, lethargy, and narcissism and to reclaim our souls.