JAMES TOEWS
The end of sanity

The End of Sanity: Social and Cultural Madness in America. The title in stark white on a black background caught my eye among the other best sellers. Written by Martin Gross, the book chronicles the lunacy of the value systems in our Western world. We live in a culture which sells sex like penny candy on every newsstand and TV show and yet makes mind-numbing rules for communication between the sexes. Our society solves the problem of poor test scores among students by lowering the standards to make everyone feel better. The casualty of this insanity, claims Gross, “may well be western civilization itself.”

The End of Sanity is one of many books which look at society and see calamity and disaster. Among economists, Robert Malthus set the tone in 1798 with his gloomy prediction that world population would soon outstrip the food supply. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring remains an environmental classic. Other books of recent vintage are The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, The End of History and the Last Man and The Fourth Horseman. In each, the author presents a different aspect of impending catastrophe.

Looking at the swirling instability of our world, it is not hard to see why these books have a profound appeal. The fragility of modern civilization is no illusion. If a major collapse should take place, we are no longer equipped to survive on our own.

This endless parade of prophets of doom, each with a more compelling reason why this truly is the final crisis, leaves little room for hope. The choice seems to be between despair and denial.

Are we really watching Western civilization in its death throes? There is another indicator that the doomsayers may be right. Historically, when faced with real calamity, humanity has often demonstrated an enormous capacity for self-indulgence. During the First World War, pre-revolutionary Russia was bankrupt in every way, and yet Moscow was a city of extravagant dissipation. Germany in the 1930s was facing staggering inflation, unemployment and despair, and yet Berlin was known for its cabarets and nightclubs. The focus on pleasure-seeking in our own time certainly would support the view that something is seriously wrong.

So are we left to despair? Even though he lived 2000 years ago, Jesus seemed pessimistic in his view of the state of the world. He warned, “Nations and kingdoms will go to war against each other. There will be earthquakes in many places, and people will starve to death. But this is just the beginning of troubles” (Mark 13:8, The Bible).

At some point, human society will in fact collapse under the weight of its own excess. The warnings are well taken.

But while watching society begin its slide, we do not have to despair. To his warnings, Jesus adds two things that none of the other prophets of calamity can possibly offer: First, the knowledge that the end of the world system is not the end. And second, the assurance that even during times when everything is collapsing, we do not have to suffer alone. Among Jesus’ last words were: “I will be with you always, until the very end of the world” (Matthew 28:20, The Bible).

That is quite an offer from the one who holds the universe in the palm of his hand.