fully prejudiced.

Maybe I should invite tianity is in trouble not because its myths him over to watch Mary Hartman, Mary are dead, but because it does not offer its Hartman. That'll teach him something ideal of heroic sainthood as an immediate about TV's potential. personal one to be lived by all believers" (italics mine). The message is plain: Becker believes Christians do not live their Marlin ]. VanElderen Christianity. He asserts further that "the churches have turned their backs both on the miraculousness of creation and on the need to do something heroic in the world." They have, instead, pretty much In his book Escape from Evil Ernest Becker joined the world. makes some caustic observations about Early Christianity held out the promChristianity which Christians do well to ise of social justice in a world that was ponder. His own purpose is to explain crying for it, but "Christianity never fulevil in man; and he concludes by grop- filled that promise, and is as far axoay from ing for a science of society, a curious syn- it as ever" (italics mine). And still worse, thesis of Marx and Freud. Becker notes, churches have throughout It is Becker's broad sweep of human history blessed unheroic wars and history, and the role of Christianity in it, sanctified group hatred. One has only to that concerns us here. On Becker's view reflect uncomfortably on the recent man, in his awesome fear of death, seeks Vietnamese struggle to recognize truth in to transcend death as a part of some Becker's charge. "immortality ideology," a larger group in For these reasons, the church is in a which he can find some meaning in life. state of decline; it is too much a part of the History is the record of a succession of system. In Becker's words again: "Orthese immortality ideologies, or a mixture ganized religion openly subscribes to a of them, and their conflicts. Men willingly commercial-industrial hero system that is lend themselves to these, slavishly so, in almost openly defunct; it so obviously an attempt to make their lives count. The denies reality, builds war machines result has been tragedy for the world and against death, and banishes sacredness its people, for each system demands with bureaucratic dedication. Men are scapegoats and victims to perpetuate it- treated as things and the world is pulled self. down to their size. The churches subIn this survey historic Christianity scribe to this empty heroics of possession, " comes off badly. Promising a new display, manipulation spiritual integrity and a truly democratic And we have reached the stage at equality, Christendom instead becomes which genuine religious heroism, when it harnessed by the prevailing power struc- does appear to threaten organized society, tures and is used to perpetuate them. It is repressed and crushed. There is no fails to reinstitute a sacred community of room for the Daniel Berrigans or the sinrough equality; and it fails in its promise cere conscientious objector. of "a valuation of the individual person These are serious, but I believe accuthat had not existed before." So, accord- rate, charges leveled against Christianity. ing to Becker, Christianity failed to effect Christians, no less than non-Christians, "any fundamental change in the massive are immersed in their culture; and few of structure of domination and exploitation them perceive any real problem in this. represented by the state after the decline Our own immortality ideology "the of primitive society." Christianity became American Way"has enmeshed all of us. effectively subdued and culturized. Extricating ourselves from it, even when Nor has time altered the situation. we want to, is extremely difficult. From Having noted how easily "organized reli- the side of civil government, we have gious heroism has given way to the hero succeeded rather well in separating systems of modern societies," Becker church and state; but the church itself has goes on to observe that "today Chris- done less well in separating itself from

Our immortality ideology

the state. One religious group recently offered a special bicentennial edition of the Bible which presented the special figures and events of American history along with the Holy Writ between the same covers. Evangelicals who have been sensitive to deficiencies in real Christian living and a lack of social action to accompany orthodoxy will find themselves in agreement with Becker's assessment of Christianity. Whatever endorsement they find for their own insights, however, will be tempered by the sadness they feel at the accuracy of his observations. What such really tells us is that we must renew our efforts and rededicate ourselves to the task of being used by the Spirit to make Christianity count in the world!
George De Vries, Jr.

Gears, bearings, and the like

I took a brief tour the other week through the buildings of a company that designs and makes machines that make gears, bearings, and the like. I was shown the blueprint and temporal sequence plan for the control system of a machine that was about to be built. I was taken to the area where machines costing as much as a quarter of a million dollars and weighing as much as ten tons are put together. The complexity and size of what I saw was so different from what I see in daily life that I could not help being awed. Yet there was a question that gnawed, and occasionally jabbed, my consciousnessa question that I dared not ask my friend who was guiding me on my too-brief tour: Why should anyone
make gears and bearings?

"They help us do things more efficiently." I know they do. But why should anyone make things that help us do things more efficiently? "Doing things efficiently saves time." I know that, too. Why should anyone make things that help us save time? "Saving time is a basic value." But is it really? Suppose the quest for saving time re-

February 1977

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