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The Happiness of the People


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Charles Murray is a social scientist, scholar, and published author whose 2009 Irving Kristol Lecture (whatever that is) was called "The Happiness of the People." In it he notes that "deep satisfaction" (a term he prefers because "happiness" is used to casually) comes through just four institutions (see page 8 of pdf link below):

  • family
  • community (can be scattered geographically)
  • vocation (or avocation or causes)
  • faith

Isn't it interesting that the way ministry tries to be all four of these things for people?

  • family: they say the spiritual family is greater than the "earthly" family and even advocate severing ties with "earthly" family
  • community: "household of God" anyone?
  • vocation: they say that your real, true job is being a disciple
  • faith: no explanation needed

No wonder it's so hard to get out.

Here's a link to some info on Charles Murray and his speech.

Charles Murray "Happiness of the People" speech, in PDF file format

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