quote of the day

link to an interview with the Anchoress

Q: You mention a number of idols throughout the book. What do you feel is the most damaging idol a person can allow to consume them?
A: Wow, that’s a really good and really difficult question. I imagine it is different for everyone, but perhaps the idol of hipness — of being cool and riding every trend — is the most damaging because it encourages a suspension of reason for the ease of parroting whatever the current slogan/philosophy is occupying our minds. We’re not meant to give up our reason, but the zeitgeist, if it is embraced, demands that we do so: think the correctly-current thoughts or be seen as out-of-touch, or even as some sort of narrow-minded “hate-ist”, and be despised.
It’s an insidious idol, and one many parents train their kids to bow to, every single day, because they — the parents — are also unwittingly caught in its snares. It’s an idol that foments cynicism and destroys the idea that anyone is ever dealing in good faith.