The Pain & Embarrassment...

...of Celebrity.

Andrew Klavan today forced himself to face the truth.

The fascination with celebrity—the fascination with artists above and beyond the works they create–is, in effect, the opposite of wisdom.  It is honoring the fool whom God inspired rather than engaging with the wisdom of the art he was inspired to make.

Let me shorten that for emphasis:   

The fascination with celebrity is the opposite of wisdom.

It is a painful truth, especially for someone in Mr. Klavan's line of work.

But it is mandatory that we search over a broader range for our leaders, and almost certainly from humbler walks of life. The best leaders who might serve us now will not seek to be boss, but will have the vacancy thrust upon them.

The paramount reason to seek out those who have a history of restraint repeatedly turns up in human nature. The very first sin recorded in scripture revolves around this aspect of human nature. You need not believe in God to see that primitive people understood this danger better than the majority of our  contemporaries who voted for all the scum that's risen to the top in the last score of years.

Note below the two labels I've put on this post. Think about how they apply, and resolve to do better by convincing our neighbors not to fall for them any longer.