Individualist "Self-Esteem"
Despite the predominance (and dominance) of individualistic Western societies throughout the world in modern times, it is very easy to lose sight of the historic fact that modern man's individualistic thinking is historically strange -- an innovation, actually. When a modern person says, for example, something to the effect of "I don't care what you think of me", we tend to not see how this attitude of defiance (even just the attempt) has been extremely difficult for people to achieve throughout history. Social, family, and cultural pressure has always been extreme throughout most cultures, societies, and religions,
Coming of age as a young adult right at the time of the advent of the internet was a remarkable thing for me. On one hand, I was lucky to have an analog childhood free of tablets, screens, and the internet. On the other, I was also lucky to have the internet just as I came of age, which gave me access to so much information and perspectives I would not have found otherwise.
Growing up in this era, I remember people often talking about the modern idea of "self-esteem" and how so many people did not think well of themselves. That they needed to have a "higher self-esteem". This was one topic I was able to research on this new thing called "the internet", and I was lucky to come across the book "Christ Esteem - Where the Search for Self-Esteem Ends", by Don Matzat. His main point was that to be a "Christian" was to actually not pursue "self-esteem" at all; that instead, as Christians, it was our duty and path to only pursue the glory of God and of Christ alone. This of course resonated with me at the time, as I couldn't shake the underlying sense that we were missing historical context to our notions, and sort of blindly grasping in the dark.
But as helpful as the book was, it didn't satisfy all my questions. It was certainly a welcome starting point, but I needed to understand further how individualistic "self-esteem" -- something foreign to non-western nations -- had come about. And as it turns out, the origin of these individualistic questions of "self-esteem" COULD be understood: They were actually a product of 2,000 years of what we refer to now as "Christendom" -- where Christianity (and its values) have held dominion. Whether religious or not, if a person lives in the modern West, they are deeply influenced by the individualism that has come from the predominance of the reign of Christianity. And it all started with a man crucified on a Roman cross of shame; a man who had decided long ahead of time that he would suffer and die in just such a way. Yes, he would ultimately "SCORN THE SHAME" -- that is, endure through -- the ultimate humiliation.