Mass Loneliness, the Loss of Virtue, and the Allure of Charisma

The dramatic social changes of the past century have left our world with a fragile sense of identity. Changes in technology and entertainment have constrained spiritual imaginations and reoriented our collective vision of the good life. These trends pave the way for charismatic leaders in politics, the marketplace, and religious communities to provide meaning through belonging to a group, especially one defined by a sense of “movement.” But “movement” thinking disincentivizes the slower work of building—be that the building of character or institutions, and the disastrous result has been on display for decades. Our hope for correcting course is found only in embracing a deeper, more rooted vision of virtue, the brevity of life, and a love for the world around us. Mike Cosper is a writer and podcast producer/senior director of podcasts at Christianity Today. In 2021 he produced and hosted The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, a serialized podcast telling the story of a Seattle megachurch’s stunning success and collapse. The podcast served as a venue to explore a variety of questions and issues that trouble the church, including character formation, gender, celebrity, and the distorting power of media. His next series launches later this year.  Subscribe to our podcasts   ‘The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill’ Podcasts | Christianity Today    About Mike Cosper   Is Christianity doing more harm than good to American men? | Acton Institute PowerBlog  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.