Okay, so yesterday I stressed that, while laws and rules have their place, they alone will not bring about change to culture or society. I hope that, as you read through these blog entries, you realize that culture can be practically anything. At your work or school, there is a particular culture that is unique to that place. The community you live in is a unique culture. If you are part of a church, that church has a particular culture that is unique to it, and may be fairly different from that at another church of the same denomination or faith. My intent is that the word "culture" fits into all of these venues, and even those I didn't mention.
Another thing that likely will not bring about changes to culture or society is having some powerful person come in and force a culture on others. Same thing if it's not one single individual, but a group of people. To use an example from my life, I have recently changed churches. Just because I carry an important title in the new church, I cannot come in and insist on changing everything to be the way that I want it to be. I can't even get a group of people together who may feel the same way, and then act by force to bring about those changes.
Why not, you may ask? Think about how we as humans typically respond when we are told that we have to do something in a particular way. Even if it's an improvement over what was already being done, there's a part of us that hates being told how we should do it. True, we might think about it and come to the same conclusion, but when someone else forces us to do it in their own way, we have a tendency to see them as overbearing, and we feel that it's our role to put them in their place. In fact, we'll often work contrary to what that person who is "in charge" wants, simply to prove that they can't make us do it their way.
Yes, we can see that at work in our nation somewhat. The thing is, the problem isn't confined to our national leaders. I have a number of books on my shelves that talk about different ways to bring about changes in particular cultures. Practically every single one of them speaks against the leader simply walking in and demanding that everyone does it his or her way. While the authors may give a wide variety of alternative approaches, there must be a reason that they warn against that kind of culture change. Maybe it's because it has been tried way too often, and hardly ever proven to be effective.
True, such an approach may work in the short term. A forceful personality can cow other people into submission for a time, out of fear. The thing is, that tends to build up resentment. People tend to rebel against authoritarian leaders. Even if such a change is made, and seems to be taking place, at some point some kind of rebellion and reversal is likely to take place, and may even make things worse than they were.
So merely passing laws and rules isn't the answer. Having a powerful leader enforce change isn't the answer. So maybe the question we should be asking is, 'Is this even possible to do?" I believe it is. My hope is that we now start turning toward some of the positive ways that can truly bring about changes in culture and society.
Another thing that likely will not bring about changes to culture or society is having some powerful person come in and force a culture on others. Same thing if it's not one single individual, but a group of people. To use an example from my life, I have recently changed churches. Just because I carry an important title in the new church, I cannot come in and insist on changing everything to be the way that I want it to be. I can't even get a group of people together who may feel the same way, and then act by force to bring about those changes.
Why not, you may ask? Think about how we as humans typically respond when we are told that we have to do something in a particular way. Even if it's an improvement over what was already being done, there's a part of us that hates being told how we should do it. True, we might think about it and come to the same conclusion, but when someone else forces us to do it in their own way, we have a tendency to see them as overbearing, and we feel that it's our role to put them in their place. In fact, we'll often work contrary to what that person who is "in charge" wants, simply to prove that they can't make us do it their way.
Yes, we can see that at work in our nation somewhat. The thing is, the problem isn't confined to our national leaders. I have a number of books on my shelves that talk about different ways to bring about changes in particular cultures. Practically every single one of them speaks against the leader simply walking in and demanding that everyone does it his or her way. While the authors may give a wide variety of alternative approaches, there must be a reason that they warn against that kind of culture change. Maybe it's because it has been tried way too often, and hardly ever proven to be effective.
True, such an approach may work in the short term. A forceful personality can cow other people into submission for a time, out of fear. The thing is, that tends to build up resentment. People tend to rebel against authoritarian leaders. Even if such a change is made, and seems to be taking place, at some point some kind of rebellion and reversal is likely to take place, and may even make things worse than they were.
So merely passing laws and rules isn't the answer. Having a powerful leader enforce change isn't the answer. So maybe the question we should be asking is, 'Is this even possible to do?" I believe it is. My hope is that we now start turning toward some of the positive ways that can truly bring about changes in culture and society.
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