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It never was a religion for the rationalist and the worldling; it was based on alienation from the world, from the intellectual world no less than from the economic and political. It flourished in the Oriental imagination that is able to treat all existence with disdain and to hold it superbly at arm’s length, and at the same time is subject to visions and false memories, is swayed by the eloquence of private passion, and raises confidently to heaven the cry of the poor, the bereaved, and the distressed. Its daily bread, from the beginning, was hope for a miraculous change of scene, for prison-walls falling to the ground about it, for a heart inwardly comforted and a shower of good things from the sky.
George Santayana – The Life of Reason (1905-1906)
Santayana is describing the state of the Catholic church faced with the pressures of the modern world as it was over a century ago. Similarities are usually interesting – if we delete one of Santayana’s words he could be describing the rise of socialism, or indeed any other political movement which promises a heart inwardly comforted against the dread spectre of reality.
Much the same promise also seems to be woven into modern secular leadership. Our leaders must seem to promise a heart inwardly comforted and a shower of good things from the sky. Leaders must display the right attitudes, the right emotions and seem to share the visceral expectations of the voter.
Fashions ebb and flow but we seem to be moving towards a world where nebulous sentimental posturing is more important than a firm grip on reality. Perhaps it always was, but as guide to reality our technical age seems to be stumbling. It is moving away from the technical outlook which has achieved so much over recent centuries and drifting backwards – back towards the shifting sands of sentimental standpoints on even the most technical matters.
Today the successful political leader is the one who understands how little interest there is in dispassionate analysis and precision. He or she is the one currently able to attract the modern voter who is subject to visions and false memories, is swayed by the eloquence of private passion, and raises confidently to heaven the cry of the poor, the bereaved, and the distressed.
