Bellah - Prophetic Religion in a Democratic Society

Robert Bellah’s Prophetic Religion in a Democratic Society (2006) is essay number 10 in the series Essays on Deepening the American Dream, sponsored by the Fetzer Institute. It is short, with the text only 25 pages in length, but it carries a lot of philosophical weight.

 

The idea behind the Fetzer Institute series was to explore if the “American Dream” is a thing of the past or if it has relevance today and has even more potential in the future. Reading the purpose of the series caused me to immediately go to the question of whether or not the American Dream was ever intended for, or accessible to, all Americans. Particularly in the current political climate where efforts are underway to disenfranchise some American citizens of their voting rights, there are many who would assert that the American Dream was intended only for certain people.

 

Bellah’s essay probes the question of religious freedom and its relationship to democratic participation.  He drew attention to different interpretations of the 1^st Amendment – one based on “no establishment” of religion (precluding a state church) and the other “free exercise” of religion which supported multiple religions and an individual’s free choice of which s/he would embrace. Bellah’s own perspective is that voicing religious perspectives is legitimate in public life and, in addition, a belief that “public consensus should arise from a discussion involving many religious and secular views” (p. 1).

 

American history has shaped views of religion and democracy in important ways, including the fact that Protestantism dominated or influenced Catholicism and Judaism in its early days, creating a loosely understood tolerance across religious differences. However, American culture’s focus on individualism, and particularly avoidance of state intervention, has undermined one of the principles common to all the Abrahamic faiths and others as well – solidarity and concern for the common good. Bellah’s view is that, “It would be hard to imagine anything more secular, more opposed to the teachings of Christianity…” (p. 9) than the modern social values of, “individualism, self-sufficiency, and localism” (p. 9) that are construed to supersede one’s compassion and care for one’s neighbor.

 

The troubling chasm of wealth inequality that now exists in the U.S.A. has deepened over time through involuntary poverty. This  involuntary poverty has been perpetuated through the “systematic dismantling of the public services that help the poor, most notably in our public education system and in our health system, while income has been dramatically redistributed to the wealthiest” (p. 17).

 

Bellah proposed that a life commitment to sufficiency, based on seeking a comfortable life of reason, is an important way to begin to correct the involuntary poverty experienced by so many. He advises that, “a life based economically on sufficiency rather than the expectation of ever-increasing income is, in today’s world, a form of voluntary poverty” (p. 22).  Such a life of service, “might allow time for genuine creativity in art or thought” (p. 23) that will drive an enhanced American Dream that is available to all, rather than just a few. Seeking life sufficiency is where Bellah proposed people of faith can put their values in action in ways that not only redeem the individual but also society at large.

 

Ward - Edvard Grieg

Brendan Ward’s Edvard Grieg: A great little man, The unorthodox life of Norway’s greatest composer (2015), provides a quick overview of Grieg’s life based on several of the more detailed and definitive sources. The book follows the chronology of  the most significant experiences for Grieg from his birth in 1843 of Scottish decent to the outpouring of affection when he died in 1907. At his death, he was hailed as Norway’s most beloved composer.

Grieg’s two most loved compositions are his Piano Concerto, Op. 16 in A minor, and the Peer Gynt Suite. A significant number of compositions round out these two favorites, including a collection of  short piano compositions, the Lyric Pieces, which vary in style and nationalistic character. He was not only a composer but also a formidable pianist and conductor. His musical style was most influenced by two other Norwegian musicians, Ole Bull (a prodigious violinist) and Rikard Nordraak, who encouraged Grieg to abandon German Romanticism in order to develop his own individualistic tone poem style reflecting Norway’s countrysides and fjords.  He was influenced by French Impressionism but also influenced prominent French composers such as Debussy and Ravel.

Grieg had a less than fulfilling relationship with his wife, Nina, nevertheless they remained together throughout their lives. It was Nina who named the home they built outside Bergen as Troldhaugen (The Hall of the Trolls) with its forested grounds, composing hut, and eventual concert venue. An urn containing his ashes was placed in a grotto overlooking Troldhaugen after Grieg’s death at age 64.

Grieg is an interesting example of unassuming leadership. As the title of Ward's book indicates, he was a little man but he had an oversized impact. His impact became more potent because he captured the character of life experience and fables of Norway's people at a time when it was defining itself. Nationalism was needed and Grieg provided the perfect vehicle - colorful and poetic music that fostered a shared identity and patriotism. 

Kellerman & Pittinsky - Leaders Who Lust

The authors of Leaders Who Lust: Power, money, sex, success, legitimacy, legacy (2020), Barbara Kellerman and Todd Pittinsky, tell us that lust has long been ignored in leadership research and theory and that, in order to understand exceptional leading, scholars need to turn to lust. The typical characterization of lust is of a destructive force but Kellerman and Pittinsky propose that it should be viewed more neutrally. Viewing lust as the drive behind both positive and negative leading helps us begin to know it as something that might be managed, although they say that lust is an innate quality that cannot be taught.

Leaders who lust uses a case or personality analysis approach to justify their claims. The six sources of lust they describe and the personalities they explore include: Power, Roger Ailes and Xi Jinping; Money, Warren Buffett and Charles Koch; Sex, John F. Kennedy and Silvio Berlusconi; Success, Hillary Clinton and Tom Brady; Legitimacy, Nelson Mandela and Larry Kramer; and Legacy, Bill and Melinda Gates and George Soros. Lust in each of these cases, for good or ill, is defined as an intense drive, almost desperate in nature, to accomplish a specific object or circumstance. And, lust in these cases is a life-long obsession that appears, in the end, to be insatiable.

The authors of Leaders who lust proceed throughout the book to clearly define their terms, describe the context of the dogged pursuit of each type of lust, address the role of followers, and demonstrate through examples how lust can create incredibly positive or disastrously negative outcomes. They acknowledge that sometimes more than one type of lust may be present, as is common in the relationship between unbridled lust for power and for sex. They implicitly reinforce the idea that lust can be a magnate that attracts like types, as can be seen in the two lust for money cases of Buffett (with his investors) and Koch (with political influencers). And, the authors provide examples to demonstrate that the public acceptance for different kinds of lustful leaders varies across nations/cultures and can change over time. There is much food for thought as the personalities, life experiences, and outcomes of the leaders who lust are described.

Kellerman and Pittinsky’s urgent assertion to scholars and educators who seek to cultivate leadership is that leadership and lust are often inseparable, sometimes becoming even symbiotic; the drive coming from lust results in a leader who simply does not give up, regardless of the obstacles. The leadership industry’s focus on teaching, optimism/positivity, and measurement undermines attention that would otherwise include lusts, which is not teachable, can be both destructive and constructive, and is very difficult to measure, if at all. Kellerman and Pittinsky offer critical advice for leaders who sense they may have a lust that drives them as well us cautionary notes to those who follow them in their “Epilogue.”

To Kellerman’s admonition to leadership scholars and educators I would add that, as a result of the extremes represented in their examples, there will be those who will place leaders who lust in a special case, which I believe is a mistake. As we reflect on our own life experiences and encounters, I believe that lust in lesser degrees of urgency may be present in many more cases. Leadership educators should consider how fostering some degree of lust, or as I have written and described as conviction, purpose or passion, can result in a positive motivating force. On the other hand, leadership educators should explore how resisting leaders who have a potentially destructive lust can be resisted through responsible followership.

Roberts - The Lost Pianos of Siberia

Sophy Roberts’ The Lost Pianos of Siberia (2020) is as equally focused on pianos and music as it is on understanding political life and culture in Russia from the time of Catherine the Great in the late 18^th century to the present. Pianos were so dominant during the entire 19^th century that they were found in the homes of every privileged Russian, with salon performances the norm, and music schools available in most cities. During this time, Piano virtuosos were the rock stars of the day and drew large crowds of admirers whenever and wherever they performed.

The story of the lost pianos of Siberia is one of searching for what is left of the great age of Russian music and performance, which is briefly captured in the video available on the book promotion website. Siberia, with the largest area and most extreme weather in Russia, is a name derived from early Arab traders who crisscrossed its sweeping planes and used the Tatar word sibir, meaning the sleeping land, to describe it. No wonder that in a desolate and sprawling land such as Siberia, that the banished criminals and dissidents who were sent there by the Tsars would be enraptured by great piano music. In Pyotr Tchaikovsky words, “Truly, there would be reason to go mad if it were not for music” (p. 18).

Sophy Roberts tells the story of her journey throughout the full expanse of Siberia. Her writing conveys a deep connection with people, history, and the music that lifted so many above the drudgeries of daily life. In her words, “By following the pathway of an object, I would get closer to understanding the place” (p. 51).

The fascination with pianos flourished in St. Petersburg, the imperial city facing toward Europe both geographically and culturally. It boasted six piano makers by 1810, resulting in it being dubbed ‘pianopolis.’ For most of the 19^th century, music was a past-time of the elite but by the 1860s interest accelerated with the formation of the Imperial Russian Musical Society by the Romanov court. The era that followed resulted in increasingly discerning performance and virtuosic expectations, as musicians moved from mere entertainers to some of the most notable names in the world – the “Mighty Five” including Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Cesar Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, Alexander Borodin, and Mily Balakirev; Tchaikovsky, and others.

This extraordinary flourishing of music began to crumble with the 1905 ‘Bloody Sunday’ killing of one hundred thirty protesters at the Tsars’ Palace. From there, the fall of the Romanov family was irreversible and accelerated toward the 1917 October Revolution. The political turmoil that unfolded, with ‘Reds’ and ‘Whites’ vying for influence, the Bolshevik rebels rising, and the eventual formation of the Soviet Union, resulted in noble families abandoning all their possessions, even their treasured pianos. In this cataclysmic time, Russia was to lose not only its pianos but also the extraordinary talents of the likes of Sergie Rachmaninoff who fled to the United States for safety and fortune. Others such as Shostakovich and Prokofiev stayed in Russia but were forced to compromise their creative spirits in the face of political pressure to compose and perform music pleasing to Soviet officials. In addition to the resilience of these great classical composers, a new kind of music emerged in the East of Siberia, in Harbin, where American jazz took hold in the 1920s as an expression of “anarchic freedom of improvisation” (p. 194) not tolerated elsewhere in the USSR.

The spirit of great Russian music struggled during the Soviet years but was renewed in mid-20^th century. Some would point to the winning performance by the American from Texas, Van Cliburn, at the 1958 International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition as the moment when Russia’s musical soul began to reemerge. Numerous Russian pianists now perform throughout the world. Denis Matsuev is one of the most recognized in this revival.

Roberts wrote in one of the later chapters, “Part of me I had lost in Siberia” (p.  309), a characterization reminiscent of a search that often led to no end. Yet several pages later, she added “My piano hunt and Mary’s (a friend Sophy met along the way) vagrant robin had more in common than it first appeared: neither of us had come for the certainties, but for the outside possibility that a little marvel might appear” (p. 314). The marvel was not only uncovering lost pianos and retelling the history of great music in Russia but of the stunning realization that “in spite of everything, Siberia is fundamentally life-giving all the same – a wellspring of culture, humanity and moral courage in the last place on Earth I expected to find it” (353).