'Almost Christian': Is 'don't worry, be happy' the Gospel?
Editor's note: This is the second post in this week's series by Wayne Baker on the book "Almost Christian" by Kenda Creasy Dean. Read more in this series at Dr. Baker's blog, Our Values.
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Is the Gospel of Bobby right? Is “don’t worry, be happy” our best spiritual guide? Specifically, is this advice really part of Christianity’s core message?
According to “Almost Christian,” millions of teenagers think it truly is the Gospel. For many American teens, Christianity has morphed into a consumer-driven, self-involved kind of religion. Author Kenda Creasy Dean calls it Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD), as I described yesterday.
One of the guiding beliefs of MTD, as summarized by Dean in her new book, is personal happiness and positive self-esteem: ”The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.” In pursuit of happiness, she argues, God is used “instrumentally, as an invisible tool.”
So, maybe Bobby McFerrin had it right with his wildly popular a capella tune, “Don’t worry, be happy.” Bobby got the idea for the song from a poster with this four-word saying. The poster quoted Indian mystic and sage Meher Baba, who often used the saying, according to various sources.
But this phrase was Meher Baba’s shorthand for a longer—and more meaningful—expression. This is the full saying: “Do your best. Then, don’t worry; be happy in my love. I will help you.”Â
The sage’s full saying adds responsibility to happiness—an element that has faded in importance with MTD. For many Christian denominations, Dean finds, “moral responsibility”—helping others, social justice, and transformation—are almost absent for young people.
Does this square with what you observe?
Do teenagers in your faith tradition embrace “Don’t worry, be happy” as the central goal of life?
Dr. Wayne E. Baker is a sociologist on the senior faculty of the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. He specializes in researching the core beliefs and desires that motivate and shape American culture. Dr. Baker blogs daily at Our Values and can be reached at ourvaluesproject@gmail.com.
Comments
Baba Elf
Tue, Oct 5, 2010 : 9:36 a.m.
Dont Worry, Be Happy is more than a zippy little saying. Its a burning admonition if there ever was one. Meher Baba said, Be happy in any conditions and dont worry about anything. If the whole world rocks, dont rock with it! And particularly dont worry about thoughts. If you want to alter anything, start with actions. Why? Because thoughts belong to the mental world. You have no control over them unless you are established on the mental plane. But you can control your actions. Even necessary worry is not good, but unnecessary worry is madness. If I say: Be happy! be happy at once! Forget. Away with it! Why brood? I never brood. Laugh! Be cheerful! It is all illusion why not be cheerful, happy? Start now!! Do everything, but dont worry. Worrying binds. When youre beyond worry youre happy. But you must consciously not worry. Stones dont worry, but unconsciously. It is all fun a game happiness if you dont worry. "Worry accumulates and increases in strength, becomes a habit long after the original cause has ceased to be.... If another 50 years passes, you could at the end of that time be still worrying about something which was happening now. Its crazy... You've experienced all conditions blind, sick, poor, old, young, beautiful, and ugly. One must sincerely do his duties, but the results must always be left with God. Worrying about the results is no good and of no use. If a person wishes to do anything for others, he must do it sincerely. And having done it, he should not worry about the results, for results are not in human hands. It is for humans to do, for God to ordain. To remain aloof from results is not difficult, but men do not even try. Because its human nature to think of the results of ones actions, it doesnt mean that one should worry! Man must think, but he must not worry. Try to attribute all your acts to God and let the results be His.If you must worry, let your only worry be how to remember God constantly. This is worthwhile worry, as it will bring about the end of worry. Think of Him more and more and all your worries will disappear into the nothing they really are. Divine Will works out to awaken you to this. Through darkness to light, through suffering to happiness, through chaos to harmony will be the end of the journey. All suffering has an end. Spiritual happiness is endlessly eternal.