The Adversity Principle, Part 2
The adversity principle is also relevant to the human family. Some of the most noble examples of courage have occurred in countries undergoing severe pressure. The shattered nations of Europe in the 1940s come to mind in this context. All wars are horrible, and I'm certainly not minimizing the suffering they cause. World War II claimed 50 million lives and virtually destroyed a continent before it was over. Still, those who survived the ordeal were forced to adapt in order to endure their season in hell. Look at the effect of that adaptation.
The Germans were subjected to terrible devastation near the end of the war, just as they had inflicted it on others. Some of their larger cities were bombed around the clock—by the Americans throughout the day and by the British at night. Death and destruction were everywhere. Food was extremely scarce, as were all the essentials of life. By the end of the war, 80 percent of the men born in 1922 were dead, spreading grief and heartache throughout the land. These tragedies resulted from Nazi aggression, of course, but the suffering by individual German families was no less real. What is remarkable from today's perspective is the degree to which they hung tough. They did not crack! Even in the winter of 1945, when factories had been bombed, trains were destroyed, and bridges were shattered, the productivity of the nation was still nearly 80 percent of prewar capacity. Morale remained high. They continued to exhibit a national resolve—a collective commitment to the war effort—even when Allied armies were tightening the noose around Berlin.
No less impressive was Britain's record during the war. Churchill rallied the people to personal heroism. He began by addressing their expectations, offering them nothing "but blood, toil, sweat and tears." That helped steel them against hardship. In the darkest days of the blitz when their beloved homeland was in imminent danger of invasion, the Brits dug in. No one was certain whether or not Hitler and his minions could be stopped. Yet England's most popular song in that ominous hour expressed hope—not fear. It was called "The White Cliffs of Dover," referring to a coastal area that bristled with guns, planes, and radar equipment. These are the lyrics that I remember from childhood:
There'll be Bluebirds over
The white cliffs of Dover
Tomorrow, just you wait and see
There'll be love and laughter
And peace ever after,
Tomorrow, when the world is free
The shepherd will tend his sheep
The valley will bloom again
And Jimmy will go to sleep
In his own little room again
There'll be Bluebirds over
The white cliffs of Dover
Tomorrow, just you wait and see.
This song came to symbolize the courage of a people looking past death and sacrifice to a better day ahead. Churchill called that era "their finest hour."
This same indomitable spirit was evident in many of the other war-torn countries during that time. It reached a culmination in the city of Leningrad (now called St. Petersburg), where the Russian people endured horrible deprivation during an 872-day siege by German and Finnish armies. More than 650,000 Leningraders died in 1942 alone, mostly from starvation, disease, and shelling by distant guns. But the survivors refused to surrender to tyranny. Their response to unimaginable horror stands as one of the world's most striking examples of raw human courage. St. Petersburg is called the "Hero City" today.
If it is accurate to say that hard times often lead to emotional and physical toughness, then the opposite must also be valid. And, indeed, it is. Easy living and abundance often produce a certain underlying weakness. With due respect to my fellow countrymen here in the United States, I believe we have been made soft and vulnerable by materialism and ease. Prolonged prosperity, at least as compared with the rest of the world, has given us a seductive love of comfort. I wonder at times if we could tolerate the level of deprivation that is common for most of the human family. We seem to be having enough trouble just coping with the routine pressures of living.
Russian philosopher and author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn recognized this national weakness shortly after he was exiled to the United States from what was then the Soviet Union. In a now-famous address delivered at Harvard University on June 8, 1978, he referred to the softness that permeated the democracies. He said it was apparent to him that Western nations were not as secure and stable as they appeared. Telltale signs of social disintegration were evident in the culture. He referred specifically to the absence of great statesmen and to lawless behavior, such as the rioting and looting that occurred when a power outage momentarily darkened our cities. Solzhenitsyn gave numerous examples before concluding, "The smooth surface film must be very thin, (because) the social system [is] quite unstable and unhealthy."
The short fuse observed by Solzhenitsyn is even more characteristic of Americans today. It takes so little to set our nerves on edge. Drivers on Los Angeles freeways sometimes shoot each other for the most insignificant insult. Violence of all kinds permeates society. The 1992 riots in Los Angeles and other cities shocked the world with their wanton brutality and vandalism. Alcoholism, immorality, drug abuse, family disintegration, child molestation, pornography, delinquency, homosexuality, and gambling are more pervasive than ever. The culture appears to be cooking along just below the simmer point. Very little is required to boil it over. And this is occurring in relatively good times. It would appear, indeed, that prosperity is a greater test of character than is adversity.
Does this principle operate within a Christian context as well? There's no doubt about it. Look at the church in Eastern Europe compared with that in Western Europe. Before the collapse of communism and the opening of the borders, the Christian community was much stronger under totalitarian domination than in the warmth of freedom. That fact amazes me. The church was alive and well in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and East Germany, where there were no seminaries, no Christian conferences, very few Bibles or supportive literature, and no religious radio, television, or films. Communist oppression of believers was intense. Pastors and priests shepherded six or eight parishes because of the shortage of trained leaders. Being a Christian carried a big price tag. Yet faith not only prevailed in this harsh environment. It flourished.
By contrast, religious commitment languished in the freedom of Western Europe. Apathy was especially evident in countries where the church was supported by public funds, such as Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Greece. One might conclude from this recent history that the best way to kill or weaken the church is to remove all challenge to its existence.
Read The Adversity Principle, Part 1
Read The Adversity Principle, Part 3
From Dr. Dobson's book When God Doesn’t Make Sense.
