Religious Scholar

Do young people still have idols? I don’t mean “American Idol” idols. I mean super-role-model idols, held up as pillars of excellence by teachers and lauded by the kinds of media likely to be accessed by the young.

In my early years, there were plenty of idols: Lindbergh, for example. Thomas Jefferson. George Washington. Rabindranath Tagore, Richard Wagner. The list goes on and on, mostly male, usually white, but exhibiting universal virtues.

There is no doubt that the deeds of these worthies were laudable. But their haloes have tarnished, at least in terms of their treatment of and attitude toward others. Lindbergh’s solo flight over the Atlantic Ocean was a remarkable act of courage and intelligence. But now we know he kept a second family in Germany: he was a liar who misrepresented himself to his wife, children, and society at large.

Jefferson and Washington kept slaves, an idea so repellent today to lovers of liberty that it almost defies comprehension. And Jefferson may have forced his attentions on at least one enslaved woman in his household.

Tagore, a respected Indian intellectual and poet, gave his 12 and 14-year-old daughters in marriage to much older men, an offense which would be deemed criminal in our time.

Wagner composed music that uplifted the human spirit, but his writings are filled with anti-Semitism and hate; some say he helped to inspire the racism of Nazi Germany.

We can separate the positive from the negative in these men’s lives, but it is difficult to fill shoes lately worn by feet of clay. When idols crumble, it is almost like losing faith in the Divine: the archetype vanishes, and even the exemplary achievements of the deposed idol seem a little less awe-inspiring.

As our society becomes more inclusive and respectful of human rights, perhaps it is time we looked to ideal concepts rather than the figures of god-like individuals, who inevitably fail to pass the test of ethical leadership. Perhaps we are our own best idols, not for what we are, but for the potential of what we can achieve and be, in a world increasingly sensitive to issues of justice, fairness, and equality.