The Sacred Cow of Self-Esteem

Doubters Alert

What commonly accepted truth (or “truth”) do you think is wrong, or at least seriously doubt?  Why?

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Oh goodie.  Wordy has given me carte blanc to get on one of my favorite soap boxes.

Self-esteem.

It was introduced into the educational curriculum  because it was believed that if only kids felt better about themselves, there would be less juvenile crime. Less alcohol, fewer drugs, fewer teen pregnancies and abortions, less teen sex, better grades, more teens staying in school and going on to college. Less disrespect, more good behavior.

Statistics don’t support any of that. What has happened instead is that our young people have developed a strong sense of entitlement.  Way too much self-esteem.

Did you know that there is a study that came up with the amazing information that a population with  very high self-esteem is drug dealers?

There is no evidence that high self-esteem reliably causes anything. Indeed, a lot of people with little of it, have achieved a great deal in one kind of activity or the other. For instance, Gloria Steinem, who has written a number of books and been a major leader of the feminist movement, recently revealed in a book long statement that she suffers from low self-esteem. And many people with high self-esteem are happy just being rich, beautiful, or socially connected. Some other people, whose high self-esteem has been noted are successful inner-city drug dealers who generally feel quite good about themselves. After all they have succeeded in making a lot of money in a hostile and competitive environment.

   (taken from http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/education/catholic-contributions/the-problem-with-self-esteem.html  )

I”ve written about this topic on my other blog.  Here are the links, if you care to read the posts:

https://lindasbiblestudy.wordpress.com/2013/02/15/friday-counseling-issue-self-esteem/

https://lindasbiblestudy.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/self-esteemconfidenceaggrandizementcentered/

Too Much Self, Not Enough God

I know the concepts in these posts won’t make me popular with the self-esteem gurus in my field of work.  I’ve been doing private practice counseling now for over 15  years, and I become more convinced every day that the efforts of secular humanism to make us all love ourselves so we can love others has been a dismal failure. Love of self is a given. Mostly, we need to get our focus OFF of ourselves and onto thinking more about others, more about God.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/doubters-alert/