The goal of the left is power. They are shamelessly obvious in their pursuit of it. Thwarting the will of the people through judicial fiat and holding our educational system hostage via the NEA represent just two liberal power grabs. A recent news report mentioned one California initiative approved by the voters that was held up in the courts for 10 years. Therefore, even though their political fortunes have waned, liberals retain a stranglehold on significant segments of our society.
The bad news is that when liberals impose their will on our society, they do not take responsibility for the resulting failures. Virtually everything liberals touch deteriorates, be it economics, education, or other aspects of society. Yet we never find them acknowledging the chaos they inflict. And because they have controlled the media and educational institutions, it is difficult to hold them accountable.
Practically every major psychological theory is a liberal idea. These are at root humanistic concepts, spawned and propagated by liberals, extensively in liberal academic institutions. One of the tragedies of our day is that conservatives, including evangelicals, have been taken in by liberal psychological concepts. This is especially tragic because these ideas have not been supported by valid research and had not proven to be effective. To the contrary, they have proven to be ineffective. Yet, as with other liberal initiatives, rather than admitting the failure for their ideas, liberals continue to promote them as valid.
In my previous post, I mentioned the destructive impact psychology has had on marriages. Psychology has also exercised a commanding role over our society’s approach to parenting, with similar results. In his book, A Family of Value, psychologist John Rosemond describes how psychology gained influence over the child-rearing process in our society and how badly it has failed. He goes on to share how ultimately he came to reject the psychological concepts he had learned. In so doing, Rosemond underscores both the influence and the failure of psychology in this arena. (John Rosemond: Cassette Tape Series, A Family of Value)
We find the same process at work in the field of education. Maureen Stout has described this phenomenon in her book, The Feel-Good Curriculum: The Dumbing Down of America’s Kids in the Name of Self-esteem. (Maureen Stout, The Feel-Good Curriculum; Cambridge, Massachusetts: Perseus Books, 2000) Her book makes essentially the same points that we have observed in other areas, that psychology has had vast influence and has produced negative results.
In the face of all of the evidence, we must conclude that major psychological theories when applied to various societal areas have been counterproductive. This is not to suggest that every contribution made by psychology is flawed. However, it does appear that whenever psychology provides the commanding theoretical position, the core concepts, the guiding principles, in a given area, the influenced area experiences decline.
Therefore, though some may argue for accepting psychology as science, as the product of valid research, it is best to listen to the old cliché that warns that the proof of the pudding is in the taste. The success or failure of a theory must be determined by the bottom line. And while the bottom line for the natural sciences has for the most part been highly favorable, the bottom line for psychology across the past number of decades shows a serious deficit balance. Since the psychological theory that has enjoyed the most influence in these areas is that of Carl Rogers, this warning holds special application to his concepts.
Thus, we must be cautious in labeling the findings of psychology as “truth.” We agree that all truth is God’s truth, but viewing the creations of the left as truth constitutes an expensive mistake. And if we are waiting for them to admit the failures of their psychological concepts, we should not hold our breath.