“The most frightful development today is the increasing insensitivity to the true, the good, and the beautiful.”

Perhaps social criticism has never been very popular. However, in my brief 60 years, I don’t recall a time like today when any statement critical of American life is seen as a subversive act, a danger to society that must be shut down even before its merits are considered.

If Rabbi Olan were to preach his February 1, 1970 radio sermon today, he might encounter a very vocal public opposition, perhaps even efforts to get his writings removed from public libraries. For “The Sensitive People and the Insensitive” was a scathing criticism of modern American life as he experienced it.

The problem that Olan identified in this sermon was… insensitivity. Insensitivity? Was that really an urgent national crisis in 1970? Before you scoff, just think of what we have become today. He predicted it very clearly, including our culture’s current use of violent entertainment (and now, actual violence) to fill the void that we feel within. His conclusion: every year we are actually becoming less human! My take on this: we’re not just at risk for losing our country. We are putting humanity itself at risk.

I encourage you to read, listen to, or watch “The Sensitive People and the Insensitive” through the links below. That will allow you to investigate and evaluate this message personally. I’m all for everyone having the opportunity to do that.

*Written by Tim Binkley*