Yes, I remember that from the days of the self-help craze back in, what, the 80s? The way it was explained to me is that teaching people self-esteem is teaching them that they have intrinsic worth just by being human beings. This suggests humans are on an equal level with God, when the whole point is that humans are damaged goods who need God to make them whole. Or these days I suppose it’s Donald Trump. Same thing. The idea is that throughout your life you’re under constant surveillance, and you’ll always fail to live up to the godly ideal. When you kick the bucket you’re still no good, but God appreciates how hard you tried, poor thing, and if you’ve followed all the proper rituals during your life, God will accept you into heaven even though you don’t really deserve it.
I wonder if going through constantly reminded what an unworthy piece of shit you are is what fills RWNJ’s with such fury. The only way to feel any sense of self-worth is by treating everyone else on earth as worth even less than they are.
