Hero Worship
22/September/2007 Filed in:
JottingsWhen we were very young, we had lots of heroes — a brave uncle, Horatio Nelson, Joan of Arc — people who fired our imaginations and inspired us to deeds of derring-do. Sadly, as we get older, we discover the joys of carping and criticizing, and our heroes tend to lose their allure. There is something to be said for hero worship: it encourages us to look beyond ourselves and imitate the virtues of the one we admire. At the very least, it makes us generous-hearted. There are some "heroes" we may be better off without, but the debunking of spiritual heroes doesn't make the world a better place, just a meaner-spirited one.