New Rules created quite a stir in the early '80s. In the
book, professor Daniel Yankelovich of
The book was subtitled, "Searching for Self-Fulfillment
in a World Turned Upside Down." The old rules, Yankelovich said, stressed
duty to others, particularly to one's family. If someone were
selfish and got caught, it was embarrassing and looked ugly. But
no longer. In what Yankelovich calls "the duty to self ethic,"
our primary responsibility is for our own needs and interests. All other
relationships and values must fit into that order of priority.
Yankelovich feels that the movement may be liberating, but
he is an honest scientist. After tracking 3,000 people in personal, in-depth
interviews, and analyzing hundreds of thousands of questionnaires, he admits
that so far the search for self-fulfillment has been futile. It has resulted in
insecurity and confusion. "What is self-fulfillment?" he asks. And
"When you find yourself, what will you do with yourself?"
The frightening thing is that 83 percent of Americans buy
into the "new rules," either in whole or in part. But those foolish
people are not evangelical Christians, right? Wrong! James Davison Hunter, in
his examination of students and faculty in 16 leading evangelical colleges and
seminaries, used Yankelovich's earlier questionnaire and concluded that
evangelicals are more committed to self-fulfillment than their secular counterparts.
"The percentage of evangelical students agreeing with these statements far exceeded the corresponding percentage of the general population," Hunter wrote. "Self-fulfillment is no longer a natural by-product of a life committed to higher ideals, but rather is a goal, pursued rationally and with calculation as an end in itself. The quest for emotional psychological and social maturity, therefore, becomes normative. Self-expression and self-realization compete for self-sacrifice as a guiding life ethic."