Claiming that no one currently alive is worthy to hold authority is not the same as claiming that there is no basis for authority whatsoever. Some people may mistakenly conclude the latter when their leaders have failed them. What is one to do? A Christian will pray that his leaders will improve, but is it wrong for him to pray that they be replaced, even if he accepts that he may have to endure bad leaders as a form of chastisement?
There is also the issue of leaders not having any real accountability, either because they have too much power or are otherwise untouchable, or because society is simply too large and no opposing voice can be effectively organized. (And the elites may be slightly inclined to ensure that no such opposition can ever be generated.)
So where does that leave us? To withdraw into private life, only trusting those we know personally, and institutions at the smaller level (e.g., don’t trust the Church, but trust the parish, if we find it trustworthy; don’t trust Bank of America, but trust Busytown Credit Union; don’t trust the government, but trust your town council and your neighbors)? Is that the way to go? There is less choice in this than we may think. When I lost my Catholic faith (that story is told here), so many people saw this as a cognitive failure, or a failure of will. I can’t say this strongly enough: we cannot will ourselves to believe what we are convinced is untrue. And — this is key — deciding what is true and untrue is not merely a matter of abstract logic, but emerges out of a complex interplay of our thinking and our emotions (this is something neuroscience, especially the work of Antonio Damasio, has shown). If it is emotionally difficult to believe in something, we are highly unlikely to believe it, no matter how rational it may seem.
I bring this up not to re-open the discussion over my leaving Catholicism — so please don’t start — but only to point out an important lesson I learned about how fragile logic, reason, and theory are as foundations on which to build support for authoritative institutions. Trust is not something that you can reason people into. Once it is lost, it’s damn difficult to get back, if ever. But no civilization can operate without authoritative institutions. We have a problem with a lack of authority in our culture, and it’s going to have consequences farther down the road. Berger is right about the need to identify and construct such institutions. But how do we go about it? How do we rebuild a badly damaged institution, to conserve what authority remains and to replenish the depleted stores or moral credibility?
Mr. Dreher is pointing to the problem of scale. What was it that Aristotle said about a polity having to be limited in size so you could know those living with you? How can you reasonably give someone your trust if you don't know his character, or if you don't know anyone who can vouch for him?
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