I find Sydney to be one of the most selfish cities I’ve ever seen in my whole life, to be honest with you. Everything is about my personal happiness. Get married later or don’t get married at all. Have children or don’t have children at all. Go to church or don’t go to church at all. Look out for your neighbour or don’t look out for your neighbour. Whatever makes you happy. Yet, statistically, people are miserable. Anti-depressants are up tenfold in the last decade. Everyone’s depressed, everyone’s smoking, nervous, busy, in debt, scared, lonely and living for themselves and haven’t realised that if you live for yourself, you end up miserable.
Accurate words? And I wonder if some of the secular media would be interested in picking up on this - “Visiting evangelist slams ‘Selfish Sydney’” sort of thing…
I find Sydney to be one of the most selfish cities I’ve ever seen in my whole life,
I’m not sure how you compare the selfishness of cities : eg how would you make a list of the world’s 20 most selfish cities .. and which cities would be in the list ... but his comment is a personal observation in any case.
His point is useful if it gets us thinking about how we can change ...
I find Sydney to be one of the most selfish cities I’ve ever seen in my whole life,
I’m not sure how you compare the selfishness of cities : eg how would you make a list of the world’s 20 most selfish cities ....
The list was published this week:
Dark Blue: Montreal, Riga
Green: Cape Town, Belgrade, Paris
Yellow: Jerusalem, Hong Kong, Beijing
Red: London, New York, Sydney
Orange: Vancouver, Shanghai, Rome
Magenta: Toronto, Kyiv, Istanbul
Light Blue: Athens, Barcelona, Tokyo
Brown: Taipei, Gdynia
These are the cities on the new Monopoly World Edition of the game.
Scoring a spot on the Monopoly board must be a decent litmus test.
Mark Driscoll’s comments quoted here seem able to grab a headline but not are not likely to give him or his sponsors any credibility with thinking Sydneysiders.
As has already been asked, on what basis other than a few weeks in our tourist spots are we described as “one of the most selfish” (or least selfish) cities.
This is a silly and meaningless generalisation.
In areas where statistics are available, some of what he says is just plain wrong, for example the fantasy claim that “everyone’s smoking”:
In 1945 approximately 72% of Australian men smoked.
The rate has been dropping ever since then.
In 2004 only 18.6% of Australian males were daily smokers.
In 1945 26% of Australian women smoked.
By 1976 this figure had risen to a peak of 33%.
In 2004 women were smoking at a slightly lower rate than men with 16.3% still smoking daily.
It seems to me that when you claim to present a historical, real and true Christian message, it helps your credibility greatly if you avoid cartoonish overgeneralisations.
I worked in the CBD for years and I know what you mean.....
the doorways of CBD office buildings or tourist spots with smoking in outside areas may have been what Mark Driscoll saw.
But statistically that is a very biased sample and the conclusion is quite wrong.
As another example, his comment about the increase in anti-depressant usage is overstated and is also comparing apples and carrots, but it would take more time than I have at the moment to do a full exposition on that.
My concern is this: when anyone with exposure to the health statistics (e.g. most health professionals) hears these statements and justifiably dismisses (at least some of) them as waffle, they will become more likely to treat Mark Driscoll’s statements about the “historical Jesus” as similar “waffle”.
I agree with Mike… I think Mark just gave a throwaway…
I think Mark in general has got the demographic of Sydney fairly spot on (not the smoking part, but the selfish part).
I think the city of Sydney is in general, a fairly self absorbed society. I think it is a place where iPods and game consoles are starting to dominate our relationship behaviour, and RSVPs never get responded to… and if so, usually with the conditions, “unless I find something better”.
It’s a place where we want things faster, better, bigger, smaller… more to suit ME. And sadly, I think we take this mentality into the way we relate to one another even at the most intimate levels.
But then again, I think this is reflective of most societies in general… but I can only comment on what I know and use comparisons to my limited experience of other societies.
I think Mark is a fairly good demographic researcher and I have no doubt that it has assisted him with the plant of Mars Hill in Seattle.
I think it was just a piece of hyperbole, not meant to be taken as a statistically precise statement…
Hi Craig,
Maybe....except that immediately before the wildly overstated claims in the paragraph you quoted in the original post Mark D. says:
Yet, statistically, people are miserable.
[My bold]
He also says in the article:
“As I’ve been hanging out in Sydney and doing a lot of statistical research I hope I’ve got my understanding correct on some of the false views of Jesus that permeate Sydney, to correct those with a view of Jesus that’s more biblical.”
[My bold]
If it seems to me, as a supportive Christian, that Mark D. is making it up as he goes along, how much more easily will non-Christian listeners gain that perception.
As an aside, I am looking forward to attending his Entertainment Centre session on Wednesday - if the “fanboys” don’t mug me on the way there!
8-)
Hi Mike,
The apparent trivialisation of depression and overstated figures in that area concern me more but the smoking comment was a simpler case to refute.
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