Cynic or Idealist? Your Attitude Impacts Society, BYU Forum Speaker Says

“Cynicism is naive,” says Yuval Levin. “People inherently desire to be idealistic, to be part of something greater than themselves, and to contribute to something they can admire and take pride in.”

Tad Walch reports on religion with a focus on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This article was originally published in the ChurchBeat newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter every Wednesday evening.

In today’s America, cynicism is common, especially on social media, where people often behave differently than they do in person, at church, or at work, according to a national speaker at BYU this week.

“This is a time when being a cynic feels easy and appealing. It’s easy to be the outsider who believes they’re more sophisticated, understands the truth, and can see through the claims, goals, and ideals of the group,” said Yuval Levin, editor of National Affairs magazine.

Levin’s central message at the BYU forum was that Americans aiming to heal the country’s political and social divides should be deliberate in how they act and communicate, both online and in person. While I covered his speech thoroughly, this specific section on cynicism and idealism needed additional attention.

Related: Here’s what Levin shared:

“I want to share an insight I’ve gained over my 25 years in Washington,” he began. “Having worked for a president of the United States (as a policy advisor to George W. Bush), a Speaker of the House, and many other influential figures, I’ve learned that cynicism is naive. It never fully explains why people act the way they do.”

“The truth is that people crave idealism. They want to belong to something bigger than themselves, to contribute to something they can respect and take pride in. Our culture sometimes encourages us to dismiss such pursuits and avoid them. But in reality, that commitment is exactly what we seek in life, and that sense of belonging is what we need.”

This message was something BYU was eager to share.

“We are grateful,” said BYU’s academic vice president Justin Collings, who hosted Tuesday’s forum, “to gather each week as a campus community to renew our collective commitment to BYU’s prophetic mission — to seek learning by study and faith as we pursue goodness and beauty, virtue and knowledge, light and truth.”

The university leader praised Levin’s recent book on the Constitution and supported Levin’s civil and thoughtful voice.

“Dr. Levin offers a voice of reason, wisdom, temperance, learning, judgment, civility, and persuasion that contrasts with the often heated public debates of our time,” Collings noted. “We are deeply grateful to host him this morning as our forum speaker.”

Levin concluded this part of his talk with a direct call to action.

“So, ultimately, the answer rests with each of us, even with you students here at this university,” he said. “We can propose complex theories about how to rebuild the trust necessary for society to function better, but the simplest solution is for the people in our institutions — for all of us — to work on becoming more trustworthy, and we can all do that.”

“We can dedicate more of our time and energy to our institutional roles. We can invest more of our identity and self-awareness in them. We can define ourselves through the institutions that matter most, measure ourselves by their standards, uphold their ideals, take their integrity seriously, and align our pride and aspirations with theirs. This may seem overly earnest or moralistic in today’s world.”

Indeed, he acknowledged, his own advice is somewhat out of step with “the times we live in.”

However, he concluded, “For too long, demolition crews have shaped the mood of this era in America, but the future will be shaped by the builders and those who rebuild, and that is what each of us should strive to be.”

While in Utah, Levin also met with top state officials, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and spoke at the Gardner Policy Institute, the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah, and the nonpartisan think tank, the Sutherland Institute.

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