Arthur Brooks is Wrong About Love—Reflections on his Speech at the National Prayer Breakfast

Arthur Brooks, devoted Catholic, writer for the Washington Post, and professor at the Harvard Kennedy School, spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast last week. He is a compelling speaker who spoke clearly of his devotion to Jesus. His remarks were based on his book, Love your Enemies, in which he describes his antidote to the culture of polarization and contempt in American discourse. As the title suggests, Brooks told the room of public figures, religious leaders, and politicians, including President Trump, that loving our enemies is the answer.

Brooks gave no clear definition of love in his speech. Instead, he gave actionable steps of love–as he sees it–for the everyday pundit and politician. Here’s a quick summary of Brook’s solution: don’t be mean (or to use Brooks’ term, “contemptuous”), defend your opponents when your friends are mean to them (which Brooks calls “moral courage”), pray, get an accountability partner, and keep a smile on your face no matter what. These are all good ideas, and I would recommend them for all people of good will, but the kind of love we need in the public square right now isn’t sugar and spice and everything nice. We need contemptuous love.