Stephen Carter, a first-rate cultural critic, accuses many of his own black brothers and sisters and all of America of holding a nihilistic and inevitably materialistic worldview, except for those who have held onto their religious roots.5 We could say this of most Western groups, but only a black brother could say it of his own. He says there’s no belief in anything except power, possessions, and prestige in America, despite a religious façade. Michael Lerner, a Jewish philosopher and psychologist, says much the same to his audience.6
