Schadenfreude
A Sermon by Brent J. Eelman
Abington Presbyterian Church
September 19, 2004

I Samuel 18: 10-16
    10 The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand; 11 and Saul threw the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.
    12 Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul. 13 So Saul removed him from his presence, and made him a commander of a thousand; and David marched out and came in, leading the army. 14 David had success in all his undertakings; for the LORD was with him. 15 When Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in awe of him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David; for it was he who marched out and came in leading them.*

I Corinthians 12: 12-31
    12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
    14 Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many members, yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; 24 whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, 25 that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.
    27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.*

I was driving on one of our local highways. The traffic was quite heavy, but we were moving at a normal rate of speed, (about 10 miles above the speed limit.) I suddenly saw a car in my rearview mirror. It was a particular model that I have always liked, and if the truth be known, it was a car I have coveted for some time. The driver was weaving through traffic at a fast clip, gaining on me, and soon passed me. I don’t know what it was, but the driver seemed to have an arrogant smirk on his face, as though he was above being stuck in traffic. Something about the way he was driving, the car he was driving, and the smirk on his face got to me. I let it go, until a few miles later, I saw him pulled over by the side of the road. A police car was behind him with its lights flashing. He was getting a speeding ticket. I had an immediate sense of satisfaction. I felt good that this guy was caught and was getting what he deserved. It was too bad that he was receiving a ticket. It was too bad that he would have to pay a fine, or go to driving school, yet I felt an inner sense of glee. Then a bit later, a sense of guilt came over me, that I felt so good about his misfortune.

There is no word in our language to explain this feeling. In fact only the German language has a word for this: schadenfreude. It means taking pleasure in the misfortune of others. It is not necessarily malicious, or envious. It can be a just pleasure: the fall from grace was deserved. Speeders should be caught! There is an old Yiddish proverb that goes: "It is not enough that I succeed, my enemy must fail utterly."

A few months ago, a member asked if I would preach a sermon on schadenfreude. This message is in response to that request. I want to look at the nature of schadenfreude, its consequences, and how Christians might deal with it.

I

First of all, it is real. Let’s make no bones about it, it is real. There is something within the human psyche that feels some elation over the misfortune of others. It may be that sense of self-satisfaction that one gets when the speeder is pulled over. During the last year on Wall Street, many of the traditional economists and prognosticators felt this way when the “dot.com”stocks tumbled. Yet their glee was at the expense of millions who lost a great deal of money, life savings and retirement plans. Artists and writers also experience schadenfreude. Gore Vidal wrote: "Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies."

It’s real and it is part of our popular culture. Remember the show: "America’s Funniest Home Videos?" We found ourselves laughing at people getting hit in the groin by a shovel.. falling into the cake at a wedding, or doing something else that was embarrassing. The present culture in the media also seems to feed this. Reporters become like sharks in a feeding frenzy when someone in the public eye trips, or appears to trip…. (literally!!! Remember Gerald Ford?)

In sports there are teams and coaches we love to hate. I grew up on the other side of the river from New York City and was raised a Yankee baseball fan.. and yet I know that there is a large group of people who get a great sense of joy when the Yankees lose. There are others who feel the same way about Notre Dame football. Others who want certain coaches to lose.

In the competitive world of academics, schadenfreude is experienced by the student who cannot rejoice at the success of classmates and who revels in their shortcomings and failures.

I do not want to paint this all with a brush of negativity. There is often a feeling of justice that is at the root of schadenfreude. The historian Peter Gay, felt schadenfreude, when as a Jewish child he watched the Germans lose all those gold medals in the 1936 Olympics to Jesse Owens and others. The philosopher, John Portman wrote in his book: "When Bad Things Happen to Other People" that it occurs "to virtually all non-infantile, non-comatose human beings—not just to Germans." It is real! But are there consequences?

II

There are many, but let me speak to a few. The German philosopher, Schopenhauer said it was a "diabolical emotion… the infallible sign of an bad heart." The consequences of it are subtle. The first is self-righteousness. The observer feels socially and morally uplifted in comparison to the sufferer. Certainly that is what I felt as I drove by the young man receiving his ticket. But I was also driving over the speed limit. I, too, was guilty! Self-righteousness has a way of masking our own shortcomings, and we are reminded of this in Jesus’ teaching: "you mind the speck in your neighbor’s eye, and ignore the log in your own."

The second is a social implication. This is its dark side. Most of us remember the dancing that took place in some communities in the Middle East following the 9-11 attack. It was like salt in the wounds. People were actually taking pleasure and joy in the tragedy of that day. In 1995, the British magazine, The Economist, reported that "many Indians have mixed emotions about the kidnapping and murder of western hostages in Kashmir by Islamic extremists. They feel embarrassed for India and sorry for the hostages. But behind the embarrassment and pity, lies another emotion—ill-concealed satisfaction. Many Indians, tired of being painted as the bad guys, are pleased that foreigners too are now getting a taste of militant medicine." We observe the same reaction in Chechnya. The majority of its citizens are horrified at the terrorism and violence that some are committing in their name, yet inside a silent ascent to the belief that “they deserve it.”

There is an apathy that schadenfreude begins to nurture… "they deserve it." This apathy keeps us from addressing the social conditions, the violence, the pain and the injustice that is often present in our world. I worry today about glee with which some people are taking in the failure of some of our public schools…. I heard a Presbyterian minister, on TV, joke about public schools and there was no mistaking the joy he took in their failure. He was supporting his own private school.

Finally schadenfreude destroys the unity of the body of Christ. It is one more thing that works to divide us.

III

What can we do about it? We need to remember the Good News that comes to us in the words of Paul. Paul spoke about Christian love and he said: "love does not rejoice in the wrong, but rejoices in the right." We need to affirm that part of Paul’s teaching about Christian love. But there are other things:

        First, recognize the reality of it. Recognition is often the first step to a problem. We need to become aware of it. We especially need to recognize its reality in our own lives and feelings.

        Second: We need to stop promoting it. Mark Twain once observed: "It takes your enemy and your friend, working together, to hurt you to the heart; the one to slander you and the other to get the news to you." Gossip and the spreading of bad news promote the destructive nature of schadenfreude. Christians need to stop the stories. Gossip has not place in the life of a follower of Christ.

        Finally we need to understand that this primal feeling is not alien to the Bible. The characters in the Bible are real. They love. They hate. They hurt. They sin.

The story of David and Saul is a story that one can explore at many different depths. I am convinced that when one looks into the soul of Saul, one sees an individual who takes malicious glee in the failures of others, and who is absolutely destroyed by their success. Saul ultimately becomes unglued because he cannot enjoy and celebrate the success of David and others. This was ultimately his undoing.

Paul tells us in First Corinthians.. that there is another way: a more excellent way. Love.... a love that rejoices in the success of others, and does not celebrate their misfortunes… this is the Good News. Amen.