Those who truly value themselves, who have true "self-esteem," ironically don't think much about themselves at all. They are so confident that they are loved children of God that they know their worth, and they can't help but share the good gifts they have been given with others.
Whatever Crocker is talking about, he is not talking about true self-esteem. He is, as you say, talking about narcissism, which isn't self-esteem at all, but a loathing of self.
Bill Clinton was a perfect example of a self-hater. He simply couldn't live a moment without knowing what other people thought of him. A narcissist NEEDS people; he leeches off of people and sucks them dry, emotionally, because he has no sense of self-worth.
The self-esteem movement is a blanket excuse for not doing what we know we need to do, for taking the easy path, for blaming others.
On the contrary, a self-confident person, secure in his self-esteem, always moves outward. He doesn't need other people; rather, he gives to them because he is secure in what he is and what he has.
Mother Teresa was supremely self-confident because she knew she didn't have to hoard her gifts. Her path was not easy, but she loved it, because she knew she was doing what her life's calling brought her to.
We may be talking about semantics here, but self-esteem means knowing yourself thoroughly, faults as well as strengths, and sharing the strengths, while working to overcome the faults.
That's better described as "self-confidence".
"Self-esteem", however, is (or at least has been co-opted as) an ersatz form of self-confidence. It's a kind of phony self-confidence that is not based on any real ability or merit, but instead is form of constant patting yourself on the back, whether it's deserve or not. Maybe even *especially* when it's not deserved.
It's satirized in the slogan of Al Franken's SNL character, Stuart Smalley: "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and gosh darn it people like me!". It's the self-conscious *forced* self-regard, the kind that becomes a practiced goal unto itself. It's someone who would rather learn to "feel good" about themselves than actually become someone worthy of genuine pride.
It's the liberal touchy-feely version of self-confidence, where how you *feel* about something is more important than what it actually *is*.
It's what leads to such Alice-in-Wonderland ideas as doing away with grades in school, and instead giving all the students gold stars for "trying" (even if they didn't) so that no one's feelings will be hurt and they'll all go home happy and full of "self-esteem".
No matter what "self-esteem" may have meant 100 years ago, it has long since been pirated by the "feel good about yourself even if you're a worthless bum" crowd who use that exact term as their ideal.
Sinkspur, your talking about genuine self-esteem. The self-esteem movement produces a counterfeit self-esteem, not based on reality.
It's Dr. Spock and spare the rod, teachers and parents lying to (appeasing, spoiling) the children to control them, rather than doing the tough job of disciplining and real instruction based on hard work. It's 2+2=5, affirmative action, political correctness, victimization, moral equivalence, grade inflation, it's historical revisionism, "women's studies", "gay rights", today's NAACP, the DNC, PETA, Hollywood, Jack Nicholson's character in Carnal Knowledge, Kafka's cockroach salesman in Metamorphosis...it's the formula for the downfall of civilization, "poor baby."
You are confused: self-esteem is the attitude of a person towards seld; G-d's love comes from without.
This statement also implies that an atheist cannot have high self-esteem, which is patently false.