Recent Articles
Kierkegaard and Being
As a (non-humanistic) rationalist I have always relished in the works of Aristotle, Plato, Pythagoras, Descartes, Kant and the like. While I may not necessarily agree with all of the philosophical premises or ideas that they have discovered, I greatly admire them for their contribution to human thought and culture. Yet, nothing has been more foundational to my philosophical framework as the writings of Søren Kierkegaard.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Kierkegaard’s ultimate rejection of the authority of the Scriptures due to it’s objective propositional truth was erroneous at best and heretical at worst. This does not mean the rest of his work should be rejected, however. In fact, there is quite a lot of wisdom that Kierkegaard has to give the church and us as Christians.
Personhood and Dehumanization
What dimension of a person do you think would be the most offensive to insult? I’m sure that you do not have to think long to come up with a decent list of things: sex, race, economic status, disability, appearance. Some of you might even say that it depends on the person, their personal sensitivities and/or their history of pain.
While I might agree with all of this, I want to make the case that it is something else entirely. Enter: the ad hominem abusive argument. Its very nature is dehumanizing because it focuses in on attacking the person and does not even address the argument itself. From a psychological standpoint, it is the insult behind the insult that really breaks us. Think about it for a minute. What was it about the insult to your sex, race, or disability that really got to you?
A Reflection On Humility
My personal understanding of what it means to be humble has changed drastically over the last nine months. Historically, I have held the view that true humility is a denial of all praise, skill, ability and gifting I am told that I have by others. This denial has always been an honest one, out of a fear of feeling guilty for not embodying Humility as I perceived it to be. As I subconsciously seek acceptance and approval from others, this has been a difficult worldview to hold. I always knew something didn’t click with this belief, but I also didn’t know the right way to view it.
It wasn’t until I began to reflect on this definition of Humility that I really understood what it means to be humble:
Chance
Some believe that fate has us on a predetermined path that we create for ourselves based on the culmination of our actions, behaviors, thoughts, history, knowledge, wants, needs, fears, anxieties, desires, passions, perceptions, and the influence of others. Yet, the universe is also governed by what philosophers and mathematicians like to call randomness or ‘chance’. Those who have been lucky enough to encounter such an event in their life claim that it presents an opportunity that can completely flood the worn road of fate.
I used to be a skeptic of such once-in-a-lifetime events. It wasn’t until chance herself showed up one night and took me by storm that I was able to understand her power and mystery.
Disclaimer
The ideas and thoughts expressed in these posts do not reflect the beliefs of any organization or individual, except my own. Ironically enough, however, these posts may not even reflect how I currently think or feel. I have grown and changed over the years - and rather than delete or edit old content I have decided to leave my posts as I originally wrote them to preserve their authenticity.