66 lines
3.3 KiB
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66 lines
3.3 KiB
HTML
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<p>A while back I had read an article by <i>The Art of Manliness</i> on
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why we shouldn't be <i>authentic</i>, but rather <i>artificial</i>.
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<sup><a href="#r1" >[1]</a></sup> The logic was that being
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<i>authentic</i> drives us towards commodity and effeminacy, seeking
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only what we find pleasure in instead of what is difficult which will
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truly make us better men. And the advice given is truly positive. But I
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believe there's more to being <i>authentic</i> than what meets the eye.
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Just that it has been hidden under the layers of subjectivity, vague
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language, and secular thought.</p>
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<p>When we look up the word "authentic" in the (Oxford) dictionary, we
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get the following definitions:</p>
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<ol>
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<li>known to be real and what somebody claims it is and not a
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copy</li>
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<li>true and accurate</li>
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<li>made to be exactly the same as the original</li>
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</ol>
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<p>Therefore, the question we're trying to answer is, what is a person's
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<i>true being</i> or <i>nature</i>. A philosophical question. If we were
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to take materialist approach, we receive the very unsatisfactory answer
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that we are no more than a collection of cells with no direction or
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purpose. Just urges. As such, it would be no surprise if with this
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mentality we were to fall into the effeminacy described in the article.
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We end up with something entirely hedonistic in nature. And to reject
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this (for whatever materialist reason) is simply to view life as a chain
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of suffering and sacrifice.</p>
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<p>But what if we take a different approach, and assume that Man is more
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than his material nature? That life is more than simply the response to
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external stimuli? This is the <i>poetic</i> or <i>hermetic</i>
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alternative that Luke Smith recently went over on his blog.
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<sup><a href="#r2" >[2]</a></sup> And although Mr. Smith does a great
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job of going over the topic in his post, I believe it is necessary to
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expand on one aspect of it - but I would recommend you read his post,
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since it goes into much more depth on the issue of the <i>hermetic
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alternative</i>, as he puts it - and that aspect is the Christian idea
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that Man is made in the image & likeness of God.</p>
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<p>When we commit sin - in other words, acts that offend God - we
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corrupt that perfect image that God created us in. After all, it is His
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image & likeness. And we restore this through confession and
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penance. But there are also things we can do to bring ourselves closer
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to this perfect image: works. These help us to develop ourselves both
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materially and spiritually, and partake in God's creation how we were
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meant to being in His image & likeness.</p>
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<p>Therefore, we should be authentic, but knowing that to be authentic
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is to bring ourselves closer to that perfection that God created us in.
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And the journey will be a struggle, and it will require sacrifice, but
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it will also bring us joy, not only in the next world, but in this one
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as we truly live out our real nature.</p>
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<p>
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<label id="r1" >[1]</label>
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<a href="https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/sunday-firesides-dont-be-authentic-be-artificial/"
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target="_blank" >
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https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/sunday-firesides-dont-be-authentic-be-artificial/</a>
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<br />
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<label id="r2" >[2]</label>
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<a href="https://lukesmith.xyz/poetic.html"
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target="_blank" >https://lukesmith.xyz/poetic.html</a>
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</p>
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