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