New (better) naming scheme.

blog/posts/0104-the-authentic.html

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+<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>
+