My Tells

January 13, 2007 - Works of Love

I recently found an artcle which analyzed a book called "Works of Love" by Søren Kierkegaard. It was the first analysis which really explained what Kierkegaard was saying. He is very hard to read.

I have read the article above many times, and have even broke it down into an outline which is still in progress. What fascinates me about "Works of Love" is that it analyzes Love. It breaks it down into multiple meanings. Distinquishes Christian Love from other kinds. And logically proves the existance of Love. And, to me it proves the existance of God because "God is Love.:"

Going into details of the article is for another discussion, but the ideas from that artcle are constantly swimming in my head, and I find I am always drawn back to those thoughts. Last night I was playing poker online and listening to music. A Marilyn Manson song came on and I started to really listen to the lyrics. I have always liked MMs lyrics and music, mainly because he is so different. Take his song "This is the new sh*t".

Everything has been said before
There's nothing left to say anymore
When it's all the same
You can ask for it by name

This is about how we are constantly bombarded with new products, slogans, ideas, but they aren't really new. I love that attitude. And there are many more songs of his which have similar unique points of view.
But there are other songs which mock religion. His makeup, dress and goth ways are just for show so I look past it, even how it makes his own songs hypocritical. The songs which poke and prod at religion are in some cases warranted, but in other cases he is totally wrong.

Making fun of tele-evangelists is warranted. Making fun of the people who go to church just because they are supposed to, is warranted. But when he disses love and builds up hate, he is way off.

Kierkegaard proves that Love is the way. Hate, walks hand in hand with evil and creates a world I don't want to be a part of. You can't point to something and say "that is love", but you can point at something and say that is a fruit (product) of love. Like what Isara does. Isara is a product of love. You can see the happy faces, and you know love is at work. And this is perfect love, not love like the love of a relative or spouse. Love of another individual is selfish love, because you can be hurt when that love is taken away. The love that Isara does is perfect love because it is love for our neighbor. It is anonymous, it is forgiving it is hopeful., it is kind.

MM misses this point about perfect love for our neighbor being a good thing. In one song he says: "We love to hate, we hate to love." Here he is clearly in the realm of selfish, objectified love for a person or thing. I believe this because, you cannot hate without it being objectified hate. MM hates tele-evangelists, people who market useless products. These are objects to hate. And it is selfish hate. Love of your neighbor is perfect non-objectified love for all people. This love is the foundation of Christianity and cannot be taken away, no matter how much MM misunderstands it.

January 13, 2007 - Anonymous love?

Posted by lambie83

Hum...I find this point of view hard to grasp. It seems difficult to define love if it has no object.
I agree that love for your family, friends, spouse, can be selfish. And that love for strangers does seem more "noble," since you probably aren't expecting anything in return.
But it's the part of about non-objectified love that I don't get. When you use Isara to help your neighbour, the neighbour becomes the object of your love, no? And though you may not have met him or her, your love is directed towards them. Just as MM's hate is directed towards tele-evangelists.

Anyways, maybe I'm missing the point of what you wrote... But thanks for telling this, it's good brainfood. :)

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January 13, 2007 - Food for thought

Posted by bgillock

This is a hard concept to grasp...and I am still reading Works of Love. Your neighbor isn't an object of love, because you are not helping a specific person. We don't know who will get the funds raised by Isara. And we don't care who, just that someone who needs, benefits.

This might confuse things more, but, I can't resist quoting more:

"The purely human conception of self-renunciation is this: give up your selfish desires, longings and plans—and then you will become appreciated and honored and loved as a righteous man and wise.... The Christian conception of self-renunciation is this: give up your selfish desires and longings, give up your arbitrary plans and purposes so that you in truth work disinterestedly for the good—and submit to being abominated almost as a criminal, scorned and ridiculed for this very reason...but choose it freely (p. 188)."

Edited by bgillock on January 13, 2007 at 03:57

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