Atrophy in the monotony

Moral Seminar again. Like I previously wrote, that class blows my mind.

"Anyone can acquire an opinion just as one can learn a foreign language or a foreign custom, but only those opinions which are rooted in the character structure of a person, behind which there is the energy contained in his characted, becomes convictions." -Eric Fromm

As I'm sure anyone who read my "Humanistic Conscience" post can tell, this is another 'look inside yourself' post.

In this essay, Fromm goes on to talk about the idea of faith as a character trait, rather than a set of principles one follows. Fromm discusses the relationship between faith in reason and tries to point out that he is not speaking of faith VERSUS reason, but rather faith THROUGH reason.

Fromm points out that both a "rational, realistic view" and a "faith view" are not to be separated but fused together to create a productive person. (See Humanistic Conscience post for contextual definition of 'productive.')

He points out that the presence of both a Reproductive capacity and a Generative capacity is neccesary for a productive person.

Reproductive capacity:
-the ability that allows us to perceive actual reality, in the same way that a film makes a literal recording of the thing that's photographed.
-the ability to see what is there

Generative capacity:
-the capacity for conceiving, enlivening, and recreating something that is perceiving
-the ability to reconceive

These two things are to work together. But...often one is atrophed in people. In our society, that capacity is the generative. This makes for an unbalanced realist that is capable of recognizing things as they are, without being able to liven from within to see what is not yet existant.

This person can see the details (similar to the description of the Pharisees in earlier post) but cannot view the picture as a whole.

The polar opposite of this would be one who is able to construct abstract, imaginative thoughts, but not able to apply them to reality. This person would be considered psychotic, living only from within his own world.

Though our society would easily recognize the latter as "insane," Fromm points out that both are sick. One person has lost touch with reality, but the other has lost what we would consider the basis of being a human being.

Realism is not the opposite of insanity, but its compliment. The TRUE opposite of both...is productivity.

As previously written, the task is not to set about into the wilderness to discover a completely new kind of personal faith, nor carbon-copy that of authority (parent, teacher, pastor)...but to take in what we have seen/heard/experienced, and mold it (through the guiding of the Holy Spirit) to make it our own.

This is when a very important question was posed: Should be ALWAYS submit to authority?

Rational Faith
-firm conviction based upon productive, intellectual (reproductive) and emotional (generative) activity

This is what I believe we should capture. This is the kind of faith I want. I don't expect God to lay out the blueprints for his existance to me. But there are logical ideas that I find comfort in the lining up of. Ex: the bible was written over a vast span of time, by many authors who never knew the other existed, yet it still never contradicts itself. I know many nonbelievers may say this is due to rewritting of the books, but I genuinely do not believe that to be so. Much of this is because my generative capacity has felt such reassurance and trust in a relationship with God that I base my very life on His Word.

Fromm goes on to talk about another very interesting/scary concept.

Irrational Faith
-belief in a person, idea, or symbol which does not result from one's own experience of thought or feeling
-based on emotional submission to irrational authority

He points out that "giving up inner independence in submission to authority results in tendency to substitute the authority's experience for one's own."

Read that last sentence one more time and tell me that doesn't sound like the faith of much of our generation. Beyond that, does this not sound like the same ideas used by cult leaders to draw in followers? It is by the emotional submission to one leader's experiences and the trading of one's own thoughts for authority that even fuels the concept of a cult. That is a scary game to be playing.

People in this position "feel they accept the leader because they agree with his ideas, but in reality they have accepted the ideas because they have submitted to authority."

This reminds me much of relationships I have had with members of authority in churches I have attended. (Youth pastors, bible study leaders, pastors) This is NOT to say we should not respect and trust the authority of the God-appointed leaders of our churches, but rather we should not connect their messages to our hearts with a feeding tube. We don't need to take it all in for criticism, but rather to consider it and truly make it our own before integrating those truths into our own lives. It is when we do this, that the message/s truly change lives, rather than 'fill up' until next Sunday/Wednesday.

It is not just Fromm or me that thinks this is a good idea. "That you may really come to know (practically through experience for yourself) the love of Christ, ehich far surpasses mere knowledge (without experience)." Eph 3:19 Amplified

It is one thing to read about the love of God, but it is another to experience the love of God.

This is what I write to each of you tonight. Do not just read about life...and do not just experience faith. Explore/research/examine your faith. Live your life. Do NOT let part of who you are atrophy in the monotony of daily life. You cannot know real love by reading about it and you cannot experience real faith unless you truly understand it, beyond that joy you feel. Be aware of each capacity. Do not be afraid of one or indulge in the other. Discover and learn who you were created to be and never stop learning.

"That is what learning is. You understand something you've understood your whole life, but in a new way." -Doris Lessing