Faith and Philosophy

If you didn’t read part 1, this next section will not make as much sense.

Where do we find identity? Does our identity stem from the things we identify ourselves with, like our hobbies? This is insufficient. We might lose the ability to do a hobby. What happens then, do we lose identity? Identifying ourselves by what we do externally is not true identity.

It can’t be in our physical form, because that too changes.

Identity must come from within. But from where? Is it a burried stone, or does it bubble up like a spring? Is it contained within me or does it have a source beyond myself? Who am I and what makes me who I am?

The fact that Chuang Tzu came to the conclusion that there must be a True Master that has identity but not form made me think about God. Chuang Tzu wrote between 200 and 300 BC. Not long after his death, the True Master took on form in order to live among the formed. Through the form Christ took he was able to reconcile our spirits to the One True Master. When my spirit communes with the one who is Spirit my spirit hears the Pipings of Heaven (things as they are meant to be). My identity begins to be found in deeper things.

When I dwell with Christ in my mind and heart, my spirit is constantly refreshed like like a river. Only when I know that the Source of who I am is something greater than myself do I begin to know myself.

A couple of posts ago I mention the phrase nosce te ipsum which means know thyself.  The Taoist philosopher Chuang Tzu  said that the great Taoist masters knew the line between internal and external.  He also said that there must be a True Master of everything that gives it its nature and harmony.  He didn't know the True master but said that he "has identity, but not form."

I've been thinking about those two passages a lot the past few weeks.  The line between internal and external is a very difficult one to know.  It is nowhere more blurry than in human relationships.  Reflection and solitude help me to know myself internally. Relationships demand a certain level of exposure of your inward self. 

 A friend of mine struggles with her physical image.  She has struggled with bulimia and anorexia.  She told me she isn't a very confident person.  I encouraged her to do what I do when there is an area of weakness in my confidence: strengthen other areas.

 One of my area of struggles is confidence in relationships.  Fear of rejection can cripple any relationship.  Too often people take rejection as an internal thing.  This is where the line between external and internal blur.  A friend who treats me poorly does so externally, yet there actions also show a lack of regard for my inward self.  In the past, rejection has caused me to think that I'm not good enough and doubt myself.  Recently I asked a girl out and got turned down.  What amazed me was that this time I wasn't so hurt.  The past few years have been a period of learning my strengths, weaknesses, interests, abilities, likes and dislikes.  Rejection does not cause me to doubt myself because I know myself.  I am learning the difference between internal and external and the ways that they overlap.  I have a long way to go still, but seeing that rejection stung but did not crush was worth the rejection.  When I have a sense of identity, I do not need to fear the opinions of other people.  Nosce te ipsum.

After reading and discussing this article about the conflict between popular culture and, for the lack of a better term, "popular Christianity," I have been thinking that one of the big things most christians lack is the ability to percieve the methods that they use to create and advocate their personal values.

Too often we see morality and values as black (culture) and white (current Christian thought) when the Bible shows that it is not Christians vs. Culture at all. Anyone who has studied anthropology or traveled to a foreign country will understand how greatly culture varies from place to place. Some social issues in the US and the various moral responses to those issues would be completely unimportant in South Africa or Indonesia. Culture is such a relative term and is so relative across both distance and time, that to base your values on current social norms is doomed to fail. The standards you erect will not be able to stand the test of time or distance. Unfortunately for those who like clear-cut rules and regulations, the Bible offers only a few basic principles about how to integrate faith into culture, how to avoid being corrupted by the destructive practices in any culture, and how to transcend the pressures of culture as an individual. Christ never organized a boycott, but he did know himself and the one who he followed well enough to know that he wasn't bound to play by the rules of his culture.

One of the biggest cultural issues for early Christians was eating meat that was sacrificed to idols. First Corinthians chapter 10 and Romans 14 and 15 both talk discuss the issue, but neither passage offers a yes/no answer. To me, it seems that I must first look at how a particular issue (like drinking, drunkenness, pornography, or watching violent movies) affects me. If it is destructive to me or to others, I should abstain from it; if it is not, I can enjoy it. Even if it is okay for me to have a beer at dinner or watch Boondock Saints, it might not be okay for my best friend to watch the movie, or drink the beer.

Now, as I formulate my values, I must learn to uphold not only my own values, but the values my neighbors hold for themselves. If I want to have a beer, but know that one of my friends at a barbeque struggles with alcoholism, I'll skip the beer that night out of respect for his conscience.

Beer is a good example of culturally relative values. In the US, some people freak out about alcohol. In many places it is strange to abstain from a glass of wine at dinner. Tattoos are another good example. I bring this one up because I've always wanted to get a tattoo, but always hold back because of the culture around me. In some circles a huge tattoo would be like having an awesome t-shirt. Then try to get a job with a string of barbed wire inked on your neck.

I hope I haven't advocated any values in this post, but outlined my current thoughts about how to formulate and evaluate values.  What values are uncompromisable, which ones do I choose, which ones can I change, and which ones should I adopt in order to respect my peers? Why are so many people afraid to evaluate and consider what they believe to be true?