Essay

Love Thy Neighbor I am completely alone in this world. I am accused of sinning. It is said that I made a choice to be gay. I guess people think I like being harassed, pushed around, and antagonized. No-one wants that. It’s not the religion that spreads hate, but it’s the people that use it against me. The Christian morals and ethics such as respect, love, and empathy don’t seem to appear anywhere. These morals are forgotten, and lost in a sea of insecurity and hatred. I don’t get smiles. I don't get hugs. There is no warmth. All I can hear are insults, all I can see are smirks, and all I can feel are kicks and punches. How does preaching hate make you a Christian? Many people don't act like the Christians they say they are supposed to be. Soren Kierkegaard saw many people as “Sunday Christians”, and he wondered how one could truly be Christian in Christendom. His philosophical views on the struggles of being a true Christian are still reflected in people today.

Additionally, Soren Kierkegaard thought that society wrestled with the concept of how to be devoutly Christian. He believed the mystics improperly conducted their faith. The mystics resembled starcrossed lovers because “[j]ust as in earthly life lovers long for the moment when they are able to breathe forth their love for eachother, to let their souls blend in a soft whisper, so the mystic longs for the moment when in prayer he can, as it were, creep into God” (Part II Either/Or). The mystics glorified themselves by not having the need for any type of mediator in their worship of God, thus putting themselves above others. Their prayers were also brash towards their relationship with God, and lacked meaning since they were inwardly oriented. The mystics love for God was burning and passionate, such as the lovers, and was part of the atheistic stage which was lowest of Kierkegaard’s three stages. He also believed that people couldn’t handle responsibility either; “[t]here’s no room for joint deliberation, or public judgement, or voting in the Kierkegardian corpus” (Strathern). Kierkegaard felt that people wouldn’t be able to make the right choice in voting. Since he was very critical of society, he believed people would always follow the masses as in the mass opinion at the time. People couldn’t handle the power because that amount of power could destroy them. The difficulties Kierkegaard saw in people continued to prevail. Some people, even those who consider themselves devout, harass and scold others because of the public masses’ opinion.

Although religion is used as an excuse to discriminate against homosexuality; people’s own sense of guilt and their own insecurities can cause them to reject homosexuality as a whole. According to Sjavik, a Ph.D. from Harvard University, Kierkegaard’s father was deeply religious, and his own sense of guilt led him to believe that his children wouldn’t live beyond thirty-three (Sjavik). Although Kierkegaard Senior was wrong, he believed that God would punish him for committing a sin. Many Christians are afraid of God’s wrath, and therefore are scared to stand up for what they actually feel or think because of fear. Kierkegaard’s father impacted Kierkegaard’s own life by transferring an abnormally amount of guilt and despair to him. This is similar to how humans can impact others by forcing their opinions and own issues onto them. Some Christians have to suppress their own desires and feelings by discriminating against homosexuals. Kierkegaard also made the point that religion cannot be understood perfectly, and that “[t]he first thing to understand is that you do not understand” (Journals and Papers). He thought that by trying to prove God existed made us only lose our faith. The point was to believe in complete absurdity, instead of trying to rationalize it. He also didn't think that anyone could understand him, which was true. The Bible is also interpretation so we cannot be sure what is true. Instead people use their own beliefs to excuse their actions by saying it is because of their religion. Human nature is to blame issues on other people, instead of realizing that your own morals and ethics may not be justified, and therefore can cause a ripple effect on those around you.

Furthermore, Kierkegaard’s misery from being obsessively religious and guilty is shown in some Christian’s today and also reflected in the torment of those who are subjugated by the same people. Many Christians are suppressed by believing what they are forced to think from their family and environment, and thus become a burning hole of guilt and depression. Kierkegaard had no issue in admitting he was unhappy. In one of his works he wrote, “[s]o great is my unhappiness that in my dreams I am indescribably happy” (Journals and Papers). The desire to want to be happy also fit on the aesthetic stage, which was the lowest of all three stages. However, dreams can depict how we perceive ourselves or the reality around us. It's almost impossible to think Kierkegaard really had no desire to be happy. He may have convinced himself that he did not want to be happy, but no-one is content with a life of unhappiness. Personal unhappiness is what fuels bullies and people to demean others. People are mean in the hope that somehow it will make them happier. Prejudice of homosexuality has now stemmed from other people’s own code of morals and not from religion itself. Humans have warped and twisted it to confirm their own fears and beliefs, which has proven the absence of many Christian morals in people who consider themselves Christian.

Now I understand that I am not alone. I see many others that are just like me. We are subjugated because of who we love. Religion doesn’t unite in my case, but it destroys; however, I won’t give up the battle. I don’t have to give up being a Christian either. I am allowed to believe in God, and who I love doesn’t change that. I am no sinner, and I am not a slave to the rest of humankind. Other churches are converting, and some pastors can actually be homosexual. Other churches still denounce us; the Westboro Baptist Church created a parody song that mocks us and explains how we are going to Hell. Their website displays, “God hates fags”. I wouldn't think that God would hate anyone. Some people wish to be atheists or have other beliefs, but their families hold them to Christianity. People continue to be mindless sheeples that follow the social masses. Kierkegaard lost himself to religion, it became his life, and it brought him the most severe unhappiness. He died without knowing that his legacy would carry through the rest of Europe and eventually among the world. Although Kierkegaard’s heart and soul became bleak, “[h]e never lost faith. Those who saw him remarked on the radiant eyes that enlivened his emaciated face, and his air of serenity” (Strathern). Kierkegaard willingly accepted life as an outcast, and stood up for what he thought was right. Now it is time for my eyes to reflect my faith as well. They reflect my faith that one day we will all be equal, and that I do have the ability to be a true Christian. The legacy lives on today and will probably never cease to exist. We will never know what is real, and what isn't real. Soren Kierkegaard provoked us with the question, and all Christians will always think, “How can I truly be Christian in Christendom?”