As a (non-humanistic) rationalist I have always relished in the works of Aristotle, Plato, Pythagoras, Descartes, Kant and the like. While I may not necessarily agree with all of the philosophical premises or ideas that they have discovered, I greatly admire them for their contribution to human thought and culture. Yet, nothing has been more foundational to my philosophical framework as the writings of Søren Kierkegaard.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Kierkegaard’s ultimate rejection of the authority of the Scriptures due to it’s objective propositional truth was erroneous at best and heretical at worst. This does not mean the rest of his work should be rejected, however. In fact, there is quite a lot of wisdom that Kierkegaard has to give the church and us as Christians.

What dimension of a person do you think would be the most offensive to insult? I’m sure that you do not have to think long to come up with a decent list of things: sex, race, economic status, disability, appearance. Some of you might even say that it depends on the person, their personal sensitivities and/or their history of pain.

While I might agree with all of this, I want to make the case that it is something else entirely. Enter: the ad hominem abusive argument. Its very nature is dehumanizing because it focuses in on attacking the person and does not even address the argument itself. From a psychological standpoint, it is the insult behind the insult that really breaks us. Think about it for a minute. What was it about the insult to your sex, race, or disability that really got to you?

In our quest to bring ‘peace’ and ‘love’ to individuals, societies and nations, we have created a culture where people’s opinions are more important than truth. Those of us who once held to the truth have given into the onslaught of relativism, post-modernity and individualism. We have unwittingly accepted that catering to the needs and divergent worldviews (wrong or not) of others is humanity’s chief ambition, forgetting ourselves in the process. Time and knowledge have corroded our thoughts and perceptions.

There is obvious benefit to discussions between ideologically opposed peoples. We are able to see the perspective of another and understand how their mind relates and thinks about the world. We may even decide that their ideas are “superior” to ours, and integrate their thinking on the subject into our own worldview. There is a sincere need to respect, love and have empathy for others with differing opinions. This is not in contention.

What we really need to think about is what Jesus came to this Earth to do.

I find myself frequently yearning for a fresh start. A time where my past doesn’t exist, or is at least forgotten. Where my errors, and old perspectives are inconsequential and only my present experience and future outlook matters.

I delete old blog posts, text messages, emails, internet history, and music, all out of a desire to create my own existential ‘newness’. To take myself back to a place of innocence, a place I can ‘start over’ again.

The feeling I am trying to capture is almost similar to what happens when you move far away from your home. No one knows you. Your history, your mistakes. You can create something new. A new identity. And you can make it whatever you want. The difference is that I desire that feeling with the people closest to me.

And that’s where I’ve been wrong.

The way of life can be free and beautiful. But we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men’s souls…Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth a future and old age a security. – Charlie Chaplin

This is an excerpt from the comedy The Great Dictator released in 1940. If you haven’t yet seen this movie, I would highly suggest watching it. One very inspiring rendition of the speech that I quoted above can be found on youtube and is entitled “The Greatest Speech Ever Made” which has garnered over 13 million views as of the writing of this post.

I must admit, I had not seen the movie let alone heard the speech until just a few months ago. When I finally did, I was really captured by each and every word that was spoken in Chaplin’s speech. In fact, it brought an extreme variation of emotions to the forefront of my mind. I felt everything from despair and shame to courage and hope.

Interestingly, the context of the movie/speech is that it was produced during the beginning of World War II. Although it is labeled as a comedy, the film ideologically opposed the rising Nazi regime and therefore had a serious undertone to it. Even though it had a noticeable application to the World War II era, I believe that we can apply the words from this speech to our society today.