On True Empathy

"In my non-primordial experience I feel, as-it-were, led by a primordial one not experienced by me but still there, manifesting itself in my non-primordial experience." - St. Edith Stein  

In this seemingly chaotic age, perhaps a thought has grazed an individual's mind: 'people are not empathetic nowadays.' One would perceive how those attempting to influence political will upon the other bickering at each other without much dialogue and easily come to the conclusion that people nowadays lack empathy. To explore what it truly means to be empathetic is the aim of this post.

The irony of the current social condition is that those who think that other side of the political power struggle lacks empathy are the very ones lacking empathy. That is to say, all sides lack empathy. Now, when I say that people lack empathy, I do not mean that they are void of empathy, that they are all sociopaths. Rather, I mean that they lac the disposition that gives rise to true empathy to a degree where it cannot give rise to the said true empathy. What is this disposition I speak of? What is true empathy? They are expounded further below.

The first order is to find out what is "true" empathy before discussing which disposition, that is to say human character, gives rise to it. By definition, empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. As the common saying goes, "learning to put oneself in another's shoes." I observe that most people make the critical mistake of thinking that empathy is an emotional trait, and not rational. Although partly true, by its very concept, empathy is a rational act. 

Look to the italicized quote by St. Edith Stein above. By "primordial," she means readily perceived on the spot, i.e. immediate perception. The "non-primordial" experience she speaks of is empathy. In a beautiful way, she describes how an immediate perception of another is perceived through her non-immediate experience. Now, do note that there is no other way to perceive of things in a non-immediate way other than through one's own mind, i.e. through imagination. One has to force one's own mind to picture a situation of another. Thus, empathy is primarily a rational act. Likewise, true empathy is one of rational act.

Next order is to find out which character trait, disposition, supports a rational act. Normally, a person is able to think clearly when thinking about matters that do not have emotional entanglements. However, when dealing with other persons, especially when another person is perceived to be an opponent, emotional entanglements are sure to arise. In order to reason through another's experience and to truly understand the other, it is thus necessarily to get rid of emotional entanglements, both positive and negative, to objectively imagine another's situation without bias. Thus, the disposition that gives rationality is emotional temperance.

As put forth above, true empathy is a rational activity and the disposition required to attain true empathy is emotional temperance. It sounds well and good in the abstract, but how will it look in real life? Perhaps I should start with an example of false empathy since we supposedly lack true examples. 

In our political realm, we are so quick to decry racism, sexism, homophobia, islamophobia, transphobia, and thousands of other labels as a short-cut to decry the other side as irrational and evil. These individuals think that they are being empathetic to care for the sufferings of black Americans, immigrants, women, homosexuals, Muslims, and trans persons. But they are not truly empathetic. They are sympathetic, to be sure. They desire to be good and they are correct to feel pity and sorrow for the sufferings of another. However, they are wrong to think that they are empathetic for their empathy ends where their sympathies run dry. In short, they are incapable of putting oneself in the shoes of those they oppose, unable to imagine objectively why they . This is so for their emotional intemperance leads them to despise their political opponents, thus creating an emotional entanglement that prevents them from objective, rational, true empathy. 

If they were capable of true empathy, they would have been able to understand the other side and rationally discuss their differences. But such a vision is a mere fantasy.

A Halloween Special: The Spirit of Vatican II Doesn't Have to Be Scary

"Is the liturgy being lived as the 'origin and summit' of ecclesial life, in accordance with the teaching of Sacrosanctum Concilium? In the universal Church and in the particular Churches, is the ecclesiology of communion described in Lumen Gentium being strengthened? Does it leave room for charisms, ministries, and different forms of participation by the People of God, without adopting notions borrowed from democracy and sociology which do not reflect the Catholic vision of the Church and the authentic spirit of Vatican II? - Pope John Paul II, Tertio Millennio Adveniente 36

Every quotation of the Roman Missal here is from the Third Edition translated in English.

The phrase “Spirit of Vatican II” is perhaps one of the loosest phrases thrown around among Catholic circles. While no unified consensus of what it means is absent, we can be assured that the Church suffered a massive fallout after the Second Vatican Council.

The notion of Spirit of Vatican II is somewhat scary. Progressives often abuse the wordings of council documents, at times to a point of gross liturgical abuse. In reaction, radical traditionalists like SSPX refuse to accept the Second Vatican Council as legitimate. Those in the middle like myself are afraid that a schism might happen as progressives create further reactions from the right. Here, I point out that the Spirit of Vatican II doesn't have to be scary.   

The Catholic Church is growing at a rapid rate. The Church in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, South Korea, and even China are experiencing expansion. Despite the growth in the East, the Catholic Church in the West is categorically failing. It is not the case that modernity and religious life is incompatible. Highly developed countries like Poland still maintain strong Catholic identity and adherence to Catholic teachings. In fact, Poland’s adherence to Catholicism increased over the years.

One societal factor in the West - the Sexual Revolution - contributed to the decline of Western religiosity, to be sure. But it is apparent that there has been misconstrual of the “Spirit of Vatican II” in the West. In order to promote inclusivity, many sacrificed teaching the hard truths. That approach began in the late 60’s. Nowadays, outright heresy is celebrated and encouraged in many parishes. Because of the failures of the mistakes of previous generation, millennial cradle Catholics are, for the most part, incapable of engaging the complex theology of the Church intellectually and have no interest in doing so. What little knowledge of the Faith they have are derived from shallow readings of the scripture, and, further, many itch to weave secular political issues into every word of the gospel during bible studies instead of moral virtues that should be derived from the readings.

The stark difference in the way Catholicism is approached in the West and the East & Africa is ever more visible when we look to the theological and liturgical splits. The proposals of supposed doctrinal developments are always generated by cardinals and bishops from the West. In particular, cardinals and bishops from the United States and Germany (and places like Argentina where Germanic influences run strong). If we look to those who most strongly propose liturgical orthodoxy are not from the West. Cardinal Sarah is one of the Dubia cardinals, and Bishop Schneider of Kazakhstan implores communicants to not touch the Host. Ironically, the supposed strides toward inclusivity by Progressive Westerners are in fact making an elitist Euro-centric Vatican politics. 

Here, though I cannot hope to provide a definite answer to what “Spirit of Vatican II” should be, I can say with certainty that how the adherence to what the Council Fathers intended liturgically and communally is central to fixing the problems. The purpose of the liturgy is to draw the people toward the Eucharist and unity among the peoples. It is entirely reasonable to think, then, that the design of the Council Fathers, supposing that the Second Vatican Council was inspired by the Spirit, should be adhered to. I lay down my opinion what the authentic spirit of Vatican II is through Late Pope St. John Paul II's quote above.

Is the liturgy being lived as the "origin and summit" of ecclesial life?

Many questions can be asked as a sub-heading to this grand question. One question that is absolutely indicative of ecclesial life is: Is the Eucharist at the center of the liturgy in the current form as it is being celebrated? To rephrase the question: If an atheist who knows nothing about Catholicism were to walk into a Catholic church and passively observe the liturgy, what would one think is the center of the liturgy? 

Usage of Latin

"The main place should be given, all things being equal, to Gregorian chant, as being proper to the Roman Liturgy. Other kinds of sacred music, in particular polyphony, are in no way excluded, provided that they correspond to the spirit of the liturgical action and that they foster the participation of all the faithful."

"Since the faithful from different countries come together ever more frequently, it is desirable that they know how to sing together at least some parts of the Ordinary of the Mass in Latin, especially the Profession of Faith and the Lord’s Prayer, according to the simpler settings." §41

Latin is the universal language of the Church. The intent of the Fathers was to maintain a copious usage of Latin all the while reforming the liturgical language to fit the communal need of specific diocese. The reason, as stated above, is to have foreign laity be able to participate in the liturgy. A Korean not fluent in English cannot participate in an all-English liturgy, but he can do so in a liturgy that incorporated Latin. Pope Francis has decentralized translations through his Motu Propio recently, a move envisioned by Council Fathers, but has failed to advocate for a wider usage of Latin, one which Council Fathers also intended. If Latin is used during consecration and the immediate stages of the liturgy surrounding the consecration, the foreign laity gets to participate in the apex of the mass. I have been a foreigner in Catholic masses, and I found it regrettable that I could only passively observe.

So much for increasing the participation of the laity.

Usage of Latin and Gregorian chants can further answer the question posed. If a different language - a very ancient language at that - is used during consecration, it should immediately draw attention to the atheist in the hypothetical that there is something going on that's distinguishable from the other parts of the liturgy. Something special.

Even a charismatic church is able to incorporate Latin. I have seen charismatic masses that have reverently incorporated Latin, through a mode of music that is a type of spin-off of polyphony, to signify that consecration is about to happen. The chorus of the song of their choice was sung in Latin and in return drew attention to the consecration.

Ad Orientem

Another crucial element of the Roman Missal that is of note is that it does not order priests to carry out a mass versus populum. In fact, the language of the Missal is abundantly clear that ad orientem is still presupposed. 

The Missal deliberately orders priests to be "facing the people" on specific instances. §124, 138, 146 154, 157, 165. It furthermore likewise orders priests to be "facing the altar" on specific instances. §158. Note that "facing the altar" comes right after "facing the people" on §157, as if the people and the altar are not toward the same direction.

Consider how mass is celebrated nowadays. The priest is behind the altar and faces versus populum. Clearly, this was never intended by the Council Fathers. Like every form of mass before them, they thought that the masses will be celebrated ad orientem. Novus Ordo was originally intended to be celebrated ad orientem. But, without warning, 99.9% of masses nowadays are being celebrated versus populum. This is most likely due to a misinterpretation of a sentential structure that occurred in §299 in English. The translation of §299 in English can be wholly misleading when having in mind how the rest of the liturgical manual is written (e.g. §§157-158). But, as Brits and Americans started to do it, the rest of the world followed.

Note §299: "(1) The altar should be built separate from the wall, (2) in such a way that it is possible to walk around it easily and that mass can be celebrated at it facing the people, (3) which is desirable whenever possible." An instinctive thought would be that (3) modifies (2). That thought, however, does not make sense as to why §157 orders priests to turn toward the people while having them turn to the altar in §158. (Numbers inserted).

Note the following Latin version of §299 also: "Altare exstruatur a pariete seiunctum, ut facile circumiri et in eo celebratio versus populum peragi possit, quod expedit ubicumque possibile sit." 

If we look to numerous sentential structures in Church Latin (and at times in Greek) that reflects a similar structure, it is much more likely than not that a dependent clause that comes between  an independent clause and another dependent clause serves as a clarifying clause that is dependent upon the first independent clause, and the third clause being the modifier of the first.

Simply open up a random page of the Summa and you will see what I am talking about.

Look too the three different clauses inserted. (1) is the only independent clause of the sentence. (2) and (3) are dependent clauses. It appears that many are interpreting the quote so as to have (2) modify (1) and (3) modify (2). This interpretation, as noted above, does not make sense in light of §§157-158. However, if we posit that both (2) and (3) modify the subject that is (1), §§157-158 make sense. The sentence makes sense if we take out (2): The altar should be built separate from the wall, which is desirable whenever possible. If we consider further that some churches are built in such a way that an erection of extra altar is impossible, this interpretation is seen to be correct. Further, (1) standing alone can imply (2). If the altar is built separate from the wall, it is commonsensical to think that something can pass between it and the original altar, namely, a person. 

The correct way to read the quote would be like thus: The altar should be built separate from the wall, in such a way that it is possible to walk around it easily and that mass can be celebrated at it facing the people, [the architectural advantage] is desirable whenever possible.

The perceived inconsistency between §§157-158 and §299 makes sense, it appears to me, only when we presuppose that §299 merely leaves open the possibility of versus populum service as opposed to mandating the priests to celebrate mass versus populum wherever possible. 

There is wisdom in leaving the possibility for versus populum. In cases of large number of co-celebrants there is practicality in having priests surround the altar. In cases of a church lacking a large, noticeable crucifix, the seventh candle ought to be visible to the people, in which case versus populum would result in a more fruitful reverence toward Christ. Further, a separated altar gives the faithful the option to go behind it and adore the blessed sacrament within the tabernacle in close proximity. 

It is commonsensical to think that everyone should be facing the altar in a uniform direction for the focus should be Christ on the crucifix before consecration and the Eucharist during and after the consecration. But when the priest is facing the people always, the attention is drawn to whatever the priest is doing. Ironically, the the focus on the priest increased as a result of mistaken implementation of Vatican II when the intent was to draw the focus away from the clergy and onto the laity.  

Of course, there are always architectural difficulties of administering the mass ad oritentem always and everywhere. But, in my opinion, mass should be celebrated ad oritentem whenever possible. 

It is further of note that the notion of sacred architecture is all but gone. A multi-million dollar postmodern projects that look more like prisons are being erected while a simplistic church with traditional architecture of the same size can be built with half as much. It is of course impractical to erect a traditional church large enough to contain up to 3,000 people to meet the needs of increasing immigrant Catholics. It is a matter of practicality to build fan-shaped circular mega churches to have more parishioners seated. But these mega churches likewise spend more on a fancy fountain system whereas elegant altarpieces can be installed with the same price. Resources are being spent toward novelties as opposed to making architectural decisions that draw the attention to the tabernacle. A tragedy.

It should be noted here that, numerically, parishes that worship the liturgy ad orientem and with copious usage of Latin have better retention rates especially among the youth and much higher frequency of vocations. As a person who have observed multiple parishes this has been my experience. 

In the universal Church and in the particular Churches, is the ecclesiology of communion...being strengthened?

This question is perhaps more of a question for the Pope himself. In recent years, through the advice of German cardinals who have been flirting with Hegelian heresy, who consequently have better cultural ties with Lutheranism, the Pope has carried out multiple large-scale publicity stunts to connect with Lutherans. However, none of their sacraments are valid.

It will better serve the world at large for the Pope to strengthen connections with the Orthodox Church and SSPX. Considering the geopolitical tension between Russia and the West, a fraternal dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church can have a crucial effect toward world stability.

Despite the order made in Fatima to consecrate Russia, no pope has carried out this task.

Does it leave room for charisms, ministries, and different forms of participation by the People of God, without adopting notions borrowed from democracy and sociology which do not reflect the Catholic vision of the Church?

This particular question should be asked toward everyone. For the laity, are you asking the Church to implement things that are of secular, and possibly heretical, origin which you have grown fond of? For the priests, are you giving the laity what they want instead of administering tried and true methods toward holier community? In other words, the question is: is there a democratic and secular element that is influencing the liturgical and theological stance of a parish (or a diocese)?

One of the aims of Vatican II was renewal of consecrated life. This has not happened. In fact, the number of brothers, nun, priests, consecrated virgins, widows/widowers, etc. have all declined sharply after Vatican II. It becomes apparent why. All the things that are conducive to such vocational life - contemplation, cultivation of virtue or apotheosis, rigorous intellectual approach to theological understanding - are not being promoted by many parishes. There is a large gap to be filled by Catholic intellectual laity to teach the community on the theological matters. There is a pressing duty for Catholics to seek out theological authorities to be learned in the faith. The works of great Doctors of the Church are available free online; it is only up to the faithful to take advantage. 

Despite the great wealth of knowledge made available by, there is little initiative by the laity to learn of them. It is the job of the lay ministers and other participants to plant a spark of intellectual curiosity among the other laity. This kind of initiative is rare. It is a nigh miracle to hear the word "virtue" among the laity who are not learned theologically. 

Conclusion

I do not promote so-called traditionalism here. If favoring correct implementation of things Second Vatican Council intended is traditional, then so be it. But we must recognize that Western brand of Catholicism is categorically failing and has categorically failed. Mass retention rates are at an all-time low. There are increasing Catholics in the U.S, but they are mostly immigrants from Mexico and South America. German Catholicism is close to being exterminated, despite the monstrous wealth and influence over Vatican politics they possess. The number of priestly ordinations is on the rise despite the pitfall of 70s-90s (they are mostly the so-called traditionalists) but the rate is not high enough. It is abundantly clear: the Church in the West has failed whereas the Church in the East (including Eastern Europe) and Africa has successfully grown the Church, despite the temptations of modernity. Perhaps it's time to listen to what our non-Western friends are saying.

If any change is to be made, the focus needs to be turned back toward the Eucharist. Some are able to orient themselves without the help of the sort of liturgy I described. But they are in the extreme minority. Simply count the number of people lined up at confession and compare the numbers to those lined up for communion. Factor in the likelihood of a person not mortally sinning within a couple months, especially the teens.  

Navigating Through Human Nature in Politics

O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason. 
- Julius Caesar, A3S2

It never ceases to amaze me how little people care of human nature when speaking out for or against political issues. I think that the current political culture is not conducive to objective and tempered dialogue, so I aim to share my humble opinion on how to better navigate human nature in politics so as to cultivate a political culture that is conducive to objective and tempered dialogue.

Proving Oneself Right vs. Proving Idea Right
There is a distinct difference in conduct between those trying to prove themselves and those trying to prove their idea right out of genuine care for the common good. The former does not care for human nature, and the latter cares for human nature. The former will be abrasive and prideful, the latter will avoid emotion-charged discussions whenever possible. This is so for those who seek to prove their idea right for the common good seeks first and foremost to prove his idea right. It is therefore commonsensical to avoid situations where people can be overcome with passion and have their reason blinded. It is of paramount priority for individuals to abandon their childish desire to prove themselves right.

Prioritizing Condemnation
When people are consumed with passion and have their reason blinded, they tend to pick a political side as opposed to the side of absolute morality. When there are faults on all sides, the outraged people will not condemn the sides they find to be less morally culpable. Instead, they will condemn only the side that seems to be the greater threat and treat the less culpable as allies. Knowing this fact, one must be careful to call out moral wrongs on multiple sides to prevent oneself from being demonized by the passionate public. Save criticisms of those less morally culpable for later when things are hopefully settled. Instead, speak against those most morally culpable first. It may be frustrating that condemning all acts of immorality can at times be seen as unreasonable. But such are the ways of the people overcome by passion.

Intellectual Charity
You are not the master of another's mind. It is a simple statement, is it not? But many seem to forget. It is a daily occurrence for arrogant men and women in news networks to put words and ideas into another's mouths and mind. Always interpret another's statements in light most favorable to the speaker, not yourself. It is the speaker who is the owner of said statements, not you nor anyone else. It goes without saying that the corollary of intellectual charity is withholding oneself from calling those whom you disagree with "racist," "sexist," or "homophobe." Being quick to paint another as evil is an act of intellectual imbecility wrought on by childish desire to prove oneself right.

Rhetorical Strategy
This is a point that gathers three previous points together. All around me I see poor rhetorical strategies by various groups. Speech is the primary mode of communication, and one wrong move can agitate a crowd, even if the statement is wholly true. Sometimes, truths must be withheld for a while to lessen the effects of passion upon the masses. Sometimes, a noble lie ought to be used in order to be on the good side of those blinded by passion. The end goal of dialogue is to convince. If the other side becomes impermeable to reason through passion, it becomes harder to convince. With that in mind, rhetorical strategies should carefully be planned through prudence.

There are countless smaller points I would like to address, but I reserve them from being stated here in concern for length.

[Re]understanding Rights

The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of Conservatives is to prevent mistakes from being corrected... Thus we have two great types - the advanced person who rushes us into ruin, and the retrospective person who admires the ruin. - G. K. Chesterton

The word "right" has devolved into a a politicized word. What was once a moral word of the highest degree has now become a mere rhetorical device of politicians and political meme makers who do not do justice to its mother word iustitia ("right" is "ius" in Latin, shortened iustitia). As it is with any politicized word, it is emotivized. Of course, when a word is emotivized, people start to use the word because it feels right to them, that is to say they use the word as a method of expressing what they feel about an issue as opposed to a reasoned and tempered rationale.

To briefly [re]introduce reasoned and tempered rationale behind the term "right" is the aim of this post.

Many throw around the word "right" to assert a moral and/or moral basis behind their political belief. A right is a moral and legal concept that ought to be necessarily due to a human being, and thus mandated to all human beings. Right to life is one physical example. By nature human beings have life, and thus all are due life and the taking of which is a grave crime. Right to freedom of thought and action are metaphysical examples. We of the free world assume that a human being cannot live to the fullest if one does not choose one's path of life willingly. So we allow freedom of thought and action even when one's thought can lead to one's own ruin. The only exception would be when a mandated right is taken from another such as life. Here, we assume that freedom of thought is an ontologically binding right, and thus one which ought to be protected and duly given to all human beings.

Metaphysical assumptions are further more authoritative than the physical observation. We by necessity assume that a right exists. But no scientist can point to one object and say, "this is a right." Rather, it is intangible. Therefore, the concept of "right" must have a metaphysical basis.

Moreover, we consider rights to be objects that are subject to enforcement, through monetary coercion or otherwise. Let's say hypothetically that a racist mayor of some town orders the voting centers to not admit blacks. The state or the federal government would send in their troops to enforce the equal protection clause. Indeed, 101st Airborne was deployed to Alabama to ensure the enforcement of Little Rock Nine's rights to equal treatment.

However, recently, there has been a dangerous pattern of thought with regard to rights. This dangerous thought patterns occur mostly among Progressives. The critical flaw in their rhetoric is the fact that a right must exclude any form of object that is necessarily contingent upon another's act: service. For Progressives, healthcare would be one example of service.

Healthcare is an object that is partly contingent on another's act by necessity. It is true that we can take care of our own health through taking care of ourselves. However, in cases of debilitating illnesses, we require a specialist's act.

If we go on to say that healthcare is a right, an object that demands enforcement, through monetary or forceful coercion, we would subject certain individuals to servitude, and not a voluntary one. By that I mean the possibility of de facto slavery. Surely, this will not appear so when the times are bright. A government might have enough money to pay to insurance companies and keep the healthcare system going. At that instance, the doctors would not be involuntary servants. But when the times are hard and funds run dry, what will the government do to enforce the right that is healthcare? Either they will ignore it and treat healthcare as a privilege, not as an absolute mandate, or they will enforce it, the only way being forcefully having healthcare providers to work, without the option to quit the profession.

Education is another example. We can teach ourselves many things. But highly specialized fields require us to be taught by a skilled educator. Education thus includes service. When funds are low and emergency occurs, the government will again do either nothing, retreating to treating it as a privilege, or enforce the right of education. Indeed, the Supreme Court has repeatedly refused to consider education as a fundamental right.

Moreover, the understanding that enforceable rights ought to include objects that are dependent on others' service has no physically observable or ontologically reducible principle to derive the conclusion from.

Thus, the understanding of "right" that includes service subjects those providing service to de facto slavery. A more humane understanding of any type of service ought to be understood as privileges. For such vital professions, the government could ask persons of those services to sign a binding contract to work even when times are hard.

Professed Libertarians: Actual Libertarians or Communitarians?

This post accounts only my perception.

Supposedly, the generation after mine is set to be the most conservative generation since the Reagan era.  The current conservative generation, though labeled "conservative," I believe that most are leaning more toward the libertarian strain of conservativism. They seem to be focused more on economic liberty than socially conservative issues; many are quite indifferent on issues such as abortion. I have talked to great many of them in my own generation, and indeed they view libertarianism favorably and seem to be fine with calling themselves libertarian.

But I question if libertarianism is an ideology they have made their own or a means to an end. I think that they envision a communitarian world as opposed to the libertarian world. By libertarian world I mean the kind of world and lifestyle envisioned by Ayn Rand. What they truly yearn for, I think, is a world where rich and poor alike can be knit into a community. In order to achieve that end, they seem to think that libertarian or libertarian-leaning economics is necessary.

The following, I presume, is their thought process.

Many dislike large corporations, but note that modern technology-driven industries cannot be run by small start-ups. However, they believe that each individual should be afforded the opportunity to start a business of one's own, cooperatively with a fellow community member if they require additional funds.

If we look to many hipster and country town restaurants and cafes, they are started not by corporations but by cooperation between community members, often of lower-class. Two or more close friends would combine the funds to start a business they envision and share the profits. The boon of a cooperative venture would be that inhumane treatment of workers and partners would be lessened due to the pressure of the community. For instance, owners of small-town BBQ restaurant would dare not mistreat its customers and workers, because they go to the Baptist church everybody in the town attends every Sunday.

This cooperative approach to economics is one of the principles of distributism, a strain of communitarian economics. Also, the emphasis of community is the core of communitarianism, as noted in its name. Yet proponents of views that sound more like communitarianism look to libertarianism. Why?

They think that cooperative ventures among community members need to be made easier in roder to achieve the end. In order to do so, there needs to be less government regulations and burdens on the employers. In the current political climate, they view libertarian approach to economics is the way to achieve the end they desire.

So, I wonder: Are professed libertarians actually communitarians at heart? I am attracted to think so.
I would like to ask whether socialists are actually communitarians at heart but with no economic sense. But I think I won't.

"Faking" as Maturing Process

Fake it until to make it - A common catch phrase associated with Alcoholics Anonymous

It has been a personal routine of mine to write to myself something about maturity through the present medium right around the current time of the year. The point is to organize the thoughts I have gathered throughout a school year and remind myself of shortcomings of either myself or others, or both (which is not explicitly stated), so as to be beneficial toward my hopefully progressing maturity, and, if anyone would even care to pay attention to my amateur writing, to others.

Last post was about humility as a sign of maturity, a character disposition that affect both thoughts and actions. The current post focuses not on personality dispositions that affect both thoughts and actions but on dispositions of actions alone, i.e. behavioral dispositions.

Many suffer from what we would call "immature" dispositions. No, I do not mean a father playing dumb with his toddler child, or a mother playing dolls with her daughter. They are rather mature examples of parenthood, neither would any reader assume such actions to be immature under a commonsensical standard. What I mean is habits that often bring about adverse social conditions as opposed to harmony.

I will use some examples. Hopefully they are based on the most common shortcomings to have everyone reading this see one's own shortcomings in them, be it present or past. Imagine for a moment a girl that broods over tiny things, exploding an issue that is not that big of a deal into larger proportions later on, the kind of behavioral disposition one might see in public high schools. It is quite common to see a "preppy" girl seek after allies to confirm her biases against a person she felt hurt by, gossiping against her perceived adversary. She would not reveal the full truth; her statements would be bloated, censored, and/or filled with lies. Later in the semester, the gossip would explode and many feelings would be hurt and many confusions would arise.

For we expect well-formed adults to quickly get over negative emotions and, as we like to say, "not give a shit," we consider such a brooding immature. Yet we see in many cases this sort of high-school drama queen immaturities carry over well beyond college sorority years into the professional and the married life. Many married women blatantly admitted to me that "girls talk." Indeed they do, often with quite a malicious intent. Women, on the other hand, quoting from a female friend of mine, "would go to sleep after a nice glass of chilled white wine and wake up not giving two shits about the petty dramas of yesterday."

It is now turn to imagine for a moment a boy that habitually seek to prove his masculinity. Imagine further that this boy is quite a nerd (for we have bashed on preppies already). Whenever a social conflict arises, however small it may be, he seeks to domineeringly assert his perceived superior intellect (within the virtual world and/or reality), ranging from pretending to know a subject he barely knows about, thinking that his brain power could deduce correct solutions on the spot with limited information and without properly knowing the subject, accusing someone of ignorance when he himself is the one that is ignorant, to imagining things in favor of his arrogant delusions.

For we expect well-formed adults to recognize one's shortcomings and improve rather than falsely and with toxicity compensate, we call such an exertion of rather toxic masculinity immature. Yet we see in many cases of the said shortcomings carried, like the example above, well beyond high school years into the professional and the married life. A philosopher once warned me that such a behavior, in his experience, is prevalent among professors and philosophers themselves, the "nerds" and supposed masters of logic. Sadly, my experience has been reflective of his. On numerous occasions, I have witnessed intellectuals speak of matters that they clearly do not know about, pretending to be smarter. I heard somewhere that squires like complain about his defeated duel. A true knight, on the other hand, knows when to kneel and bow his head with honor and dignity, even in defeat.

So how, then, can we fix such immaturities at older ages? We could first talk about psychotherapeutic methods. Therapists seem to be the go-to solutions people (who are not mentally ill) think about nowadays, and many have been putting faith in psychotherapy in fixing behaviors. Indeed, prominent psychologists Ross and Nisbett noted in their book The Person and the Situation that, in our society, "psychotherapists fill the functions. . . that kin, kith, and coworkers fill" (183). In other words, people nowadays rely on psychotherapists to cure them of their problems as opposed to close relations like our ancestors have. The said problems are derived from stunted emotional growth, i.e. qualities our society commonly characterize as "immature." (It should be noted that I am speaking of this matter completely apart from mental illnesses; they are of quite different species to tame.) So, in a sense, psychotherapy serves in part as a parental substitution.

I myself think that psychotherapy can be a valuable companion to growth (the value of which is determined purely by how willing the patient is and how competent the therapist is). I subscribe to a sort of "fused" method that combines aspects of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and psychoanalysis (psychodynamics/PD). But I found myself not putting as much faith in therapy as many of my peers do. Each therapeutic method suffers from shortcomings. CBT alone may often not be sufficient, because the unconscious may not be healed. PD may often result in protracted search for the inner scars and the process of "coming to terms with them." The two methods has the potential to compliment each other, but they do not address physical actions in themselves.

Enter alcoholics anonymous. They are not a therapeutic organization specializing in psychology. Rather, they are a support group that focuses on the action of drinking excessively first and foremost through fraternal bonding. They are more in line with how people of traditional societies relied on close relations. They now have a catchphrase associated with them: "Fake it until you make it." The gist of the phrase does not mean that one should lie constantly. Rather, it means not doing something you want to. In other words, act contrary to your desires. In moral philosophical terms, such "fakeness" is called continence. Virtue ethics classify four stages of virtue in the following descending order: virtue, continence, incontinence, and vice. Virtue is of perfection where goods acts are accompanied by good beliefs and the pleasure of carrying out the said good acts. Continence does have the like belief and the acts, but it lacks the pleasure. In the instance of a recovering alcoholic, abstaining from alcohol would not be so pleasurable to him. Thus his abstinence is continence, falling short of true virtue, a "faking." But this "faking" is better than incontinence where only the good belief exists. Without saying much, it is better than pure vice also.

Let us now apply to the examples to hopefully paint how my thoughts will pan out in practice. The exampled girl lacked proper parental supervision growing up, so she lacks the visual memory of how to deal with conflicts. The limitations of pure CBT would not be touching on the potential loneliness she feels due to her lack of parental supervision, fueling her desire to gossip and feel accepted. The limitations of pure PD would be not touching on improving the cognitive habit of brooding that leads to the toxic gossiping. But neither really touches on the action of gossiping as an independent issue to address; it is approached in light of other factors.

The exampled boy grew up feeling weak, fatter, and less athletic compared to other boys, so he attempts to unconsciously compensate for his inferiority complex. CBT would not be touching on the underlying causes deep within his unconscious that give rise to his compensatory exhibition of superiority. PD would not address adequately the numerous ways the compensation can happen (false reliance on his intellect, toxic arguments filled with ad hominem, manipulation of perspectives of others, objectifying girls through habitual masturbation and pornography, etc.), and the equally numerous thought patterns that give rise to compensatory acts.

Valuable the methods surely can be. However, the shortcomings of the methods may not fully help the growth, the negation of immature behavioral dispositions. While the psyche is being formed, the actions should be guided, even when the thoughts and the unconscious brings about the desire to do the contrary. No, the continence we seek would not be the full virtue we ought to be attaining. But it is a step closer to being a mature, well-formed adult. Never have I heard, "pleasure of being mannered maketh man." But I have heard the old English proverb, "manners maketh man."

So be mannered and focus on your actions. If you feel the urge to gossip, hold it back first. You will have a chance to deal with inner-workings of your unconscious later. If you feel the urge to exhibit superiority, hold it back first. You will have a chance to deal with your childhood insecurities in your private meditations.

There are psychological concepts that I could write pages about, extrapolating further into the possible objections. But I shall not use up the time here to do so. The gist of this post is this: Try your utmost best to first detect the desires that run contrary to your conscience. Then, try as equally as hard to act contrary to the wrongful desires. This is nothing new. In teaching us to grow, educational sources ranging from our parents to Sesame Street have always focused on how to act first, not how to feel or desire. The focus ought simply to be focused throughout our adult years.

Brooding Can Crucify an Innocent

As I say through a Tenebrae service on Monday, I wondered, as I often do in that service, what drove the people to crucify an innocent man that is Christ, whose innocence was recognized even by Pontius Pilate and his wife. Each time I think of it, I get the same answer. Here, I merely commit to organizing my thoughts around it.

I do not think that one needs to be religious to see the evil side of humanity shown in the crucifixion narrative. Indeed, similar stories are told in numerous traditions. Christ's crucifixion narrative is compared to Socrates's drinking of hemlock often by scholars.

In the crucifixion narrative, Christ is innocent. He heals the sick, criticizes the sinner so that they may become better, and teaches others to love one another and live in harmony. And yet, the elders, the pharisees, the scribes, and all their followers plotted to kill Jesus. What drove them to such an unjust conclusion?

What drove them is rumination. In other words, brooding. Every word Christ spoke to them was done in good will. Instead of considering Christ's words as constructive criticism, a juncture for them to become better, they interpreted his words as offending them. The misstep they made was brooding over the perceived offense instead of confronting themselves. Through brooding without end, they have imagined an offense to be taken when there is none.

What brooding does to one's mind is that it prohibits objectivity the longer it goes on. The more we think of a negative perception of the past, the more things we think of to justify ourselves as the protagonist of the narrative, even when we are the clear villain. This was true of the Pharisees, the Sadducee, the elders, and the chief priests who drove the people to crucify Christ. Christ often criticized others of their wrongdoings. The difference between the disciples and those who accused him is that the disciples said, "How, then, can I be better, LORD?" while the accusers retreated to plot against Christ.

The chief difference, then, is that the disciples confronted the criticism by seeking a dialogue. The accusers retreated to their confines, talked among their allies, and brooded over the criticism. When the accusers would meet Christ, they asked sophistic questions designed to trap Christ and made snide comments to Christ in order to bring him down.

Dialogue can come to mutual understanding and create bonds. Brooding, however, creates distance. In brooding, the accusers interpreted criticisms made in good will as offense. A moral appeal made to convince the reason, to the accusers, were manipulations. A spiritual appeal made to move the spirit, to the accusers, were spiritual abuse. The brooding went so far as to seek allies that will affirm the accusers' unjust viewpoint, riling up the Jews against Christ, leading to his crucifixion.

As human beings, we brood over things often, do we not? Perhaps you, reader, have been in an argument with friends. You may also have distanced away from those friends and brooded over the argument instead of initiating a dialogue. In your brooding, you would have interpreted the narrative in your favor, making you the protagonist. Like the accusers of Christ, perhaps you interpreted the friends' good will as manipulations and abuse. Like the accusers of Christ, you may also have sought allies that will affirm your injustices against your former friends. And with their help, perhaps you spread false narratives about the former friends through gossip, without really knowing that such an evil has a compounding effect. And much like the accusers of Christ, perhaps you believed yourself the protagonist of the narrative.

Brooding may at first be only a venial sin. But at one point, it becomes mortal. We may not lead others to be crucified in this day and age. However, we are certainly able to lead the victim into deep depression and suffering. We hear of teenage suicides made by adverse social conditions time to time, do we not? False accusations is like a projectile of a rail gun; the lethality increases each time it passes through a rail.  We should take care, then, in interpreting others' motivations. If there is a doubt, start a dialogue. If there is hard feelings, talk about it with the other party until the problem is resolved.