A portion only, from Soren Kierkegaard's "On the Dedication to 'That Single Individual'"; thanks to the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, where many lovely and painful and true things can be found.
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Thursday, November 09, 2006
Soren Kierkegaard's Warning Regarding Politics & Eternal Truth
"The crowd is untruth. Therefore was Christ crucified, because he, even though he addressed himself to all, would not have to do with the crowd, because he would not in any way let a crowd help him, because he in this respect absolutely pushed away, would not found a party, or allow balloting, but would be what he was, the truth, which relates itself to the single individual. And therefore everyone who in truth will serve the truth, is eo ipso in some way or other a martyr; if it were possible that a human being in his mother's womb could make a decision to will to serve 'the truth' in truth, so he also is eo ipso a martyr, however his martyrdom comes about, even while in his mother's womb. For to win a crowd is not so great a trick; one only needs some talent, a certain dose of untruth and a little acquaintance with the human passions. But no witness for the truth - alas, and every human being, you and I, should be one - dares have dealings with a crowd. The witness for the truth - who naturally will have nothing to do with politics, and to the utmost of his ability is careful not to be confused with a politician - the godfearing work of the witness to the truth is to have dealings with all, if possible, but always individually, to talk with each privately, on the streets and lanes - to split up the crowd, or to talk to it, not to form a crowd, but so that one or another individual might go home from the assembly and become a single individual. 'A crowd,' on the other hand, when it is treated as the court of last resort in relation to 'the truth,' its judgment as the judgment, is detested by the witness to the truth, more than a virtuous young woman detests the dance hall. And they who address the 'crowd' as the court of last resort, he considers to be instruments of untruth. For to repeat: that which in politics and similar domains has its validity, sometimes wholly, sometimes in part, becomes untruth, when it is transferred to the intellectual, spiritual, and religious domains. And at the risk of a possibly exaggerated caution, I add just this: by 'truth' I always understand 'eternal truth.' But politics and the like has nothing to do with 'eternal truth.' A politics, which in the real sense of 'eternal truth' made a serious effort to bring 'eternal truth' into real life, would in the same second show itself to be in the highest degree the most 'impolitic' thing imaginable."
A portion only, from Soren Kierkegaard's "On the Dedication to 'That Single Individual'"; thanks to the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, where many lovely and painful and true things can be found.
A portion only, from Soren Kierkegaard's "On the Dedication to 'That Single Individual'"; thanks to the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, where many lovely and painful and true things can be found.
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(Sorry if this is a repeat, hiccups from my recent blog merge with Google.)
Not really on topic, though I suppose nuclear war is about politics. Anyway, this blog post has links to "The War Game", a BBC production that was so graphic that it was banned from television for 20 years. Utterly chilling and kept me up with nightmares all night:
http://nhsblogdoc.blogspot.com/2006/11/war-game.html
In any case, I think it is worth watching, though I will warn you that it is highly disturbing.
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