Christianity: Skin-Thinking Versus Heart-Thinking

4/23/2022

So, Rod Dreher has decided to get a Christian tattoo and has offered the following explanation for his decision:

"I found that I wanted somehow to feel in my skin, for all the days left of my life, the truth that JESUS CHRIST CONQUERS."

Here is the tattoo:

Like his tattoo, everything about Dreher and his faith is on the surface, superficial, showy, and external. He wants to "somehow" feel Christ on his skin but doesn't seem interested in feeling Christ in his heart.

Instead of heart-thinking (to borrow Dr. Charlton's term adapted from Steiner), Dreher is quite content to remain in the mode of "skin-thinking".

And practically everything about Dreher reflects this mode of skin-thinking -- from his panicked, hysterical response to the birdemic to his endorsement of the Hungarian prime minister as a bastion of Christian conservatism (despite the latter implementing the same draconian, oppressive birdemic measures and peck regime implemented the world over).

Symbols are never reality, and they only mean something if they reflect a deeper reality.

This is particularly true of Christian symbols.

I wish Dreher the best of luck.

6 Comments

johnson j

4/23/2022 07:58:45

There's a bit of female sentimentality here like he is transitioning to try to be a woman.

Francis Berger

4/23/2022 19:19:43

@ johnson j - Yes -- his effeminacy is something critics often mention.

Kathleen

4/23/2022 22:03:01

I think God was pretty clear on this in the Old Testament: you shall make no mark upon your skin.

armenio pereira

4/24/2022 07:08:37

(against Mr. fix-it; deleveraging the positive self)
(To whom it may concern)

The tragedy of mankind is that even highly intelligent people like yourself can't seem to understand the Basic Universal Principle: there's no positive(good;pleasure) without negative(evil;pain).
I'm quite convinced you can easily accept that the atom is formed by both positive and negative particles (among other), and you can also readily entertain the prospect that messing around with the bond between them is not usually a neatly sound idea.
Nevertheless, you wake up every single day with the fierce determination to separate your negative self from your positive self.
How do you cope with that?
By projecting the negative onto the other, then proceeding to destroy the other and voilà: negative's gone. Next, with the negative irreparably enmeshed within the self, you will keep on projecting, and off you go, into the never-ending quest for the negative other.

('I get "all" the "main" things "right". Why can't everybody trip like I do? Why can't you be like me?')
(Tip of the hat to Richard Patrick, Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(Can%27t_You)_Trip_Like_I_Do)

And then there are some, even clever than you are, who deftly use this generalized blindness (meaning, they are using you) to serve their own knavish intents.

All in all, it's not a big deal: we all live in The Unavoidable; some will be willing and sometimes, able to slow down The Dualistic Engine, some can only crank it up.
There's no universal peace of mind; only
The Everlasting Dissatisfaction.

I got it "wrong", of course; otherwise, how could you have it "right"?

Can you answer the following:
- What are we building civilization (culture, knowledge, technology, science) for?

Do you have an answer? And if you do, what place does it have for "free will"?

I can answer it for you:
- We build civilization for the greatest comfort of the flesh. There you have it: body over mind - that's "free will" for you.

Civilization: the triumph of the Flesh.

(This is not against or for civilization, just a simple reminder to not bother to chastise everyone else with any "good & evil" puffery, "priestly" flackery.)

4/24/2022 11:43:50

@ armenio - I get the sense that you consider yourself to be an immensely profound individual, but your warmed over warnings against the "pot calling the kettle black" and mini-lesson on the nature of dualism -- replete with atomic analogies to boot -- sorely miss the point of the post.

This post wasn't about good and evil or about "holier than thou" perspectives lobbed against others. It addresses the crucial difference between heart-thinking and more superficial forms of spiritual thinking and how this applies to life and Christianity.

You appear to have no clue about what heart-thinking is. You seem to think this post is about dualism. The only "dualism" that matters can be summed up in the following manner: are you "for" God and Creation or "against" God and Creation. Both sides consist of sinners -- thus, your arguments about dualism do not apply.

Nor does the projection argument. What exactly am I projecting onto Dreher? My dark, innate, hidden desire to tattoo myself with crosses?

In sum, you seem to be making an argument in favor of relativism.

Your subsequent segue into civilization and free will also miss the point and reveal much about your own metaphysical assumptions, which appear to be based solely in materialism.

"Civilization: the triumph of the Flesh." Well done. This statement is skin-thinking par excellence. The views you have expressed essentially epitomize everything this post warns against. Nay, worse -- because unlike Dreher, your skin-thinking does not even attempt to address anything spiritual.

The triumph of the flesh leads not to free will or freedom, but its opposite. And in case you haven't noticed, there's no civilization building going on at the moment -- only destruction. You'll learn those lessons soon enough -- count on it.

And I appreciate your chastising me for chastising others. I'm sure no projection on your part was involved there.

Word of advice -- stick to your civilization of the triumphant flesh. Venturing out to any place beyond that obviously exceeds your powers of comprehension.

Serhei

4/25/2022 01:31:50

Alas, 'stick to your civilization of the flesh' cannot be permanent advice. Because all mortal flesh will perish, we will have to venture out of it sooner or later. Best be prepared, or at least to be prepared to do some unexpected learning.

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Christianity: Skin-Thinking Versus Heart-Thinking

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