[Peace-discuss] Re: [Peace] Norman Solomon's plea.

[E. Wayne Johnson]

In 1969 cartoonist/existentialist philosopher Robert Crumb the famous 
underground cartoonist created a famous comic book dedicated to the 
subject of Despair
"Plunge into the Depths of Despair" including some classic insights on 
life, the military and other esoterics.  I have a copy of it stored 
somewhere,
it might be interesting to scan it and post it on my web site some 
time.  If I can find it.

***

Kierkegaard addressed despair as a peculiar sickness of the heart.  
Sparknotes provides a synopsis of sorts of
Kierkegaard's "Sickness unto Death":

All of the forms of despair involved a failure to be a human being in 
the fullest possible sense.
Kierkegaard described despair as a sort of default condition in which 
people find themselves--
whether they are aware of it or not--unless they take decisive action to 
eliminate all traces of despair.
 
Kierkegaard indicated that the solution to despair would involve 
establishing a relationship with the "power"
that established the individual human being--in other words, with God.
By connecting us with the source of everything in the universe,
such a relationship would presumably enable us to maximize our human 
potential.
 
Kierkegaard understands Christianity to be the one religion that teaches 
us that
we may have an individual relationship with God.
The essence of Christianity is therefore to teach us the solution to despair
Once this solution has been revealed to us, remaining in despair is not 
just a misfortune,
it is a sin--a violation of God's command.
Sin, Kierkegaard explains, is an intensification of despair,
because it is a form of despair committed with the knowledge that 
solutions to despair exist.
 
The point of The Sickness Unto Death is to encourage us to pursue faith.
Yet you may feel that Kierkegaard has left us with more questions than 
answers.
As Kierkegaard repeatedly stresses, his vision of Christian faith defies 
rational understanding.
What does it mean to have an individual relationship with God? How would 
we know if we have such a relationship?
Kierkegaard cannot answer these questions. He can only urge us to pursue 
them on our own through introspective reflection.
 
For many readers, Kierkegaard's message has been an inspiration to 
pursue deeper faith.
Kierkegaard's works offer some of the most influential reflections on 
the role of religion in a modern world.
Kierkegaard shows that the power of science as a tool for understanding 
and controlling our world
does not necessarily eliminate the need for religion. Science can help 
us understand the world of things and facts,
but it cannot provide guidance for matters of private conscience; it 
cannot tell us which moral or religious views are correct.
This message has been a major inspiration and influence for twentieth- 
century theology.
 
In The Sickness Unto Death, Kierkegaard tells us that we are in despair, 
whether we know it or not.
He tells us that we are failing to live up to our full human potential.

*
BTW, R. Crumb is alive and well, living in France and working on a
underground comix adaptation of the book of Genesis, which is nearly 
completed
and should be released sometime in 2009.


Jenifer Cartwright wrote:
 > I think y're being very charitable, Bob.... and you may be right. 
Wish I could see it yr way -- it'd help me get rid of a lot of anger and 
despair.
 >  --Jenifer