Christianity and existential hope - versus social structure

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There are two sides, or threads, to the appeal of Christianity - inner and outer. Naturally, for someone who is not already Christian, there needs to be a push as well as a pull - a convert is fleeing from, as well as towards...

Social breakdown, demotivation, and the organization of modern society on the basis of false and anti-good principles was a strong factor (a kick) in propelling me toward 'religion' of some sort; and the other intractable dissatisfaction was inner, psychological.

Reading mid-twentieth century culture critique, these are linked in the phenomenon of alienation, which was perceived to be a consequence of specialisation of function (division of labour), which was also perceived to be a schism of art and science. The 'two cultures' debate was simmering from the time of Jung right up into the 1970s (when thought in public discourse pretty much ceased).

Healing was sought in individuation, which was a process of integrating the severed parts of the soul or psyche - and this project was also advocated in the public realm - for example in education and scholarship. The idea was that there should be a re-integration of science and arts, of technology and the environment and so on.

In the event, not only did nothing happen to heal the severed souls and social forms, but things got so much worse that the question actually lost its meaning - and people ceased to feel the sharpness of pain from living as divided Men that earlier generations had suffered.

The problem of alienation was reframed in terms of the pleasure-pain axis - and the pseudo-integration offered was politically correct Leftism (the New Left) which offered a pseudo-integration of art and science, and subjectivity and objectivity, in terms of a project of permanent revolution self-proclaimed as intending to eliminate all forms of suffering and thereby provide a meaning and purpose.

But it turned out to be a bait and switch nightmare - nihilism masquerading as meaning, permanent destruction of the good masquerading as a purpose, and the integration of art science, technology and religion under the category of unrooted, irrational, arbitrary and ever-changing assertion.

Having discovered that common sense and experience revealed a profound malaise of the human soul and society, these universal forms of reason were rejected. But not for therapeutic reasons, instead the opposite. The human condition was denied in order that it could be allowed to get worse. 

New Leftism has anaesthetized the patient - which is us, and our society - but not in order to alleviate suffering, but in order that the cancer may grow unhindered; in order that we may fail to take the nasty-tasting (but ultimately joyous) medicine of repentance which alone could cure us.

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