Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Paul's avatar

Great post. The unselfconscious vs self-conscious modes of belief particularly struck a chord. As a fellow Catholic, I confess sometimes to feeling as though I am 'bootstrapping' myself into faith - i.e., trying in a very self-conscious way. A cynical way to put it would be to say that I'm "Larping" being a believer. But you're right to point out that for many of us, it is simply not possible to be unselfconscious about these things.

Would it be nice to live in a world where one could be unselfconscious? I suspect many of us think so, which is why the yearning for a medieval Christendom is particularly felt in some quarters. But that is simply not our situation. To admit & understand that should, I take it, be an encouragement.

Expand full comment
Erin Lewis's avatar

Great points about unselfconsciousness and self-consciousness. I'm currently reading The Abolition of Man for the first time and see lots of connections with what you have said here. Lewis discusses how people in the past would see dying out of a duty for others as a given value and contrasts that with a more self-conscious, modern view.

Expand full comment
2 more comments...

No posts