According to Kirkegaard, faith is an expression of the human existential relationship to the eternal. In doing so, we bring the eternal into our existence, with awareness of it. And it is faith that can accomplish this. But then it says here. However, since the eternal can manifest itself to humans in different forms, there are also different forms of faith, writes Malandsjuk.
Søren Kirkegaard's placement of these forms' relationship to each other can be presented in the following scheme. On the human level, we encounter faith in the form represented by Socrates. The individual believes that they can actualize the ethical demands in their life. A higher expression of faith is found in Abraham, where obedience relates to the transcendent God
who imposes His demands on him. With the Christian revelation of God, faith takes on an entirely new content. The highest and true form of faith becomes faith in Christ and the incarnation of God. It is the highest form of faith in the eternal. First, let us point out what is common to all these forms of faith, namely that they originate from an underlying conviction of an eternal reality.
That is to say, the eternity that is placed in the human heart here leads to the perception that there is an eternal power, reality behind it. And note that I say both power and reality. Forsoker claims that he has no concept of an eternal power, but he has a concept of an eternal reality behind humanity. And the external reality in which humans live their lives. And that humans are eternal beings.
And I believe that we can easily establish that this is a perception of reality and humanity that the Western Christian culture has been divided on since the suppressed, the old pagan culture towards the end of the Viking Age and into the Middle Ages. In other words, it means that the European understanding of humanity and reality for many hundreds of years has had its center and been deeply rooted
in a clear and strong God-consciousness, a conviction that everyone in one way or another had to relate to. But, secondly, we see that the result of this conviction, according to the churchyard, is three different possible formal faiths, namely the humane faith like Socrates, that is, the belief that one can realize the ethical demands,
then we have the obedient faith in a transcendent God like Abraham, and finally the faith in Christ as the incarnation of God. And it is customary in European Christianity that all three forms of faith have coexisted, in the sense that it has varied from person to person which of the three forms of faith has had the place and thus the power in the individual's heart.
And this is the basis and background for characterizing the culture in Europe as Christian humanism. A humanism, therefore, that is characterized by a belief in eternal values. You know, as I have said before, some Christians get terribly complex when they hear the word humanism. Yes, but it is a humanism that contains an inherent belief in eternal values. You already encounter this in Socrates.
But before we move on, let me point out what Malant shirt based on the chicken yard here writes about the Jews. A new view of the eternal is found among the Jewish people, as it is addressed by an eternal, transcendent power. The past takes on a new meaning. Thus, the sense of history is also awakened in this people, as I mentioned briefly.
Through the promises, the Jewish people had their gaze directed towards the future. Thus, this people developed a sense of history. In the future, the goal also requires reflection on the past. Other peoples who fully lived their lives in the present did not possess this sense of history or this historical overview. Take note of that. It is very important.
Paganism, where time consists only of the new. This stretched-out new, which we are talking about, and the historical, is a consequence of the human dimension of eternity and the awareness of this dimension. It is, of course, not difficult to see the connection between this perception of time that we encounter among the Jewish people.
through their orientation towards the future, which also led to a reflection on the past. That is, time as a historical connection between past and future. And Augustine's present, or what Paul writes about in the letter to the Philippians three, for that matter. All three write about these three places we encounter in this. Yes, that is how we Europeans think of time as an extended historical connection in line,
between past, present, and future. And here, the Jewish people separate themselves, and thus eventually us Europeans as well, from other nations, those whom the Jews referred to as Gentiles, those who fully live their lives in the present. And who permeate the entire music and entertainment culture today. A new perception of time. But let me repeat in this context what I previously quoted from Kristoffer Læscht,
The narcissist, the unrestrained self-worshipper, is the personality of our time. The prevailing passion is to live for the moment, and live for one's own sake, not for predecessors or successors. We are quickly losing the sense of historical continuity. The feelings of belonging to a lineage of generations that begins in the past and extends into the future.
It is the sense of historical time that is disappearing. Quite particularly, any clear concern for the future time dissolves. It is the characteristic of the spiritual crisis of the 70s. Survival has become the keyword of the 70s, everything collective, Nazism, their prevailing character. Since society has no future, it only makes sense to live in moments and focus on one's private role.
In my view, this is an unequivocal sign of the movement from spirit, from the eternal, towards modern paganism. Because, as Malandsjuk writes based on the cemetery, that is to say, as we have already pointed out. The future and the eternal are closely connected, as it is precisely the nature of the future to constantly present itself as the possibility of the eternal.
It is the close connection between the future and the eternal. Because it is the future that is the possibility of the eternal, we read. That is, as we have also illuminated earlier today. Quite particularly, any concern for the future dissolves. Society has no future, therefore it only makes sense to live for the moment and focus on a private role. The attitude towards the new personalities of our time according to teachings.
And why does this personality have no belief in the future? Simply because in this new personality, the dimension of eternity has completely fallen out of consideration. Yes, he has, with the help of modern music and entertainment culture, turned his back on it and been liberated from it, since it is precisely the concern for the future that creates anxiety. Therefore, the thought of the future is shut out, so that there is no consciousness of an eternal reality.
and thus no consciousness of the future as the possibility of the eternal. Therefore, it is important to live in the moment, in a new state of mind that one immerses oneself in with the help of strong sensory impressions that numb and kill any reflection, any thought of the future. But what is frightening is what the graveyard sees, that is, let me put it this way,
With this attitude, one ends up in the perception of time that characterizes paganism, and which was first uprooted, as mentioned. With this attitude and immersion in... This illusion that kills any reflection, and that's exactly what Kjøren Sikås wrote about. The first self-comforts, and new opportunities and stuff come, you just have to relax and not worry.
That's what he said. But the frightening thing is what the cemetery sees as an undeniable consequence for this personality. Namely, that it is not possible to live so intensely in the present that one avoids the future. It inevitably comes with what becomes reality for those who repress and shut out the eternal. That which is embedded in the heart of all human beings through the creation of God, which we here in Western Christianity have knowledge of.
Then the consequences follow inevitably, namely anxiety, because the only possibility for the future lies in the eternal, in the eternal sender. If we repress it, then anxiety comes before it. And just to mention it again, the great, the serious European music is built up and given a form where there is meaningful and logical coherence between the beginning, Portia, that is,
The middle, NUE, and the ending, the future. It unfolds in line with the perception of time that we first encounter in the Jews and in Augustine's stretched-out NUE. And why does it do that? Because it is a treasure of musicians who were convinced of the eternal, which is the foundation and center of reality. And time as a continuous line from the past to the future.
Not so with African-American music, which lacks this form. Yes, in this music, there is a conscious opposition to this meaningful coherence from beginning to end. Instead, it cultivates the all-consuming and numbing, the intoxicating experience of the moment. And this is primarily done within this music culture because of the absence, yes, the denial of the dimension of eternity in human beings and worship.
and to convince people that through this music, one can escape from the future and anxiety. But as J.P. Bowenfor has a strong awareness of God, an awareness of the eternal, it has greatly influenced Europe's old Christian culture. Yes, this influence is so strong
that it makes sense to speak of a Christian culture. Mention, at least in the past. The population here in our part of the world as Christianity. And let me say this much. When this today, at an increasingly rapid pace, is undergoing a dramatic change, it is becoming more and more visible, even pressing, what we have already largely lost, and
not least, what we are in the process of getting instead. And it is frightening. But we still have a strong, noble, health-promoting, and joy-spreading cultural heritage to draw nourishment from. Among other things, in the field of music. A heritage that has its roots in the eternal, in an awareness of God. A testimony to the true, the good, and the beautiful as eternal and divine values.
A heritage that is honorable because it is characterized by purity and justice. That is worth loving and praising. And here, the believers can still draw and embrace such things that can become decisive for their lives. That is, according to the example they have in Paul.
Today, it is more important than ever for the believers to take seriously and align themselves according to this guidance. Because it is a matter of life and death. The only direction in the time we are rapidly entering. We are already deep into it. For those who do so, they will experience that the promises Paul associates with such practice become a reality. That is, the God of peace will be with them.
And let it be to align one's life with the guidance of Paul's 4, Philippians 4, is the line of death. For the secular entertainment culture today is so strong that it automatically continues with the help of modern mass media, moves into and conquers the culturally empty house. That is, where Europe's old Christian culture does not already fill the house.
And above, I have mentioned that our light points to the synthesis structure of humans. That is, it is both a temporal and an eternal creature that allows a person to rise above the moment and reflect on both the past and the future. Yes, on their situation in existence at all. And I will again quote a little from Malansjukk.
about precisely that with the so-called synthesis structure. Regarding the origin of anxiety, must it according to Kierkegaard be derived from the fact that humans are a synthesis of time and eternity? It is the eternal moment that reveals itself in anxiety.
This eternal is originally only given to humans as a possibility, and from the senses, every human being lives completely as a natural being, or as they say in terms of anxiety, in immediate unity with their naturalness, without the eternal yet being noticeable. This attachment to its nature gives humans a kind of security. It reacts spontaneously and without reflection to everything that happens.
But the eternal moment will seek to assert itself, and it is only this moment that makes a human into a human, and qualitatively different from the animal, which is always bound by its instincts. The eternal moment now asserts itself in the way that humans, with the help of the so-called eternalizing reflection, namely imagination,
It creates the first foundation for everything and other life. Through this reflection, humans try to rise above their complete bondage to the present and not only recall their past experiences but also imagine something future. It can therefore envision different possibilities
in relation to something future. It can also anticipate different possibilities in relation to its own existence, but precisely this causes anxiety. The primary and ever-present aspect of anxiety is that it arises when people reflect on the uncertain possibilities of the future.
Anxiety also means that humans begin to free themselves from their absolute bondage to nature and no longer react purely spontaneously. Through reflection, with greater or lesser risk, it must choose between different possibilities in the situations it encounters. This causes it to increasingly lose its original instinctive security, but at the same time, we have here the first sprout of freedom,
Previously, humans were completely subject to the law of necessity. According to the church, there is an eternal moment in humans that initiates their spiritual development, and through this awareness, humans can come to the realization of the eternal, both as something within themselves and as something outside of themselves, as a final cause of existence.
In this way, instead of the primitive security it originally possessed, it can now attain the security that only the relationship with something eternal can provide. The journey from a human's original state in unity with nature to the gradual discovery of the eternal, with all the consequences it entails for existence, has been long in terms of world history, but also for the individual human.
And we saw that. He started with Socrates and then he was like the first in Europe, or in culture who had, in relation to this, without saying anything about fate. And then you have this development, which culminates in Christ, right? Let's see. So you should pay attention to what he says here.
Kierkegaard, however, believed that very few people now fully understand the relationship between the two moments in synthesis, the temporal and the eternal, which in their existence manage and connect them in the right way. There are few people, according to Kierkegaard, who are able to achieve this union of the dimension of eternity and our temporal existence.
And how is it today? Because it's something we have in abundance that we shouldn't have. A violence that is entertainment culture, which stays with us every day. Even though there can be an example of overcoming anxiety within paganism, it is still the case that the majority of people, even within Christianity, constantly find themselves within the realm of anxiety.
That means that they still existentially live in a kind of paganism. If humans, in their spiritual development, reach a higher understanding, which they have the opportunity to do within Christianity, without, however, reaching faith, then their condition will be characterized by despair or indignation, that is, afflicted. Negative states that correspond to anxiety at a lower level.
But when anxiety is... Yes, pay attention to what is being said. People who live within Christianity, but who in a way do not make this absolute movement, are still plagued by anxiety or despair, which we know so well in our days. In anxiety, people are confronted with the possibilities that imagination creates, and that concern the future. These possibilities
These possibilities both attract and frighten. Therefore, anxiety is described as a sympathetic antipathy and an antipathetic sympathy. This ambivalence we talked about earlier, where it is both drawn to and fears it. Since the person living within the realm of anxiety does not have a clear understanding of the difference between good and evil, it will always feel uncertain about the possibilities it faces.
So, humans live in this stage of ignorance. This lack of knowledge causes them to choose with their emotions, using sympathy and antipathy, and their choices will therefore be accompanied by anxiety. Since all the possibilities that humans struggle with concern the temporal and the transient, and therefore all of them are uncertain, there is actually nothing to be concerned about in all this earthly existence, actually being concerned about nothing that one sees.
And the object of anxiety is therefore nothing at this stage, or as it is said, anxiety and nothing are closely related. Kierkegaard's thoughts on the relationship between anxiety and nothing find resonance in modern philosophical literature, especially among existential philosophers like Heidegger and Sartre. The concept of nothing plays an important role in Kierkegaard's work, and it is always related to anxiety.
Insofar as the idea of nothing in its most profound sense arises from the insight into the imperfection and transience of temporal existence. Precisely those moments that evoke anxiety. It is this anxiety about the nothingness or emptiness of temporal existence that has the most decisive influence on the individual's existence.
So it is also this anxiety that prompts humans to seek something higher than temporality. You may remember that I touched on the concept of nothingness. And this is how we can describe temporality, as nothingness. Yes, because what did God create from? He created from nothing. And as I mentioned, if you remove God, the dimension of eternity,
from this, you are left only with what God created, and He created from nothing. Humans can then seek something higher than temporality. The goal of this search is to approach the eternal as the positive. By first relating to something positive, humans are freed from anxiety. But as temporality
and eternity are qualitatively different, the eternal can only be reached through a leap. The significance of the leap is therefore strongly emphasized in the literature of the cemetery. Between temporality and eternity lies, as we have seen, nothingness as an abyss, which can only be crossed by the leap of faith.
But for a cemetery, it is also essential to show that temporality can be filled with positive content when humans are faithful to the eternal. Recognizing temporality as something relative must, in the Middle Ages, be a step towards a higher form of existence. I am at this stage and I am familiar with the nothingness of the world, but then when I experience freedom in Christ, I can have a new relationship with the earthly as well.
Because then I am somehow set free, and then I will discover that there is much in this earthly life that we can actually fill with meaning, making it meaningful. And that is essentially what we are discussing now, and what we will address in the additional hour we talked about, beauty. According to the cemetery, the eternal as the positive can manifest to humans in various forms, such as the idea of truth and goodness, the relationship with the person in God, or God's revelation in Christ. When humans reach that position,
where the eternal reveals itself to be the God who is revealed in Christ, anxiety takes on a whole new aspect. It is no longer anxiety for nothing, that is, anxiety for the emptiness of a transient world, but now it is anxiety for something, namely for the good. That's what happens when I encounter Christ. Which churches provide the most comprehensive description of anxiety?
Now, humanity is faced with the absolute good and must make a decision about how it will relate to this good. There are only two possibilities. Either to choose the good and thus have anxiety for evil. Or to try to escape from the good, thereby coming under the anxiety for the good.
The discovery of these two categories, anxiety for evil and anxiety for good, gave the cemetery the key to revealing the deepest and most hidden layers of human sickness, from which the impulses come that have the strongest effect on individual existence. Wherever the human being stands, all human beings are placed in this lordly anxiety for the good,
and anxiety for evil. And that is what we also call the struggle with evil. It is cemetery participation in the struggle with evil. It is the struggle of the good against the evil. Let me, before we proceed, point out that I will also extensively quote Malanczuk in the following, as it is of little importance that I express in my own words what he particularly clarifies authoritatively.
In connection with our previous discussion of Sigurd's writings on the demonic, I mentioned that he was aware that his writings on the subject would be met with little understanding in his own time. The increasing influence of the natural sciences in everyday life, among other things, had resulted in a significant weakening of belief in an independent demonic reality outside of humans.
Yes, in many circles, it is considered superstition that should be discarded. But for Kirkegaard, it is clear that the categories of fear of evil and fear of good,
which we discussed when we examined Kirkegaard's thoughts on the demonic, are the gateway to understanding the deepest layers of human existence. What was thus uncovered provided insight into the fundamental forces that shape human existence. In the fear of evil, there lies an impulse that can lead a person towards the eternal, the good.
A thorough depiction of the fear of good, on the other hand, shows how demonic forces carry out their destructive work in human life. No thinker or psychologist has ever treated this important aspect with the same clear categories and depth as Kirkegaard, writes Gregor Malansjuk, and he continues. Kirkegaard did not engage with these matters out of mere theoretical, philosophical, or psychological interest,
But because he had realized, and this still applies today, that the development in Western culture was increasingly moving in a demonic direction, somewhere he writes in his diaries, he says that in the Middle Ages, only a few individuals subscribed to evil, while people in modern times are prone
to demonic possession because we live in the era of mass movements, wrote Churchyard. In the Middle Ages, there were individuals who subscribed to the demonic. In the core of modern times, it is the masses who will succumb to the demonic. Churchyard's time, the era of mass movements, is much, much more prevalent in 2023.
And anyone who wants to observe this as an overly obvious reality can simply go to their computer and bring up recordings from concerts with the various groups within the so-called black metal genre, within rock. But it is not recommended. Because they are frightening to watch.
Since we have previously discussed the churchyard cloud on the demonic aspects, we will not repeat it now, but just point out that his perception is insight into and understanding of this demonic, a crucial prerequisite for understanding the connection between anxiety and existence. And since Churchyard was convinced that
Since Churchyard was convinced that there are aspects related to the demonic that will become, as we have seen, particularly relevant in modern times, he extensively addresses this in his writings. And he was of the clear opinion that the demonic will manifest itself in three central areas of life.
Because in these areas, humans most often withdraw, resist, and refuse to engage with, and submit to, and subordinate themselves to the good. You notice it. Three areas of human life where humans will resist and submit to the good. Namely, in the sexual, social, and religious realms. And thus, humans will end up in fear of the good, which is the demonic.
But let me remind you again of something we have discussed in more detail earlier. Namely, the central role that music, specifically Afro-American music, plays in shaping the perception of sexuality in our postmodern culture and society. And we have also shown how the same music has a decisive impact on the social sphere by transforming individuals into masses.
And this music has also had its effect on the religious sphere, namely the church. We have touched upon this among Christian people several times before. For instance, we have mentioned how within the church, the traditional sexual ethics have been completely rejected and replaced by those prevailing in modernism.
We have also pointed out how giving extensive space to Afro-American music within congregations and Christian gatherings transforms these communities into masses, into audiences. This naturally has significant consequences in the religious realm. Yes, to the point where the religious gradually emerges,
as something completely different than what it traditionally was. In other words, it is thus the case that music stands at the very center of this development, within both the sexual and social realms, as well as the religious, which, according to Kirkegård, will be characterized by humans here being reluctant to engage with and entertain themselves with the good, and thus lingering in the anxiety of the good.
Good. We will briefly look at the sexual aspect, which we previously discussed in detail in seminar 2021-2022. Then we pointed out that the sexual is located at the outermost point of the physical. It is the furthest point in the physical, the sensual, and thus farthest from the spiritual in humans, and consequently the most difficult and also from the soul, and therefore most difficult to subject to spiritual guidance.
We can say that it is at this point that the tension and contradiction within the human synthesis are greatest. Consequently, there is a close relationship between the sexual and anxiety. Since it is within the sexual that humans are most bound to the earthly. And as we mentioned earlier, removed from the eternal. And perhaps there is a degree of difference in earthliness. I don't know what I'm saying now, this is a bit personal, I have some thoughts of my own.
And perhaps there is a degree of difference in earthliness between male and female sexuality. That is to say, male sexuality is more characterized by the earthly, the physical, and the material than female sexuality. Already in his first book, Either/Or, Kirkegård addressed this topic by examining individuals such as Don Juan, whom we have previously discussed, and Johannes the seducer, both of whom are demonically possessed by the sexual.
And then I would like to remind you that we apologize for not primarily perceiving Don Juan, and also not Johannes the seducer, as individuals, but as representatives of an attitude towards life, a state of mind. If Don Juan writes in our church, there is an anxiety within him, but this anxiety is his energy. Don Juan is this anxiety, but this anxiety is the demonic lust for life.
We have previously pointed out that Don Juan, and thus also Johannes the Seducer, express a protest against Christianity's elevation of the spiritual over the sensual. This protest can be more or less conscious, writes Malansjuk. Don Juan is primitive and unreflective. He represents a natural force. While Johannes the Seducer is extremely reflective and carries out his plans with calculation. In him, we have an example of the highest form of the demonic relationship to sexuality. And there is a lot of this today. I believe we should be glad we don't know how much there is. In the ongoing journey of Life, the church portrays a model of Plato's dialogue Symposium. A symposium where five men present their views on sexuality and women.
And they all view women solely as sexual beings, primarily as bodies and thus in the light of the lowest level of human synthesis, almost on an animal level. In this way, they clearly convey a demonic devaluation of her. For example, Johannes the Seducer, who appears here, views women solely as objects of sexual desire and pleasure. And forgive me for saying this, but there are countless copies of Johannes the Seducer in our day." Note: The translation provided is a direct translation and may not capture the full meaning or nuances of the original text.
Now, not least the so-called Me Too movement has made clear and enlightened and such, and that without me supporting everything that this movement expresses. And I wonder if in this male and primitive attitude, which is so prevalent today, one can find some of the reasons why I am so reluctant to engage, namely that statistically it has been shown that many women, without it implying that they are lesbians,
dream about sexual experiences with other women. But of course, that does not excuse or make the realization of such dreams any less serious, even though it may be an explanation. And the attitudes expressed by the five men on life's path. About the attitudes expressed by the five men on life's path, Malansjuk writes. Kyrkegård has
With this depiction, he anticipated the sexual obsession and degradation of the spiritual that would first reach its culmination in our century. He has shown that when a man is demoralized, he can also have a demoralizing effect on women through his attitude. So Malansjuk wrote about the 20th century, and towards the end of his life, he died in 1978. That is 45 years ago.
And if he had experienced what is unfolding in full public view in our days, within entertainment culture and so-called realization, he would have received irrefutable confirmation that Kyrkegård also, in his treatment of this aspect of sexuality, saw unseen what they managed to do. What this demoralization of women, which according to Kyrkegård is rooted in men's attitudes, can lead to in its extreme,
can one get an impression of through the so-called Dionysian Movement, known from Greek Golti, without us going into it here. In connection with our previous treatment of the sexual, we pointed out how Paul, in response to direct questions from the Corinthian congregation, provides very concrete guidance on the sexual function within marriage.
But also, the church clearly shows, based on Paul, how the anxiety that follows from the demonic obsession with the sexual can be overcome. That is, through love and eroticism within the framework of marriage. And note that the church is helping to abolish this marriage that Paul holds up as a defense against us becoming a victim of this persecution from Satan, as Paul says.
At the same time, he emphasizes the importance of sincerity, loyalty, and also love in the marital relationship. Kyrkegård writes in his papers that in this, he has written one of the most talented defenses of marriage. We mentioned that it is the synthesis structure of the human being, that is, a synthesis of the eternal and the temporal, which is a prerequisite for anxiety.
possibility and that the demonic in a special way triggers this anxiety by taking control of the temporal part of the synthesis. And thus creates inner tensions and extremely contradictory conditions between the eternal and the temporal human being. As we pointed out earlier, it is particularly in the sexual, social, and religious areas that this tension and contradiction, and thus anxiety, will manifest itself in human life.
Therefore, we must also take a closer look at this social and religious aspect of human life. For Kierkegaard, it is obvious that the tendencies of dissolution he observes in his own time will lead to a breakdown of all higher ethical and religious values, which will necessarily have dramatic consequences within the social and religious sphere of life.
One consequence is that people who no longer have higher and eternal values to guide their lives and determine the framework for their self-realization. Take note of that. And thus, the individual and personal ethical responsibility that is more or less taken for granted is undermined. The consequences of this are what Kierkegaard is particularly concerned about, namely mass individuals, who are mostly focused on fulfilling their temporal needs and desires. And to enforce these desires, they act as a mass. I have previously mentioned what happened in Germany before and during World War II, as the prime example of what mass individuals, who have disqualified and lost their individual ethical responsibility, are capable of.
That's what Hitler relied on. He got the masses on his side, and I don't think they almost knew what he was up to. I don't think there were terribly evil people among those who participated in the extermination of Jews. I don't think they had anything against Jews, but they were swept up in this mass movement. They managed to carry out incredible things. And it is also not difficult in our days to notice how different interest groups with particular wishes and needs can almost achieve drastic societal changes and transformations by acting as a mass.
Like masses. That is, as we saw in Germany in the 1930s, when the Nazis gained influence over people and eventually power through processions and mass patterns. Everything is a consequence of the loss of eternal values that individuals were conscious of and obligated to. Or, as Malan Schuck writes,
All this has mainly become possible because individuals no longer have the support and firmness against external influences and political agitation that only belief in a transcendent power can provide. Churchward specifically pointed out in his later writings
the dechristianization in Europe, which was the deepest cause of the cultural crisis. The most serious consequences of this crisis are precisely because the belief in God as the solid foundation of human life had been abandoned. Consequently, many people easily become part of the masses who want to avoid contact with the eternal and try to suppress their anxiety by belonging to a multitude.
But this means a degradation of the individual, who can only maintain their identity by individually fighting through their anxiety in their existence. When humans become a mass, they can be easily directed and manipulated.
which will ultimately lead to the dissolution of just governance. Take note of that. Eventually, the dissolution of just governance occurs. Or you get a dissolution of just governance when you have mass people. Here, in the context of the cemetery, with the rational cessation of governance, it will
The art of politics becomes a game. Governing the state will become a game of knowledge. It's all about getting the masses bootlicked, getting them booted up, marching boots that is, and then getting them noisy, involved, moving, on one's side, indifferent, completely indifferent, whether they understand anything or not. In summary, one can say, yes, we can take it for now, just to conclude by mentioning that it requires a strong
moral stance and conviction to resist, it's very demanding. Yes, that's what it becomes and will continue to be criticized for, daring to challenge and go against the opinions of the masses. The masses are not democratically inclined towards the idea of people's right to have their own opinions. Anything that doesn't align with the masses' perceptions is seen as twisted madness that should have no place in a modern society.
We must simply acknowledge that the development in our time is increasingly moving towards thought control and a total lack of freedom of conscience. And as such, this takes on a clear totalitarian characteristic. I have to give an example because I'm reading it now, and I wonder what kind of twisted world I'm delving into. Because there's an actress type who travels around primary schools and performs some kind of theatrical piece about queer love, as she calls it.
And they have been to many schools. There hasn't been any problem. Everyone has participated. Then they came to Kvitsedd municipality.
And there were six children whose parents had requested exemption. It was a catastrophe of the world, both Vega and all the major newspapers wrote about it. Can you imagine something so terrible? Six students. Now they had shown this to a thousand students. But then there were six, and they are so young. And then I thought, yes, but the world is just the ugly rights. Recto was very clear. No, it is the parents' right, he said, to request exemption for it. No, it was so terrible.
I wonder, is it really true in Norway that some people believe it is terrible that some... I have mentioned it before, I have been a teacher in secondary school. And we had students who were Jehovah's Witnesses. And Jehovah's Witnesses are quite allergic to Christmas. And they asked for permission, the last week before Christmas, when we were at school parties, anything related to Christmas. Of course, we gave them permission. And we knew that when they asked for permission to travel to the south, they did not travel to the south, they were just at home.
Yes, but that's fine. When parents find out that we don't want our children to be exposed to that, then it's fine. It must be what each individual said. But, when there are six down in the basement, better to get rid of children, avoid participating in acting about love, it's almost like it's a national catastrophe. It's just bewildering.
Before I continue, I will explain why I often use paraphrased books instead of quoting directly from church hatred. And it is simply because it actually takes a lot of practice to read the original texts. Since church hatred, who is a great language artist, expresses himself in a special way that is not immediately easy to understand. If we were to use his texts, we would also have to spend a lot of time explaining what is meant.
Therefore, it is both time-saving and something that facilitates understanding to choose Malansjuks' presentation of churchwarden's thinking instead of the original texts. As a final and most important consequence of the social development resulting from the dissolution of higher ethical and religious values,
The dissolution that creates mass people, thus, reaches its peak in what churchwarden characterizes as a demonic religiosity in his papers. It will appear as a substitute for the true religion, that is, Christianity, and with a religiosity that will view God as evil because He stands in the way of human happiness. Here, God, as we know Him from His word, where the eternal values are rooted
and where His will is expressed, will be seen as something evil, something that must be fought against because the eternal values that He has established, and the way these values are expressed in His will for human life, by people, by Christianity, will be experienced as an obstacle, as something that stands in the way of their happiness.
And I don't think this will manifest itself in a way where people explicitly express their hatred towards God, but in a way where they abolish and nullify His will and establish a man-made deity that can accept and approve of what, according to God's word, is a violation of His Holy Law. And there can be no doubt that what we are seeing clear contours of today when the church consciously and willingly nullifies
clear and unambiguous points and laws in the Bible's ethical guidance. And this happens in tandem with the mighty execution and central position given to the flesh-centered, yes, widespread American music.
Based on this spiritual situation, it is not difficult to understand that God's word about sin and its consequences will be explained away, denied, and rejected, both outside and inside the church. In this demonic religiosity, where it is the will of demons that prevails instead of God's will, when the fear of the good reaches its highest potential.
And it is precisely the fear of the good that drives the church and Christians to discard the Bible's ethical guidance. Which is, after all, a guidance that shows the way to the good. Yes, to the good life. And then replace it with postmodern human thinking, which leads humans into the demonic. And let us conclude this sequence with melancholy. Then I will sit here until the end today.
In summary, one can say that by fighting the thought of God and the eternal, humans fight against themselves and ultimately annihilate themselves. Or as it is said, to kill God is the most righteous suicide, quite forgetting God. A human's deepest fall, so deep the animal cannot fall. Thus, by being lured by the fear of the good, humans are led to extreme self-destruction.
Destructive forms of existence. The path to the positive goes through the fear of evil. Whereby each individual, step by step, can win their identity, that is, remain with the individual, or the self. It is designed for that. Kirket understood it as its most important task, and developed the category of the individual.
This category was to become the basis for a renewal in all areas of human existence. But the human being cannot overcome the temporal possibilities that it fears without a belief in something eternal. The function of fear is then to make the human being aware that only the eternal can control the temporal.
And since fear always concerns the future, the coming, some will discover that only through the eternal can one conquer the coming, and precisely this victory can make one more powerful in the present action. Fear, which signifies the first fundamental steps,
in the future of the eternal, is therefore of essential importance for human existence, both in negative and positive respects. By trying to escape fear or suppress it by joining the masses, the individual falls into demonic power and loses their individuality. It thus serves as a receptacle for foolish demonic forces.
However, if the human being recognizes the deep meaning of fear and regards it as a serving entity, it leads to the individual who, through freedom from fear and commitment to the eternal, can shape their existence according to the pattern that an eternal power has designed for it. A human being, simply put.
A single individual who, through freedom from anxiety and commitment to the eternal, can shape their existence according to the pattern laid out by the eternal power, was written about in the context of circle care. And with that, we also conclude what I hope has been at least a glimpse into the reality, the mysterious, which Salmo expresses as follows, he has also placed eternity in their hearts.
Can we end there?