Easier than it seems

Kierkegaard is obviously critical of how faith has evolved. Faith, he explains, is not as easy as we make it out to be; it is not simply standing up in front of a congregation and saying “I believe.” He almost seems to suggest that it is nearly impossible to exhibit true faith. The example of faith, Abraham was put to the test when God asked him to sacrifice his only legitimate heir. Abraham, in his great faith, despite great anguish, obeyed God and carried his son up the mountain to be sacrificed. How many of us would be willing to make such a demonstration of faith? While it seems as though the answer is none, I would care to argue differently.

The problem is not with faith but with one’s relationship to God. Yes, for many of us God is just simply an abstract concept we cannot even begin to explain. To complete such a sacrifice for this abstract idea would seem absolutely irrational. But, Abraham had a close relationship with God for most of his life and he had been promised a son and was given one by God. I equate this relationship to that of a mother and child. The mother has loved the child greatly for its entire life; the child, in return, loves its mother. If the mother were to ask the child to do something unethical, would the child refuse? This would obviously require a very strong relationship between the mother and child, but I would say that in some cases, the child would do what the mother asked. The child, in its relationship to the mother, has experienced its mother’s love and has come to trust that the mother has its best interests in mind. While the child might not understand the mother’s reasoning, it might still complete the task at hand. Thus the child has suspended the ethical in order to keep its close relationship with its mother and stay under her loving protection.

Faith in this sense is in no way as easy as speaking the words “I believe,” but is not as impossible as we make it out to be. We have seen countless examples throughout history of people who have suspended the ethical in order to draw closer to a loved one. Take for instance, Charles Manson and the “Family.” The people he assembled under him probably knew what he asked them to do was unethical, but because of their love and commitment to him, they did whatever he asked. It was easy for them to suspend the ethical in favor of the individual.

Now, the question of whether there is a teleological suspension of the ethical is one I won’t attempt to answer. My point is merely that once a relationship is established between the individuals, be it man and God or man and man, suspension of ethical, faith as it appears to be, is not impossible to imagine.