The Courage to Be Christian, Essay Example

The philosophies of Simone Weil, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mother Teresa share an interest in the secular saint, a modern archetype which combines the hero and the saint. Ambrosio describes the secular saint as “an ideal type of person who lives the question of meaning in human existence fully open to its mystery and fully committed to searching for meaning along the paths of both the hero and the saint.” (54-59) Martin Luther King, Jr. perhaps typifies the traditional concept of the secular saint. In his book The Strength to Love, he opens Chapter Five, “Loving your enemies”, with a passage from the Biblical book of Matthew. (49) Up against the cynical realism of skeptics- mainly in the other schools of existentialist philosophy, such as Nietzsche- called Christians cowardly, weak, and impractical for obeying Biblical commands in the hope of realizing a utopian future. (50) King writes that loving our enemies consists of: 1) developing the power to love and forgive, 2) recognizing human duality and developing a sensitivity to empathy, 3) seek to win his friendship without humiliating him. (50-52) One of the most heroic qualities of Mother Teresa was that she struggled with loneliness and did not accept her religion passively; she struggled with it. Taken out of the context of this struggle, many of her statements seem to be scandalous for a saint to think—much less say or write. For example, in one letter she wrote that “The heat here is just burning—One big consolation for me—since I can’t burn with the love of God- at least let me burn with the heat of God” (Teresa 253-254). Ironically, Mother Teresa also fulfills the role of a tragic hero in many respects, refuting the skeptics’ view of the secular saint and embodying certain aspects of the other existentialists’ strong, tragic heroes. However, support for Mother Teresa was also controversial because she emphasized solidarity with the suffering and poor people over the interests of developing a single idea of justice; this also strengthened her resolve to work with the disadvantaged citizens from across the world. (Ambrosio 63)

Like Socrates, Simone Weil committed herself to her philosophical principles at the cost of her life. However, Socrates’ beliefs that morality follows from rationality shares only a limited comparison with Weil, who embraced the sacredness of human life but not on behalf of the appearance or personality. The entirety of the person, according to Weil, makes them sacred and establishes a meaning of life. (Weil 50-52) According to Ambrosio, this idea of heroic perfection- or arete– was a staple of the Greek world view, although Weil focuses primarily on wholeness of presence and choice rather than on the actions themselves. (2009) She admits the influence which the Greek writers had upon her personal philosophies, calling Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Virgil geniuses whose literary skill furthered their views of philosophy. (Weil 67) In a letter written from Birmingham jail, Martin Luther King, Jr. advocates the Christian spirit and his duty of arete, as realized in active citizenship (Ambrosio 63). Mother Teresa wrote of her vow to give everything which she believed God sought from her: “This is what hides everything in me.” (29) In her complete dedication to her vow, her suffering was perfect, strong, secular, human, and saintly; her arete was the vow which she lived by until she died.

Works Cited

Ambrosio, Francis J. Philosophy, Religion, and the Meaning of Life. The Teaching Company. (2009). Print.

Jr. King, Martin Luther. Strength to Love. Augsburg Fortress Publishers. (1981). Print.

Lavine, T.Z. From Socrates to Sartre: The Philosophic Quest.

Teresa, Mother. Mother Teresa: Come Be my Light. (2009). Image Publishing. Brian Kolodiejchuk (ed). Print.

Weil, Simone. SimoneWeil: An Anthology. Grove Press. (2000). Print.