Christian is a Philosopher that comes from Belgium. What identifies him the most and above all is simplicity, for everything is better with “vanilla ice cream.” Perhaps, for this reason, his intellectual passion is criticism and irony, in the sense of trying to reveal what “hides behind the mask,” and give birth to the true. For him, ignorance and knowledge never “cross paths.” What he likes the most in his leisure time, is to go for a walk with his wife.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: With this American election ongoing, what is the most striking fact of the American situation now?
Dr. Christian Sorensen: I think that the most surprising, is the fact to perceive a polarized society, between parts, that defend what I will name as individualistic rights, and that fight, as counterpart, for social rights, by voguing what for me is an integrationist society, in the sense of being one, more humane and just, not because of a liberalism ill-conceived, but because commonwealth prevails, in what I understand as the good of the people, in contrast to what would be personal good, which leads in the case of the last, to social self-referentiality, and therefore pushes to conflict, in the context of disintegration, in consequence, ultimately unable to reach synthetic terms as plausible instances, from prior antithetical premises.
Jacobsen: There have been direct restrictions and repeals of women’s reproductive rights. Mostly, this happens with male leaders. Which isn’t saying much because, most leaders in the world are male. So, maybe, a more interesting line of thought is the following question: “Why those particular male leaders, e.g., Jair Bolsonaro, Donald Trump, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, or Rodrigo Duterte, and so on?” So, Christian, why those particular leaders?
Sorensen: What happens, is because most of these leaders are Christians, and if not, they’re close to some kind of religious fanaticism. All of them have in common, the fact of always climbing over the rights of women, since they have the will, of turning them, into what I will name the apple of discord, since they have perceived them as threats, because from the optical prism of a patriarchal society, and according to their philosophy of life, they firmly express the possibility of women to master their own body, which would imply in turn, a feminine self-sufficiency, that in time, due to an increasing disappointment, can reach to dispense with masculine need, and further carry, the loss of control over the gift of life, due to the reason, that if this logical sequence is followed, then the right to life, would be intrinsically linked to the reproductive rights of women.
Jacobsen: Looking at the consequences of the actions of these individuals, the general tale is one of oppression or suppression of the majority of the population to prevent garnering more equality with the richer minority of the population. Is it all about mammon? Have these, excluding China, highly religious countries succumbed, surrendered to both the temptation of mammon and God?
Sorensen: They have established, what I will name the eugenics of richness, since relying on different resources, that are used for mass extermination, such as it could be the current or other pandemics, which regardless of whether they have caused them or not, they have known well how to utilize these, as control mechanisms, in order to achieve said end, which ultimately is a covered expectative, for eliminating anything human, that humanely can hinder any minority of humans, especially, if they succumb to necessity, since the last would be highly threatening. Nevertheless, what’s not generally noticed, is the fact that the richest, are the only ones who place the burden and yoke, at the same time that they naively convince themselves, of being forced to bend their will, in order to subsidize subsidiarily the neighbor, meanwhile they have been artificially creating since ever, the unequal distribution for everything that could be invested, with feelings leading to the possession of something, and therefore, to the suffering associated with the state of lackness. In other words, some men have placed man, at the center of its own maelstrom and nightmare, by wanting to make him believe, that he’s fighting against the arms of giants, when actually what he has in front, are just the blades of windmills that turn. In this sense, it could be said, that minorities determine and control the destiny of the majorities, which paradoxically is exactly the opposite, of the principle that rules democracy, because in pragmatic terms, in my opinion, what occurs is that the richest, represent God in the world, and consequently, these are the ones who define, existentially speaking, the significance of desire, the object towards which it is cathected, and the goal to which it is headed. Therefore, strictly speaking, and contrary to what it’s commonly believed, it’s not the minority, who succumbs to the temptation of wealth and to God, but on the opposite, they have become God, and then, the temptation of wealth, has been placed in front of the vast majority, since when man, recognizes the existence of a reality that’s beyond the numerical unity, is when the imperiousness of necessity appears, and in consequence, is then this is what leads the majority, to fall into the idolatry of a small God, who basically is any other fellow man, to whom is given the character of omnipotence, for the simple fact of possessing what awakens the desire, but whose only need and temptation, respectively, is the need of the most needy, and their paralyzing feeling of resignation.
Jacobsen: What is the utility of international rights organizations and the United Nations now?
Sorensen: I think it depends, because the United Nations sometimes works with a quota system, that obeys to underlying political interests, which have nothing to do with their natural functions, while some international human rights organizations, also exhibit biases in favor of certain ethnic groups, which demonstrates as such, a sort of invisible bad marriage of convenience, with certain interest groups, respect to whom, they have ideological or political affinities. Under this frame of reference, I think that both fulfill what for me, would only be instrumental objectives, that are at the service of third parties, who telemetrate with an iron hand, these organizations, for placing them far away from their original missions, which in turn, derives in practical and ethical consequences, since a significant number of issues, related with the inhumane conditions of victims, who suffer the scourge of some type of oppression, remain adrift. The aforementioned, enables to state, that fundamental rights, are being constantly trampled, in front of their eyes, which means in concrete, that United Nations and international human rights organizations, are perfectly aware of everything around them, but simply they want to ignore what is happening, and act as if they weren’t knowing anything, which is the same, to say that coincidences do not exist, because when human rights violations appear everywhere, as if it were by chance, what has occured, is that these organizations, in order to follow faithfully the framework of international cooperation agreements, or to remain under the umbrella of certain cultural and religious beliefs, they actually see, out of the corner of their eye, all these catastrophes, nevertheless, they have preferred to let them pass, or directly and unfortunately, to let them pass away.
Jacobsen: What isn’t a utility in them? They are flawed organizations after all.
Sorensen: I think that the fact that these are defective organizations, in no case, makes them a cause for scandal, because like any other organization, they are made up of human beings, and therefore, are inherently imperfect, although they can progress, and then they’re perfectible, nevertheless the aforementioned, does not justify, regarding the pragmatic purposes pursued, the high level of distortions reached within their structures, which as such, is something completely different, from the fact of being defectives or useless under some aspects. In other words, what is ethically reprehensible about them, is their denialist attitude in front of abusive situations, that are linked, in my opinion, with their vested interests and secondary gains, that in some sense, allow them to get a slice of the cake, and leads these organizations, not to want to recognize nor to assume a reality, that irrefutably demonstrates, severe violations of basic human rights, which are morally and politically unacceptable, in a society that proclaims itself, to be culturally and ethically avant-garde.
Jacobsen: With the decades of embarrassment of Christian sects around the world, what will become of their image in the 2020s?
Sorensen: I think that currently, one of the difficulties that Christian sects face, in addition to being, in the particular case of the Roman Catholic Church, an extemporaneous religion, is the fact that they do not have any image, and therefore, that actually they have nothing to project of themselves anywhere, in this sense, I think that what has evolved within them, is what I will name the phenomenon of transfiguration, since there’s an absence as form of form’s negation, where there isn’t any possibility of retaining nothing within themselves, in terms of a determined generator of contents as figures, therefore Christians show, by going through supposed images, and eclipsing of senses, that is to say, the expression of something that specularly is not equivalent, because what is seen from the inside, ends up not being, what is seen from the outside, and in consequence finalizes not being nothing in absolute, in this manner, what has occurred to these sects, is that they have fallen, from their level of figurative image, because of a irreparable break point, that drives them into a process of unstoppable dissolution, which will be given, by what I’m going to denominate phenomenon of identity diffusion, since carries within them, a crisis of self-concept, and of sense of internal coherence, due to the intricate web of aberrations, in which they have been implied, and that lastly, has sealed their destiny, not only in a moral sense, but also from a gnoseological perspective, because Christian sects, have intended to confront, what for me, are essentially incompatible polarities, that along time, not only have not been able to integrate, but that they have also brought in the après quoi, with some lines of expression on their faces, which translates, as those facts have been already consummated, which ultimately means, that each time, they are more screwed and perturbated, when it comes to wanting to generate, dogmatic precepts and ethical values. In consequence, beyond the manipulative efforts, through which, Christian sects try to seek communicational strategies, for discovering conquering formulas, in order to raise a downcast image, what’s happening, is that their failure of coherence and false truths, has been internally converted, in a rupture of unity, that has thrown them, towards a dynamic of continuous deterioration, that I will name process of progressive spoiling, since by it, they’re going to continue expressing, instances of degradation, which will work as cumulative strings, that will turn them into landfills. The aforementioned means, that the more Christians try to correct their deviations, greater is going to be the intensity of these manifestations, therefore within the near future, they will hatch, due to saturation, with other signs and symptoms, which are going to obey to a second process, that I’m going to denominate, involution on behalf of the anguishing splitting.
Jacobsen: How will this impact the political situations in many countries where religion is political, is politics?
Sorensen: In countries where religion is political, politicians have historically established, with extraordinary success within their population, what for me is the dialectic of master and slave, since through it, they have managed to subdue the people, by stagnant mechanisms of educational and cultural precariousness, that have driven them to act, more as collective masses than as thinking subjects. Probably this paternalistic and political strategy, that is founded on figures, who present themselves with omnipotence, will be seen as saviour of nations, since people need to project their patriarchal religious beliefs and feelings onto it, nevertheless and paradoxically, it will begin to succumb progressively, once they recognize, what has kept them numbed and duped, within the terror of Christian theocracies, although there’s also a latent risk, because they can become politically and existentially disoriented, if there is no other worldview able to confort them, and therefore, that’s capable to take the place of a Christian paradigm, that didn’t have much more to give. In this sense, I think that it is essential, to strengthen the channels of quality education in these countries, taking into account the fact, that besides, this is one of the fundamental human rights, which if it’s taken widely, not only should be focused in the development of cognitive resources, but that also must promote, the consolidation of democratic and civic values, which may enable them, to get out, of what for me is the entropic political vicious circle, to whom the vast majority of these Christian countries, have been praying, and paying religious orders for more than a century.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the inside insight in sight on this site, Dr. Sorensen.
Sorensen: Looking forward that reflects the inside, you’re welcome, Mr. Jacobsen.
Image Credit: Christian Sorensen.