On Faith

An essay about my own faith system. It began as an assignment for a high school English class, but the final product is something I believe to be important enough to share beyond the classroom.

 

ON FAITH

by Zachary E. Tenney

 

     Faith, to me, is a really difficult concept. The common connotation with the word “faith” is typically religious, but I do not believe faith has to be religious at all. One can place faith in anything, as long as it’s something they truly believe in with the entirety of their heart, mind, and soul. Moreover, if someone doesn’t believe in something with all of their heart, mind, and soul, then they probably shouldn’t be putting their faith in it anyway. If faith isn’t completely genuine, then it is automatically false. There isn’t a middle ground, a person is either completely devoted to their system of beliefs or not at all. This is the view that I have developed on faith, and it has led me to place my faith in something in which I feel comfortable with and capable of investing myself fully. My faith lies in absolute freedom of the self, achieved through creative self-expression and a refusal to be pinned down by the oppressiveness of conformist society. I think that my philosophy might be best expressed in the following  words, from philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche: “The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.”

     There is a method hidden underneath the madness of my rather abstract system of beliefs. At the foundation of my faith  are five ideological pillars. The first of these is music. I believe music to be the ultimate expressive force, above all others. Music has the versatility to incorporate an impressive variety of elements: passion, creativity, all of the emotions felt by humans, literary concepts, and even visuals which can arise in either lyrical imagery or in live performances. Nothing exists which cannot in some way be expressed through music, and there is nothing which can match its awesome vitality. I find myself again in firm agreement with Nietzsche, who said that “without music, life would be a mistake.”

     The next pillar of my faith is the idea of rebellion against conformity and all that which might prevent me from fulfilling my ambitions or which aims to hinder my freedom or the freedom of others. The writer Albert Camus says that “the only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” Society is dependent on the submission of people, it requires them to become cogs in their great machines. Whether or not the people are content with such an existence is no concern of society’s, as long as the machine continues to function. There is but one way to transcend beyond this meaninglessness, and that is complete personal rebellion.

     Thirdly comes open-mindedness. The words of Nietzsche now for the third time find themselves surfacing in this explanation of my philosophy. He says, “There are no facts, only interpretations.” I vehemently agree with this statement; I believe that nothing should be taken to be true in the state in which it is presented, instead information should become true through interpretation by each individual. Truth is very relative, for no two humans share exactly the same worldviews. Each person perceives their surroundings independently of every other person, thus creating rifts small and large between our systems of belief. Therefore, I believe it is important to keep the mind entirely open to different ways of life, and even to engage in foreign practices simply for the sake of experience. All too often people pass judgment without first gaining knowledge of or experience in whatever it is they are judging. To me, this is both asinine and criminal. Experience gives way to judgment. Without experience, judgment is empty.

     The fourth pillar is a fearlessness of death. I have accepted that my life is finite, that my time is limited. With this knowledge healthily rooted in heart and mind, I am now free to go about living the most pleasant life possible. This is in line with the teachings of Epicurus, who states: “Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist.” Indeed, death lies beyond life. This may seem like an obvious statement, but it is of tremendous importance. The fact that death is beyond life means that death is beyond perception, and so it need not be feared. If people manage to crush their fear of death, then they are a thousand steps closer to achieving absolute freedom.

     The fifth and final pillar is the pursuit of happiness, and it is colossal in its significance. In order to exist happily and live a life of contentedness, one must relentlessly pursue whatever it is which will make him or her happy. The American musician Tom Petty once wisely said, “Do something you really like, and hopefully it pays the rent. As far I’m concerned, that’s success.”  Sufficient emphasis cannot be placed on the truth of this idea. One life has been given to me, and to live it in a hole of non-fulfillment would lead to laziness and depression, and that amounts to a wasted life. And so I have vowed to fight as hard as I must to achieve what I define as happiness and success. Above all I desire to become a famous musician and writer. Conformists would call this a dream because they believe it is too difficult to achieve, that only a rare few can accomplish such goals. That is plain, offensive nonsense. What makes me different than those rare few? They are human, and I am human. Therefore, the careers they have achieved are not unattainable for me. I have the physical and mental capability to reach my goals, and a willingness to battle my way to their achievement. And there is one more vitally important force that I possess which is driving me onward.

     I have faith.

Author's Note

-feel free to share your thoughts on the views presented in this essay, as well as views of your own. Thank you for taking the time to read.

Reviews

[bub]

A personal constitution. Five constructs for living a faithful life. Well written and clearly inspired by a deep passion. Many years ago I took an art history class and the professor, a well liked contrarian whose classes were always in high demand, began all of his analysis with mathematical principle. Indisputable mathematical fact was, in his mind, at the root of all that makes us human and that belief often led him to the musical scale and the idea that we are all inherently tuned to it. No one has to teach us where the notes are going. When we hear the scale we know in our deepest consciousness where the notes are going and where they will lead. If there is a modification to this linear scale that makes sense we are delighted and that is the source of our pleasure when we experience music. If you apply that basic principle, pleasurable modifications to our shared expectations based on our common experiences of the physical world, you have art. He had a flamboyant style that made his rather dry analysis fun and mysterious but with only the written word and no arms to wave, no fingers to point, and no voice with which to exclaim I can't duplicate here the beauty and the mystery that he conveyed to us with his constant riffs on this simple idea. I thought of him when I read your piece because your first two pillars contraindicate to some degree. Music is beautiful because we share an intrinsic mathematical commonality. Music is, elementally, conformity. I understand your existential view on conformity and I agree with it, but to attain the kind of freedom that Camus wrote about one must accept the horrible sameness that pervades the human consciousness. We are all the same really and to live without acknowledging that will not ever bring you to understand rebellion.

[Zachary E. Tenney]

Thank you for your review. I must say I disagree with the statement that music is conformity. Music is the essence of non-conformity. Mathematics is conformity. Maybe it is within us, built into our nature. But really math is just construct of humans. Numbers do not precede us, numbers were invented by us. Mathematical facts are human constructs, a means of expressing complex information. So perhaps the mathematics of music is hardwired into us, but I don't think we're really in touch with that on a conscious level. We can ignore it if we want to and focus on the more spiritual, free-flowing aspects of music and life. Music has largely formed the views I expressed in my essay, especially the non-conformist views. As for your statement about Camus and the freedom he wrote about, I found that to be rather interesting. Indeed, I think accepting human sameness is a key first step to freeing oneself. By observing that sameness, one becomes aware of the sameness and thus becomes free to break from it. Maybe the sameness still remains internally, but unless there is conscious awareness of the sameness, it remains powerless. Those are my thoughts on the matter. Again, thank you for taking the time to read and review my essay, and thank you for sharing your thoughts as well.

[bub]

Somewhere, in another dimension, in another world, or in a better place there is a drum beating and we are all dancing along, together, hung up on that same beat. Rebellion, conformity ... just different moves off that base line.