The Catharsis Of Tears

Crying is not inherently associated with sadness.  Tears could spring up from pain, sadness, joy, or relief, making them a versatile way to react to emotion.  For all of the emotionalism present in the world, there is still the attitude among some that shedding or showing tears is something negative.  How idiotic it is that there are those who flee reason for emotionalistic beliefs, only to belittle or shun displays of emotion that do not necessarily come forth from enslavement to it!  Tears born out of sadness are perhaps most frequently looked down upon by a certain kind of non-rationalist as if they indicate stupidity or inferiority.

There is nothing irrational about having emotions no matter their objections, since this does not mean that one is emotionalistic or is even tempted to be.  There is nothing weak about showing tears or the specific emotion of sadness in public or private.  In either case, there could be great personal reluctance to express emotion in this way, which would actually require strength to set aside, but in some social settings, there is the added obstacle of irrationalists thinking that to cry is to give in to weakness.  What could be no small amount of psychological strength might actually be necessary to overcome either of these kinds of barriers to crying.

More foundationally than how fools might perceive someone who cries, embracing one's introspective awareness of emotions and the capacity to act on them by shedding tears is a way to pursue the empowerment of knowing and releasing emotion without falling to emotionalism.  In this way, someone can acknowledge their suffering without making assumptions, experience the personal nature of emotion while standing firm against despair, and seek catharsis.  No one has to give in to the real weakness of irrationalism, philosophical apathy, or neglect of the problems that led to sadness by shedding tears.

Unfortunately, many people seem to be deterred from enjoying this kind of catharsis largely because of the vulnerability of crying or because some people might consider it strange.  They might feel as if they are forfeiting some personal dignity or inviting abuse from others if they were to cry, especially in front of other people.  If they believe these things to be true rather than just feel as if they were true (they are not, and truth is not dictated or revealed by emotion), then this is either due to irrationality on their own part or bowing to societal pressures rather than looking to reason and introspection.  For Christians, there are more layers to the issue here, since having and expressing emotion are never themselves sinful and Jesus himself freely cries before others out of sorrow (John 11:35 says he cried over the death of Lazarus).

Some Christians (the more conservative evangelicals and complementarians specifically) denounce tears as useless, stupid, or weak, driven by sexist ideology to target men in particular, but there is no such thing as crying itself being problematic in Christian philosophy or in light of the necessary truths of reason.  The catharsis of tears is within every person's reach, though only some might be open to engage in this cathartic act without shame due to their natural personality or, more importantly, a correct worldview.  Crying out of rationalistic self-awareness can in truth be one of the most accessible and helpful ways to act on the pain or sadness that, sooner or later, is almost certainly going to seize the hearts of every person.