The Danger Of Rationalism

Many worldviews, even if true, can be misused by their adherents in a dangerous manner.  A Christian who understands that Christ alone can save them, for instance, may indulge in wicked behaviors because he or she realizes that Christ has offered him or her forgiveness and restoration and that no righteous behavior can earn redemption.  Of course, this embodies a severe distortion of Christianity, for moral obligations become no less binding simply because someone has been reconciled to God.  A Jewish follower of Judaism might falsely conclude that Yahweh has chosen his or her ethnicity to be superior to others and can act accordingly.  Of course, this represents a drastic misunderstanding of Judaism.

People, including myself, have misused rationalism as well.

And I'm not the only one I've heard say this.  Philosophy and reason are indescribably helpful and necessary, but I have justified abstaining from doing what I recognized as the right thing because I needed to "think about it more".  Actually, one can easily avoid ethical obligations by trying to determine if they are legitimate or not.  Honestly, I still can struggle quite deeply with not acting in the most loving or empathetic manner, partly due to philosophical revelations which forced me to realize the general lack of epistemological value emotions have (which therefore led to me ignoring the feelings of others) and partly because of a depressing hardening process that has occurred in the past year of my life.  It is interesting that I will passionately and wonderfully defend moral truths with my intellect using the most inescapable logical proofs, support the full spectrum of Biblical human rights, and rebuke and refute others who claim humans don't possess a special value, but then I might ironically turn around and treat others in suboptimal ways that do not emphasize their worth.  Worse, I can misapply the same thing that led to me defending human value--reason--to justify this.  I might do everything from ignoring someone because they aren't as rational as I am to acting coldly towards them because their feelings aren't correctly aligned with truth.

I am not saying to just blindly follow your conscience or intuitions or to not seriously contemplate the morality of an action or thought.  Skepticism is required to learn, but once you know something, including how to rightly treat others, do not act like a skeptic about the issue any longer.  Rationalism is still unavoidably necessary, but people should use it to lead others to the truth about ethics and God instead of using it to dismiss others who are ignorant.  Knowing for sure that there is a God should produce just and loving treatment of all people without excluding those who have yet to experience a Damascus road moment with reason, reality, and God.  I have unfortunately failed at this, and not only a minor handful of times.  In all honesty, I have not yet discovered how to properly do this.

This is indeed a potential danger of rationalism, as no truth is dangerous in and of itself, but it is one I must heed, for I have failed in this way far too often.