Personal Authenticity

Personal authenticity starts with the self-awareness that only introspection in the name of rationalism brings and then it spills over into honest, consistent expression of one's personality and worldview.  Outside of this, there is either no authenticity or it is incomplete at best.  Superficiality is all that otherwise will be found.  In an age where "authenticity" is frequently spoken of inside and outside the church as if it is nothing more than a shallow way of outwardly fitting into social groups without any deep introspection or sincerity, personal authenticity needs to be understood if anyone is to be able to intentionally, knowingly express it in the sense that so many people might pretend to.

Self-awareness and expression of one's individual thoughts, struggles, triumphs, joys, and talents is always needed.  Every single person who has not embraced rationalism has much to recognize about themselves that will make their grasp of reality--for the contents of one's mind are as much a part of reality any conceptual truth or physical object--even clearer than it could ever otherwise be.  In turn, this introspective clarity is one component for genuine expression of self that transcends the superficial, halfhearted self-knowledge and self-expression that can so easily be found in most communities.

Irrationalistic hypocrites that they are, many people will say that they prize authenticity up until someone else insists that their true self involves a characteristic that the former group subjectively disapproves of.  What such people truly mean is they like the thought of being themselves up until someone else expresses their individuality even in a a way that is not irrational or sinful.  This is one way to tell that, unless someone is trying to be deceptive about this aspect of their life and is thus already not concerned with truth, a person is only interested in authenticity when it benefits them or does not entail something in others they subjectively do not relate to or prefer.

Wherever rationalism does not have a stronghold, self-awareness is one of the casualties for individuals and cultures alike.  No one can understand and therefore cannot express themselves as they truly are on any consistent level without gazing within themselves while forsaking all assumptions.  Again, there is no authenticity without rationalism because there is no deep self-awareness and intelligence apart from rationalism.  Calling for the former without also sincerely calling for the latter is a sign that a person or culture is deluded to the point of not understanding basic philosophical consistency.

A society which calls for personal authenticity without coupling it with pure rationalism will never be defined either by authenticity or rationality.  It is only individuals who have liberated themselves from fallacious beliefs and the prison of assumptions, both those of personal and social origin, who are free to understand themselves in the light of reason and exhibit true authenticity.  Even then, only others who have done the same are capable of truly understanding and relating to them in the truest sense possible.  Authenticity of the deepest kind is nowhere to be found where someone has not examined themselves without making assumptions, which itself is often nowhere to be found where someone has not systematically aligned with rationalism.