R: Become Lovedrunk

It is a well known fact that our party loves Love. Love is the crown of the virtues, the source and summit of life; God is Love, as the Gospel of John declares. With Christ, we proclaim the two greatest commandments: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind”; and “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Yet, it seems possible that one could become so enamored, so drunk with love, that it might cloud their vision of everything else, that one might lose sight of the world, or even their very self. Does this passion take our love too far? Ought we become intoxicated with love?

The affirmative answers the latter question with a radical yes! There is no taking love too far, and we ought to pursue love with complete investment, with “all your heart, all your soul, and with all your mind.” Love, if only it be true, is the one thing in the world that is Good without reservation. True love is worth even the destruction of everything you once knew, the loss of your very self, and the revolutionizing of your life — and maybe even the world. Not in spite of but because of this loss and destruction that is brought by the deepest and most passionate love, can relationships grow and flourish, and one’s life and even the world be renewed, or dare I say, resurrected. As Christ declares: “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Whether it be with God, with justice, or with a special someone, become madly in love.

The negative in this debate responds much more conservatively (one may say), arguing that if we take love too far, it may narrow our perspective too much and we may lose sight of ourselves and the rest of life. If we became drunk with love for someone or something, we wouldn’t be able to use our reason effectively. We would fail to see into the long-term and end up making impulsive and dangerous decisions with serious consequences. Take Romeo and Juliet, for example: Their unruly passion for each other resulted in death for themselves and many of their own loved ones. In fact, we should question if the passionate attraction between lovers such as Romeo and Juliet is really the truest form of love. What about love that persists even when passion dies down? True love, the negative argues, is ecstatic yet not driven by desire and passion, but rather reason and stability.