As a former academic who studied and taught philosophy, I am simpatico with you regarding seemingly bastardized readings of philosophers and philosophies. However, knowing what I do about Kierkegaard (which is pretty much what you relayed here) I was careful to make my statement in such a way:

This final stage involves something more: a leap of faith. For Kierkegaard, this meant taking the leap of faith in a deity. But the characteristics of the leap can be (and I think should be) generalized to other things.

[new emphasis]

Could I have spent another sentence or two making it clearer that I am not speaking for Kierkegaard when I step outside of how he specifically characterized the religious stage? Yes. I simply chose not to spend that much editorial time on it. But for what it’s worth, had you and I been conferring on this piece beforehand, I would have taken your notes and made it clearer before publishing.

Thanks!