God and The Bootstrap Society

There are many comparables amongst the world's religions, beyond even the obvious ones like the idea that killing and stealing are wrong. Are these the ties that bind? Some may feel discomfort at the thought that they share an ideal with someone of another faith, as if they are somehow "cheating" on God. For me it is a validation of religion when I find these consistencies in other faiths. Finding similarities in varying religions' ideals is resonant because some things are universal. The question is, I suppose, what makes them universal? I believe that God is the common thread, and man's search for God has brought about many ideas that developed into religions.

There are a number of faiths that support modesty, or at least humility as a virtue, and I think most people believe this is true. I would like to address humanism, if that is a religion, which is as pure a form of narcissim I can think of. Essentially, the concept is man worshiping himself. In our society, man has become the be-all and end-all of importance. As a former humanist, I used to believe that mankind was, for good or ill, on the same wavelength by nature. Man needed something to believe in, therefore he created God. How's that for some hubris? We love the stories of the underdog who is victorious against all odds because we love the strength of the human spirit. By sheer force of his own power, man overcomes. But suppose for a moment that the human spirit fails and the underdog just goes under? It's great to celebrate the human spirit, but it is interesting logic that human beings love a scapegoat as well. When these things occur in our lives, our tendency is to look around for someone to blame. After all, if we don't manage to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps it is because something was unfair, right?

The Bootstrap philosophy has its positives and negatives. We should always try, work hard, do our best, but if we fail, we must evaluate why we were doing it in the first place using biblical standards. When suffering occurs, we must approach it philosophically. It is one of the aspects of eastern philosophies that I can appreciate when my bootstraps snap. We can indeed learn from suffering, and we can view any suffering as learning. One explanation is to say "God doesn't exist because a good God wouldn't allow suffering,." We must discern the truth or falsity of that statement and not fall into the trap of blaming God for suffering. I had a close friend who was a self-avowed athiest, but whenever we discussed suffering in the world she would rant against a God in whom she did not believe. You can't have it both ways. It can't be His fault if he isn't there. Then whose fault is it? It has to be someone's, right?

How to Love Pain

Many atheists tout the problem of evil as a powerful argument against the existence of God (or at least against the Christian God). There are a few ways in which this argument can be developed. Some, wishing to avoid making judgments on good and evil, choose instead to talk about the problem of suffering, or as we'll call it, the problem of pain.

Why is it, an atheist may ask, that God allows people to suffer such horrible pain when they have done little or nothing wrong? Little children die agonizing deaths for reasons they can't understand. Why does God allow this?

I think one way to respond to this attack is to reflect on the nature of pain. Is pain in itself evil? On the face of it this question might elicit an emphatic "yes." In fact, many would be surprised that I would ask the question because it seems so obvious. But let's look at the nature of pain, shall we? What sort of purpose does it serve, especially in the context of its role in God's design for our bodies.

We can disarm the problem of pain to some degree by pointing out that pain serves as a mechanism for informing us when our bodies are malfunctioning. I recall learning in elementary school how important pain receptors were, because if we didn't have them we might not know when we are being injured. In fact, this is exactly what happens with Hansen's Disease, aka leprosy. A person suffering from leprosy doesn't rot away, as had been thought in the past. Rather, due to the loss of sensation they injure their bodies to the point where they begin to lose parts (fingers, toes, etc.). I'd imagine the Hansen's Disease patient would gladly trade his or her condition with someone who can still experience pain. This example shows that pain is valuable to us as human beings.

But why should God have made pain to be the indicator? Why not something different, or even something pleasurable that is somehow associated with bodily harm? This response strikes me as rather silly. God made pain to be a negative sensation because there are harmful things going on. If the sensation were pleasurable then we would seek to harm ourselves. Then we would have a case for a deceptive, sadistic God.

"This is all well and good," another objector might say, "but why does God have to make the pain as intense as it sometimes is?" The obvious answer here is that the amount of pain often corresponds with the damage being done to the body. Not always, of course, but it often does. The more intense the pain, the more likely the victim is to seek medical assistance in a timely fashion. This can make all the difference in the effectiveness of treatment.

Another route an objector might take is to point out that sometimes babies experience intense pain in their short lives, then they die. Why wouldn't God just not let these babies experience the pain? One reason is that the baby's pain would be an indicator to the parents to seek treatment for their child. But then why not just let the baby show the signs of pain and not experience it? Doing this would make God a deceiver, and this is unacceptable. God is not in the business of lying to us just so we won't experience what I've already shown is a good thing in the first place.

When all these things are taken into consideration, the problem of pain doesn't seem to be that much of a problem after all. There are other ways to respond that further alleviate the supposed difficulties of the problem of pain. However, I think remembering what pain is and what it is for goes a long way in disarming it. Pain is not pleasurable, but it can be considered good.

God is Not Absent

My older son is the most wonderful two year old boy in the world (it's a fact! You could look it up!). He is sweet, funny, and loving and I would do just about anything for him. Last night, however, my little boy wasn't so sweet. You see, we've been trying to break him of either a) sleeping in mommy and daddy's bed, and/or b) having mommy or daddy sleep in his bed with him. For over an hour I had to sit and listen to him cry. He wasn't afraid, mind you, he just wanted me in there with him, as had been our custom. Instead, I sat in a chair in the doorway to his room with my head in my hands. It wasn't easy, but in the end he fell asleep on his own and woke up in good spirits.

Why did my son cry so much? He had a perception of what I was supposed to do at night and I wasn't fulfilling that expectation. The question is, should that have been his expectation? Is it really best for him that I sleep in his bed night after night? No, I don't think it is. Part of the process of growing up is learning to do things on your own and this is one of those things he needs to do. At this stage, however, that is difficult for him to understand, no matter how much I try to tell him.

That got me thinking. How many people get angry with God mainly due to His supposed absence during their time of suffering, much like my son's experience last night? I would wager that the number is large. Many non-Christians cite this as a reason for rejecting God altogether, and Christians are not immune either. Most of us have probably wondered why God let us experience certain things, or at least we know another Christian who has.

Now, I don't want to belittle the suffering people have experienced, but we as Christians need to step back and take stock. When we cry out in the midst of our sufferings we are just like my son. We are immature and lack understanding. This is somewhat acceptable for a young Christian but those of us who have been living in the faith for any length of time should know better (in fact we do often know better, we just choose not to act accordingly). So we as Christians should take comfort in the fact that God is still with us when we hurt. We are just choosing to doubt the goodness that He already proved when He gave His Son on the cross.

Does TV guide? If so, where?

Watching nighttime television is a real experience nowadays. About two hours of tv a week is average in my home, excluding news shows, so when I watched some prime time tv, I was in for an education. Viewing outside my regular fare, I was really surprised by the number of shows dealing with issues of homosexuality that were aired on one channel in one night. In fact, every show I watched touched on the subject in one way or another. There was, of course, Will and Grace, which used profanity and abusive name-calling (aimed at their friends, men calling one another b****, mind you)like no other show I have watched on tv, ever. Then The Apprentice, in which the contestants had to create a tv commercial, one of which used pornographic and homosexual innuendo that was NOT well received by the executives, who had planned on selling soap.

Last was ER, which used drama to address this serious and painful issue, and dealt intelligently with the effects of intolerance and/or acceptance by people of faith, both gay and straight. A lesbian daughter finally meets her birth mother after a long search and discovers her mother is a down-home Christian, singing with her church choir in the area. The issue is whether or not to tell her mother about her lifestyle. She does and it is just as she fears. Her mother tells her that homosexuality is wrong.

She tells her mother "Why do you people hate us? When there are really bad things in the world, like drugs and abuse, why do you say "better watch out for those lesbians, they're going to upset our ideal lifestyle...?" or words to that effect.

Her mother assures her that God loves her, argues against homosexuality, and then they part ways.

If the issue is intolerance, then at least both characters were intolerant. The daughter comes back to her mother's hotel later and says "Can you accept me just as I am?" The mother says "I can love you, no matter who you are." The daughter says "I don't want love without acceptance," hugs her and leaves to the choral music "Just as I am." Interesting choice of hymns. What does that mean, exactly?

This issue is a hot button for our culture, and I almost did not write about it. I seek to hurt or offend no one, but I felt compelled to point out how I feel as a Christian I am to address homosexuality.

Biblically, homosexuality is a sin. There are lots and lots of sins. We are born with a nature to sin, and so are condemned already in the sight of God. Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." It is our sin nature that separates us from God, it is not God that separates Himself from us. But God does not tell us to persecute others for their sin. Leviticus 19:17'You (A)shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him."

What the mother did in this case was absolutely biblical. God makes his stance on homosexuality very clear. 13'(L)If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act." We are not haters of sinners, being sinners ourselves, but we are not supposed to "incur sin because" of another. To accept another person's choice to sin is to sin ourselves. It doesn't mean hate them, but it does mean not to accept sin.

Judging: Relativism vs. just being chicken

Is there a difference between judging and using judgement? I recently posted about the cultural tendency towards putting children first, which, of course, most parents would deem a worthy goal, but in my post I used the word "judge" with regard to the parents in two scenarios. My point was that when parents do this, they commit idolatry when they fail to effectively parent their children. I wasn't very worried about offending them, since they don't exist. Though the events were hypothetical, I suppose being judgemental isn't appropriate, even hypothetically. Another blogger pointed this out to me, to my chagrin. I had to consider if I was guilty of being judgemental, even if I only viewed it as an exercise.

I would like to make a distinction between making a judgement and using judgement. God gave us tools with which we discern right from wrong, namely, our senses and our intelligence. My point is that there is a fear of making any sort of statement that would tend to point out wrongness in any situation. It is politically incorrect to call a sin a sin.

In my hypotheticals, I do not tell you to judge other parents so that you may tell them they are sinning and say, like the Pharisee "Oh, thank God I'm not as bad as you!" I do suggest using your ability to discern when you see sin in others, but to what end? ALWAYS, without fail, my motives for this should be for self application. Not to do so is, in fact, judgemental. When I observe a circumstance and discern something that I believe is wrong, my first objective is to self-evaluate and compare my own behavior in comparison with what is scriptural. The next step is to make corrections in myself if I am remiss. As I said "All scripture is .. profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and instruction in righteousness..." (KJV because that's the one I know, sort of...)

But above all, we as Christians must not be afraid to say that something is scripturally unsound and to make a statement based upon that. I do, however, caution myself because if you make a statement of belief, you must act upon it, and that is more difficult than I would like to admit. In doing so, I am pinning myself down. This is why I believe our culture tends not to make firm statements about anything. This is the curse of relativism.