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on religion — rants — home last changed 20 March 2007 |
allow me to paint for you a scenario. of course you know that i will relate it to religion in a moment, but ignore that link until i make it and find yourself in the scenario.
imagine that there's somewhere you want to go. it's very important that you get there, but there is no immediate urgency.
you don't have a map, but you know that your destination lies to the north of your home and that it is a considerable distance away. due to the geography of the region, you can be fairly certain that if you simply get in your car and drive northward you will reach the vicinity of the place you seek in approximately four hours. there are many places along the way at which you will be able to get fuel and ask for more specific directions.
so you get in your Volkswagon and head north.
while stopped at a signal light, a man walks up to your car and raps on the window. keeping an eye on the signal light, you roll the window down an inch to hear what he has to say.
the man says that he can take you where you want to go, if you'll just scoot over to the passenger seat and let him drive.
you reply that you're hesitant to trust a complete stranger, and the man smiles indulgently. he invites you to ask him any questions you wish, so that he can put your mind at ease.
you might ask him how he can know where you want to go, since you haven't told him. he replies that there are really only two destinations; one to the north and one to the south. many other homes and businesses line the streets of course, but they are merely distractions. however, he can easily navigate the tree-lined avenues and flowered lanes, if you'll just let him drive.
that probably sounds a bit far-fetched, so you might ask him if he's ever been where you're going. he admits that he has not been there yet, and is in fact on his way there now. he then pulls a cell phone out of his pocket and explains that his good friend owns the place where you are going, and has given him flawless directions. you can benefit from this knowledge as well, if you'll just let him drive.
the light will turn green in a moment, but you have two more questions. you ask him if he has a map, so that you can see your destination and plan your own course. he replies that the only map he has was imprinted on his mind by his friend, and the complexity is such that you would be unable to remember all the twists and turns. it will be much easier if you'll just let him drive.
finally, you ask him if he will give you his friend's phone number so that you can call him if you get lost. he replies that his friend is a very popular man, and screens his calls. your call would simply go to voice mail. moreover, his friend has entrusted him to guide people and he would be betraying his friend's trust if he simply left you out here alone with only a cell phone number. if you'll just let him drive...
the light turns green. what do you do?
does he know where you want to go? if so, how? does he know how to get there? why is he unable to give you simple directions? or is he just unwilling? does he know the owner of the place where you're going? if so, how... considering that he's never been there himself?
assume for the sake of the story that you've never had any bad experiences with carjacking or violent crime, but you've heard stories of what has happened to people who trust one-too-many strangers.
what if it's not just your life? what if your children are in the back seat?
do you believe that this stranger has only their best interests at heart?
if you answer "no" —or something more emphatic— congratulations... you've talked yourself out of organized religion.
what am i talking about?
well, i'm assuming that your intended destination is heaven. the man who comes out of nowhere to tap on your window and claim to be a personal friend of God is your neighborhood pastor/preacher/priest/whatever.
no, i'm not trying to say that your Volkswagon will get you to heaven in four hours. it's an analogy.
the reference to geography is a nod to folk wisdom which implies, in part at least, that those who live a "good" life are obviously somewhat closer to God than those who don't. to put it in more religious terms, by always "striving to be Christlike" we can be sure that we are going in the right direction. it is from this wisdom, i believe, that we all draw our spiritual bearings.
the stoplight could be symbolic of a thought-provoking experience in your life. perhaps you hear of a young child who dies in a car accident. perhaps you are moved by the selfless nature of a woman who dons a firefighter's jacket every day to save the lives of people she's never met before. whatever it is, it causes you to step away from the daily details of your life... into a metaphysical place where you can contemplate your existence more objectively.
it is possible that someone will find you in such a moment. and in your troubled state of mind, you may ascribe spiritual significance to that discovery.
and i'm not trying to say that's bad. it's not my place to say what's significant to you.
the question is whether you entrust your salvation, and that of your family, to a man who has no more proof of his relationship with God than i do of mine. if i claimed to be Jennifer Love Hewitt's boyfriend, who would believe me? nobody, and rightly so. for one thing, nobody has any reason to believe that i've ever had the privilege of meeting her, or that she would like me. but when God comes into the equation, suddenly reason is irrelevant. because God doesn't have to make sense.
what am i saying?
i'm saying that logic and faith are not compatible. either you believe that a man can put you in touch with God, based solely on his claims that he can... or you look at it logically and call shenanigans.
i'm saying that churches are businesses, and big churches are big businesses, and i don't trust big business to do anything that's good for me.
i'm saying that my relationship with God is my business and mine alone. nobody else gets to have a say in it. and i think that's how it should be.
i'm saying that i don't see the point of listening to someone else tell me what God wants me to do with my life. who died and put them in charge? i have access to all the same resources they do, and i'm as intelligent as they are. so why should i pay them for agreeing or disagreeing with me? why should i support a mission whose only real goal is to get more people to support their mission?
i'm saying that i think it's a bit dishonest to go to church for the socializing before and after, and that's the only reason i can find to go. sure, it's great to hang out with a bunch of people who possess good moral standards... but i would like to find them without having to listen to somebody blather for hours about people who've been dead for centuries.
i'm saying that i don't believe the Bible holds the answer to every question, and i do believe that anyone who applies ancient solutions to modern lives will be disappointed sooner or later. eventually you'll find yourself naked in a crowded restaurant, condemning all the gluttonous heathens in Arabic and wondering why nobody is praising Jesus.
i'm saying that religion doesn't work for everybody, and refusing to go to church doesn't reveal low moral standards... it means only that someone declines to trust another mortal man or woman with the interpretation of God. conversely, going to church doesn't make a person "good" in any sense of the word. it means only that they're more trusting than some of us.