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camwynI missed the opportunity on 3 December, but that's no reason to stay quiet now.
I do not believe in Satan. I am a Catholic by upbringing and a Christian by faith regardless of what the Great White Father in Rome might say that I do not agree with, but I do not believe in the Devil. Why?
Because human beings, on their own, require no help at all to do the things credited to the Adversary.
Ask the people of Bhopal, India what happened twenty years ago because human beings were greedy and careless. Ask what happens when human beings decide they would rather have money in their pockets than life in someone else's heart and light in someone else's eyes.
In the face of the horrors that humanity visits upon themselves and the world we live on, why am I a Christian? Why do I believe in a kindly, compassionate God when monstrosity is brought down on the heads of people simply because they are poor and brown and far away?
Because of people like this. And people like this. And people like this, and this, and this, and this, and this.
It is easy to be comfortable. It is natural, in the sense of 'what one expects from things of nature', not to think much beyond the borders of one's genetic group and immediate environment. It takes something more to look beyond that, and to reach beyond one's self, which is what these people are doing.
Even if I am wrong about Jesus (and I do not think I am), I believe in God because of the people who choose to help, the people who choose to act- because inaction and entropy are the way to destruction, to the light going out. Goodness comes from conscious thought or subconscious action taken from learned behavior long ago. Goodness is born in the moment when someone says 'if that were me-' and decides that it is important to act on that thought.
Evil is not money- evil is concentrating on money at the expense of life, at the expense of thinking about life. Evil is choosing, deliberately, to ignore the idea that something might have happened to you, had you been in different circumstances. Evil is choosing, subconsciously, to walk in blindness because it is easier that way. Evil is allowing carelessness that takes a life when you know there is another way. Carelessness that takes a life when you did not know- that is bad, yes, that is horrible, but that is not the same. The industrialist who builds a building and lines its walls with asbestos because he thinks he is keeping his people safe from fire is not evil if he does not know that asbestos causes cancer. Evil begins when he is presented with proof, with truth, and denies it to keep his money. From there it spirals out of control, for entropy is the easy path- unless someone stops it.
I believe in goodness because I have seen it in action. I believe that human beings are capable of it unless they are so far debased that they have lost both the ability and the desire to empathize, or are lost in self-hatred too great to overcome. I believe that goodness is part of the so-called divine spark, the moment in human evolution which the Catholic Church teaches us was the point where God distinguished human ancestors as something special and wondrous. From that point on in history, it is up to us to do good, to live up to that spark and reach out to the world around us, knowing that to do otherwise is to bring on the winter darkness that will never lift.
I cannot be silent. I will not. Not while I have some way to write, to speak, to do good. I got a new job this year, in Corporate America. It pays well. The Christian message is very clear: from those to whom much is given, much is expected.
I'll be at the post office on Monday.
I do not believe in Satan. I am a Catholic by upbringing and a Christian by faith regardless of what the Great White Father in Rome might say that I do not agree with, but I do not believe in the Devil. Why?
Because human beings, on their own, require no help at all to do the things credited to the Adversary.
Ask the people of Bhopal, India what happened twenty years ago because human beings were greedy and careless. Ask what happens when human beings decide they would rather have money in their pockets than life in someone else's heart and light in someone else's eyes.
In the face of the horrors that humanity visits upon themselves and the world we live on, why am I a Christian? Why do I believe in a kindly, compassionate God when monstrosity is brought down on the heads of people simply because they are poor and brown and far away?
Because of people like this. And people like this. And people like this, and this, and this, and this, and this.
It is easy to be comfortable. It is natural, in the sense of 'what one expects from things of nature', not to think much beyond the borders of one's genetic group and immediate environment. It takes something more to look beyond that, and to reach beyond one's self, which is what these people are doing.
Even if I am wrong about Jesus (and I do not think I am), I believe in God because of the people who choose to help, the people who choose to act- because inaction and entropy are the way to destruction, to the light going out. Goodness comes from conscious thought or subconscious action taken from learned behavior long ago. Goodness is born in the moment when someone says 'if that were me-' and decides that it is important to act on that thought.
Evil is not money- evil is concentrating on money at the expense of life, at the expense of thinking about life. Evil is choosing, deliberately, to ignore the idea that something might have happened to you, had you been in different circumstances. Evil is choosing, subconsciously, to walk in blindness because it is easier that way. Evil is allowing carelessness that takes a life when you know there is another way. Carelessness that takes a life when you did not know- that is bad, yes, that is horrible, but that is not the same. The industrialist who builds a building and lines its walls with asbestos because he thinks he is keeping his people safe from fire is not evil if he does not know that asbestos causes cancer. Evil begins when he is presented with proof, with truth, and denies it to keep his money. From there it spirals out of control, for entropy is the easy path- unless someone stops it.
I believe in goodness because I have seen it in action. I believe that human beings are capable of it unless they are so far debased that they have lost both the ability and the desire to empathize, or are lost in self-hatred too great to overcome. I believe that goodness is part of the so-called divine spark, the moment in human evolution which the Catholic Church teaches us was the point where God distinguished human ancestors as something special and wondrous. From that point on in history, it is up to us to do good, to live up to that spark and reach out to the world around us, knowing that to do otherwise is to bring on the winter darkness that will never lift.
I cannot be silent. I will not. Not while I have some way to write, to speak, to do good. I got a new job this year, in Corporate America. It pays well. The Christian message is very clear: from those to whom much is given, much is expected.
I'll be at the post office on Monday.
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no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 03:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 03:32 pm (UTC)Well, we were given free will and made "sufficient to stand, though free to fall."
Many people today look at Satan as not so much a real, physical creature, but a way of explaining HOW there can be such cruelty and suffering in the world. But that always to me smacks of shifting blame, imho.
And yes, Union Carbide is/was evil.
no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 04:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 04:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 05:27 pm (UTC)I don't think I can say it any other way.
no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 08:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 05:43 pm (UTC)Totally agree.
9/11 being a perfect example. What happened that day wasn't the devil or Satan, it was humans being horrible to each other. During that time though, we also got to see humans reaching out to one and other, and that's where we saw God. Everyone has the capability of being more evil than any pointy eared devil could even think of being. Like Crowley said, we have imagination. And electricity. But humans also have the capability of showing infinite goodness. We make the choice.
You will like this poem
Date: 2004-12-04 05:48 pm (UTC)One of the most powerful pieces I've ever read.
Re: You will like this poem
Date: 2004-12-04 07:56 pm (UTC)Oh, and...
Date: 2004-12-04 06:19 pm (UTC)Let's not forget these people, (www.peta.org) who go out of their way to fight for creatures that don't even have a voice.
Re: Oh, and...
Date: 2004-12-04 07:54 pm (UTC)Myself, I tend to favour the work of a certain Frenchman and those who follow after when it comes to speaking for the 'silent' inhabitants of our world, but that's a different area of focus. Bit more generalised really.
Re: Oh, and...
Date: 2004-12-04 08:50 pm (UTC)Actually, I wonder if PETA considers Logan an animal in need of protection from abuse.
I hope not.
Re: Oh, and...
Date: 2004-12-05 07:00 am (UTC)Re: Oh, and...
Date: 2004-12-05 01:33 am (UTC)Re: Oh, and...
Date: 2004-12-05 06:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 07:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 08:03 pm (UTC)BTW, I think I have a Hogswatch gift for you. I bought some action figures today. One of them is earmarked for you.
The local feminist bookstore gets a bunch of their stock from the Unemployed Philosophers' Guild.
You have been warned.
Bhopal
Date: 2004-12-05 01:31 am (UTC)And I stopped being Xtian a long time ago, although I honour Our Lady still, and visit Her shrines wherever I find them, and think Jesus was a Budhisatva, among other Holy Men, BUT I agree with you that humans need no outside evil. Both evil and good lie in all our hearts, and I know I am capable of evil - but it is our choice, and I think knowing I am capable of it keeps me alive to it and watching out for it.
And now for something completely different: Where do I join the Unemployed Philosophers' Guild?
Re: Bhopal
Date: 2004-12-05 06:58 am (UTC)I'd heard about the Swedish vaccine. It's an excellent, heartening prospect. Didn't know you guys were involved, but that's pleasing too... so's the info about the RIPS Programme. Thank you for telling me.
As for the Guild, they're here. Bear in mind we are talking about a company that sells Freudian Slippers, Nietzsche's Will to Power Bars (packed with protein, vitamins and chocolatey goodness), and EnlightenMints.
Re: Bhopal
Date: 2004-12-06 01:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-05 03:20 am (UTC)I believe in a God. My God does not care what name we give Him/Her: God is God!
Sometimes I am asked how I can believe in a God that lets such terrible things happen in the world.
My answer? Yes, of course God could stop all the bad stuff, but what's the point of that? This is our place and time. It's down to us to right the wrongs of this world. God knows the answers; but we have to find them for ourselves. Earth is heaven & hell: what happens tomorrow depends upon our actions today.
But that's just my view.
Donation made
Date: 2004-12-10 03:48 am (UTC)