[Provided by our guest columnist, the Christian Missionary da. He tells me that English is not his first language but he is very proficient. The fact that he can almost flawlessly make his way through a foreign tongue shows why I am very happy to have my kids enrolled in French immersion]
Equipped with a fine Argentinean Malbec wine, I am ready to start my second reading of Sam's book. As I said earlier, the sections title “The Myth of “Moderation in Religion” is very appealing to me and in fact, I have preached in many churches about exactly this. So, shoot, Mr. Harris, I'm listening.
Oh my! The first sentence of this promising section already urges me to take a long sip from my glass. Sam says that believing that any religion might be the true one is ignorant. Following the same logic, if three people talk about the color of grass and differ in their opinion (say: red, green and blue), none of them can be right. Why? Because there are too many opinions. So, there is no absolute truth? I might weigh 80 kg or 30kg but both statements are correct?? If this continues this way, I´ll need to get another bottle. One reason I believe in the Bible is that Jesus commandments harmonize with the morals inherent in us (no killing, no lying, no stealing, no raping…). This proves to me that Bible God does really know mankind. Of course, if you create something, you know perfectly how it works. Other religions stand in sharp contrast to this inherent moral of mankind. Another reason to believe in the Bible, although not a strong one, is that it has “outlived” Zeus and Co.
Another point I must contradict: “a book showing neither unity of style nor internal consistency”. Style ok, the Bible is too rich to have only one literary style. But to my view the Bible is fairly consistent, taking into account that it has been written by 40 different authors of different cultural backgrounds during 1500 years time. How much do modern men agree with the writings of 500BC?
I cite Sam: “No doubt an obscure truth of economics is at work here: societies appear to become considerably less productive whenever large numbers of people stop making widgets and begin killing their customers and creditors for heresy”. Again Sam states his false “all religions do killing for heresy” hypothesis. Think logically. What is my incentive to kill TAM? Him sending me this book is so far not enough of a reason. If I do kill him I would 1. disobey the Bible (Jesus golden rule: love your neighbor), I would 2. go against my internal morality “inputted” by God into my brain/soul and I would 3. eliminate the future possibility of TAM reconciling with Jesus. So, there is NO reason for me to kill anybody. Hence, as Sam puts it, I, the radical christian, will go back to making widgets. The economy is safe with Christians, thank God!
Now, as Sam takes out some Old Testament verses about how badly God wants to kill heretics, it might be worthwhile to spend some thoughts on the difference between the OT and NT. Imagine you see a poor kid on the street begging. For some reason ,you give him 5 bucks. Having done that, a crowd of homeless appear out of nowhere and demand their 5 Dollars as well. Do you now have the obligation to give 5 Dollars to all poor people of the world just because you have given it to one? Are you a “mean and unfair” person because you have given just to one but not to all? I don´t think so. Same thing with God. Fact is, according to the rules of the game God established, I am eligible for being killed, slaughtered, stoned and cut in pieces. But, by Gods grace, I had the chance to get Jesus be slaughtered in my stead. Is that unfair to the others living before Jesus? Common sense says yes, but then: would it be better to hold the gift back for everybody? By the way, there are verses in the Bible that suggest that these poor souls were “visited” by Jesus himself while he was dead for one and a half days. Does that make anybody feel better? No? That's what I thought. Most people don't care about the whereabouts of their great-great-great-great-great-fathers.
On many things from there on I agree with Sam, religious moderation is pathetic. Either go for it or leave it. But seeing religion merely as a science that should evolve as any other science? I believe the Bible is the user's manual of humans. If you bought a car ten years ago, I couldn't imagine why you want to go to the shop today and ask for an updated manual. The car didn't change (no matter how much you hope it would), hence the manual is the same. Even if you claim the roads have changed, there is no reason.
Ok, this was an interesting exercise and I must admit it made me think clearly about some things. But Sam, you still have a long way to go with me. No doubt, for the next section, “The Shadow of the Past” a full glass of wine must be at hand for my date with Sam.
On many things from there on I agree with Sam, religious moderation is pathetic. Either go for it or leave it. But seeing religion merely as a science that should evolve as any other science? I believe the Bible is the user's manual of humans. If you bought a car ten years ago, I couldn't imagine why you want to go to the shop today and ask for an updated manual. The car didn't change (no matter how much you hope it would), hence the manual is the same. Even if you claim the roads have changed, there is no reason.
Ok, this was an interesting exercise and I must admit it made me think clearly about some things. But Sam, you still have a long way to go with me. No doubt, for the next section, “The Shadow of the Past” a full glass of wine must be at hand for my date with Sam.
"Following the same logic, if three people talk about the color of grass and differ in their opinion(say:red, green, bule), none of them can be right."
ReplyDeleteNo, that is not the same logic. The light of a specific color has a certain band of wavelengths. There is evidence to back up the clame that the color of grass is green. What Sam Harris is saying in his statement at the beginning of that chapter is that there is no evidence showing that any one of the religions is the right one.
I can't read anymore until you send me a bottle of wine. Cheap will do.
oh yeah, and witch burnings, persecution, the crusades and the catholic/protestant conflicts carry absolutely no relation to christians killing other people for heresy.
ReplyDeleteand this is where you're wrong again: you wouldn't go out and kill others because that would be seen and broadcast around the world, encouraging a backlash against the churches as a whole. but, if there were a way of doing so without being blamed for it and in such a way that you end up with more christian converts, you'd be told it was the will of god, you'd be given a gun with two clips of ammo, a knife, three molotov cocktails, a torch and a lighter, put in a line with a dozen others and told to wipe out that little mud village over there to show the loving glory of god to the other villages. and if you refused, or declared the act to be ungodly, then you would be just another heretic. you see, it is not the institutions that guarantee that an organisation won't do something, but the people in it. and christianity has proven time and again what people are capable of when it is a sin to say no to your boss, one that could indeed be terminal.
Hi IkonOne, if Sam gives me some rest in one of his chapters I´ll gladly send you one. For now I need them to get through the book :)
ReplyDeleteDear darklookshkin: Believe me, any one taking the Bible serious would never engage in killing. No matter if Billy Graham, Mother Theresa and Donald Duck would tell me to do so. The problem arises (and arose) when people DO NOT read the Bible. Because there is no way of erasing Jesus´ example off the book. What did he do? Engage in a worldwide genocide against the evil Romans? Many of his time hoped. But no. Just the opposite.
Mostly, leaders have prevented people from reading the Bible, told them what apparently was in it and then told them to kill whoever seemd cool to them. Thats the scheme you´ll always observe.
I´d rather drink the Molotov tail than throwing it to anybody. Believe on that.
"The Bible is the user's manual of humans".
ReplyDeleteDa: what does that make other Holy Books?
Ignorant does not mean incorrect. You might come across the correct colour of grass, or the correct god, by means of a lucky guess.
ReplyDeleteBut is that really what you want to balance your "eternal soul" upon? A lucky guess? Why not look for evidence? Real, solid evidence.