Contrary to popular belief...

Today has been a good day. I...

• slept in (until 9:30am!)
• read a couple chapters of "Dead Souls" by Gogol, which is a hilarious Russian piece of satire.
• drank some french press coffee in the meantime.
• read some of Bearing Fresh Olive Leaves (have both agreements and disagreements concerning his opinions)
• Listened to good ol' Baroque music, as well as a couple sacred choral ensembles while I read, which I highly recommend.

And..that is all so far. But it's a pretty darn ideal day for me, necessary at least once a week. I am now pondering this question:

• Is something moral because God says so, or does God say so because it is moral?

I'm pretty sure popular opinion in the Christian world, at least, would give a simple, frank explanation that the first option is the true one. Of course God is the definition of "Good", so therefore anything God says is moral. BUT there is a problem with this.

If the first option is true, if "all morality rests on the spoken word or action of a divine being "God"', then what makes morality necessarily “good”? For example, what if God said it was okay to murder or rape (which, in some religious texts, he does)? This understanding of morality as under God's control makes morality subjective to God's whims, thoughts, reactions, and opinions. 

If the second option is true, if "God says so because it is moral", then morality transcends God. And to many, nothing can transcend God. 

So which is "true?"

My opinion is still forming on this issue. Kierkegaard's thought about the teleological suspension of the ethical (the idea that God is above human ethics and that humans can be permitted to do unethical things because God commands it, like the Abraham sacrificing Isaac story) makes sense on paper, but the problem I have is: How does one know if a "suspension of the ethical" was truly God-ordained? Any person who is mad and intends to do harm can claim that God destined him to perform this act of harm. If Abraham were alive today and sacrificed his son Isaac in God's name, we all would think he was a nut-case.


I do believe that morality is subjective in some ways, because something that could be immoral in one circumstance is permissible and even necessary in another circumstance. 


An example of this would be if a man was dying of starvation and came upon a grain field or an apple orchard that was cultivated by a landowner. Is it morally "right" for this man to steal from another's production to feed himself, and even steal the seeds from that fruit to cultivate for his own food? 


Aka: Is it morally acceptable for this starving man to steal from a man who has plenty in order to survive? Technically, no, this would not be acceptable. But in theory, and even in reality, we all might permit it. 


I am interested in a diversity of opinion and dialogue on this matter. But this I believe: that morality has flux, cannot be contained in a black and white picture, if you will, contrary to popular belief. Something that is immoral in one culture is perfectly moral in another culture, and that is okay with me. The Bible does not have easy answers to philosophical questions, contrary to popular belief. And that the Bible does not have all the answers, period, contrary to popular belief. The Bible is literary in nature, which is interpretive. So we must think, interpret, guide, perceive, and reckon with each other and for ourselves.

Everything happens for a reason?

"The only difference between us and these robots is, we desperately look for meaning in everything that happens to us, because many of us are too afraid to submit to the possibility that we are nothing more than just another variable in a reality that we will never fully understand." -Omar from the article "Everything Happens for a Reason"

This is the essence of postmodern thought right here: What if everything that happens is mere coincidence, or lacks the meaning we so seek to place on it? Things have meaning because and only because humans who live and breathe attribute meaning to them.

Words and paper and chairs and color are not in and of themselves, in their very essences meaningful-it is the outside source or user that brings some sort of meaning to them. I'm not a nihilist, I promise; I'm just explaining.

This idea is conceptualized in the television show Lost. The writers interconnected characters, named characters after famous philosophers, created paradoxes within the story, and caused insane coincidences to occur throughout. Each viewer wanted this show to mean something higher than themselves; they wanted a grander picture. Yet in the end it was simply about the characters themselves, living and coming to their ultimate, inevitable death. Their experiences with each other and love for one another was all that, in the end, really mattered. Most of the plot lines resolved to mean, really, nothing.

I really appreciated the article "Everything Happens for a Reason", by Omar. It makes me realize even more what a postmodern thinker I am.

2033

As a college student in the midst of a faddish, dog-eat-dog culture, it is difficult yet inevitable to think about the future. Sure, I have dreams. I have expectations of how my life and the world should ideally evolve, but the influences that shape my life, whether media, family, school, or church, seem to continually suggest diverse ideas of what is a “satisfactory life” or “perfect world”. What I actually wish life to become is the important question. Where do I see myself and the world in the year 2033?

In the context of the Christian Worldview, to which I hope to cling tight to the rest of my days, I feel that my life is presently under the “Fall”, waiting to be redeemed. Sure, I am technically redeemed by the blood of Christ, but more abstractly, my life has revolted from a peaceful acceptance of my parents’ worldviews to turmoil and ‘rebellion’, if you will. In this surreal median life between childhood and “the real world”, I have taken a step back from what I once believed in, on the verge of unbelief and mistrust of the church and what exactly reality is. I feel, though, that this mistrust is more of an evaluation, and that through this, God is beginning to redeem my life to be all He intended it to be. In twenty-five years, I expect to be a wife, as I am presently engaged to be married to a fantastic man on May 31, 2008. We want to adopt children and live as completely pleasing to God as humanly possible the rest of our lives. I expect to not have everything figured out, but to keep learning and growing in my worldview and knowledge of the truth about the world.

I hope that the world settles down more in the next twenty-five years. My generation is so disposable, self-centered, and complacent. I hope that in upcoming generations, people care more. I feel that people in this world will do whatever it takes to profit in life, even if they are the cause of others’ misfortunes. I figure that if people care more, though depravity will remain, at least it will be more livable.

I started listening to Dashboard Confessional randomly tonight, and found it to be inspiring music. The Shade of Poison Trees and The Widow's Peak are probably my favorite song so far. They makes my thoughts flow.