Long Distance Love

A dear friend and I were discussing religion recently.  She said "I can't imagine living in a world without Christ."  I replied "You realize you're talking about a Middle-Eastern carpenter and faith-healer who lived in Palestine 2,000 years ago, right?"

The idea that Jesus of Nazareth is alive and well in our hearts is astonishingly crazy.  As Sam Harris is fond of saying, it would be difficult to believe people actually believed such a thing if so many people did not actually believe it.  In the Bible itself, Jesus tells his followers the equivalent of "I'll be right back!" over and over again.  That was 2,000 years ago, and he has not been seen or heard from since.

I hope my friend likes long-distance relationships.

A Father's Love / Good Friday

Mardi Gras was last week, which is always a fun time of year.  The next day was Ash Wednesday, which signals the beginning of Lent, when good Catholics are supposed to give up things they enjoy for 40 days.  Funny how religions generally and Christianity in particular seem to view things we enjoy as terrible for us... while viewing things that would otherwise seem despicable - like eating Jesus of Nazareth's flesh and drinking his blood - as divine.  No human flesh or blood for me thanks, even if you call it symbolic.  Make mine a cold beer and some Tex-Mex: that's divine in my book.

The end of Lent is Easter Sunday.  Two days before Easter is so-called Good Friday, when Jesus was allegedly crucified.  If I understand things correctly, God's perfect plan - in an effort for us to glorify God - was to send his son to be tortured and murdered, and for this we are supposed to love and worship God?  Doesn't sound very "good" to me, even if it was a Friday.

The Ovarian Lottery

"He won the lottery when he was born
took his mother's white breast to his tongue
Trained like dogs, color and smell
walks by me to get to him
police man
police man
He won the lottery by being born
big hand slapped a white male american
Do no wrong, so clean cut
dirty his hands, it comes right off
police man
police man..."

- from "WMA (White Male American)" by Pearl Jam, as featured on their album Vs.


Warren Buffett is often quoted as saying he won the Ovarian Lottery before he was born.  He's right, and if you're anything like me, you did too.  The chances of being born in the USA are roughly 50-to-1.  The chances of being born "white" and in the USA: roughly 100-to-1.  I have amazing parents, who are smart, generous and loving.  They provided me with great genes, a solid though imperfect childhood, and 2 college degrees from American universities, widely regarded as some of the best in the world.  I drive a German sports car and sleep in a king-sized bed in a heated home with unlimited fresh water available from taps inside the house anytime I want it.  I eat better than I could ask for.  My job consists of reading and talking on the telephone while sitting in a big leather chair.  I won the lottery by being born.

The King

Elvis Aaron Presley is still alive. He is busy working on new music: his new album comes out soon and his comeback will be amazing. Are you ready? 

Elvis and I communicate daily. He hears me speak and even hears my thoughts. He sometimes grants my wishes: he can do anything, because, you know, he's Elvis.

We should all be preparing for the King's imminent comeback. The people in our lives who have passed on have gone to be with Elvis, and we will all be together someday... in My Blue Heaven.

My belief Elvis lives is not based on science. It is a faith-based belief. Believing Elvis is alive gives my life meaning. His music and films form my life's moral foundation. I can't imagine living in a world without Elvis. 

Scapegoat

In ancient Middle Eastern cultures, thousands of years ago, people transferred their wrongdoings to goats. People then set the goats free into the wilderness to die miserable deaths of thirst and starvation. This somehow cleansed people of their responsibilities and wrongdoings, or so they thought. This notion of the escaping goat gave us the English word we know today as "scapegoat."

The idea that wrongdoings could be atoned for by the murder of innocent beings was a central theme in many ignorant, backward Middle Eastern cultures. Given all we know today, can our wrongdoings really be cleansed away by murdering innocent goats or anything else? If so, and crucially, is it moral for us to attempt to avoid personal responsibility by having innocent beings tortured and murdered on our behalves?

It does not appear possible for us to cast our responsibilities onto goats or anyone or anything else. And it is a good thing it does not appear possible. Personal responsibility forms the basis for all morality. We must be responsible for our own actions if we are to live morally. The thought that we could somehow cast our own wrongdoings onto an innocent being to be tortured and murdered is both ridiculous and horrific. I do not authorize anyone or anything to be tortured or murdered due to my misdeeds. As an able and competent adult, complaints about my behavior should be addressed to me and me alone.

Justice?

Ali is a loving husband and father who lives in a small-town in India. Ali is a hard-working physician and philanthropist who gives his time and money to his family, to charities and to strangers. He has never seriously wronged anyone in his entire life. Like almost all Indians, Ali was born into a Hindu family. Ali worships Hindu gods and has several altars to Hindu gods in his family's home. Ali has heard of Christianity but has never met a Christian.

Bob is a confessed violent pedophile and child murderer. He spent his adult life preying on children before being apprehended by the police. Bob currently sits on death row in Texas. He is scheduled to die in 2015. Bob tells people he was recently "born again": he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

What if we view these 2 men in light of the Christian Bible (Hebrew Bible plus "New" Testament)? According to the Christian Bible, after death those with a belief in Christ's divinity have their sins forgiven and enjoy eternal paradise. Those without a belief in Christ's divinity burn alive in eternal hellfire. Ali burns in hell forever. Bob goes to Heaven to be with Jesus... and all the children Bob victimized.

One thing should be clear: Christianity is not concerned with moral accountability. Fortunately there is no evidence of eternal paradises, eternal hellfires or books written by invisible gods. There is only life and death, time and death being the ultimate change agents. Ali will live a long, comfortable life with his wife, children and grandchildren. Bob will suffer at his fellow inmates' hands and then die of lethal injection. And then, from everything we can tell, they will both be dead, just like everything else that has ever lived.

Family Values?

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:25-26