Heaven by default?

When christians are sleeping beauties, going to heaven without sinning is not a big achievement really.

...not 'sinning' because of lost rewards, or punishment of burning pits, is certainly quite a primitive response, almost pavlovian....

...pursuit of morality and ethics for the beauty and purity of it, for the reason that one wants to actually prevent society, individuals, oneself from harm, seems rather the far more honest way...

...questioning laws, and having the balls to reject them when they lack logic, they harm others and oneself, and taking the responsibility upon oneself for having made the decision to go this way, seems the far more courageous way....

...making the decision to take on ethical standpoints, and laws that make sense right away, rather than waiting for death to answer all one's unanswered questions, too, seems far more real, far less 'sleeping beauty-like...

Comments

Paul said…
Welcome back to blogging...

Can a motivation like loss of potential reward or avoidance of punishment be Pavlovian? Isn't the essence of Pavlovian conditioning that it uses repeated stimulus to teach lessons? What (if anything) comes after death can hardly be repeated as a learning experience -- unless you believe in reincarnation, which kind of presupposes that heaven and hell are not relevant.

On the other hand, fear or reward may not be as good a reason for Christianity as attraction to some of its more positive aspects -- purpose to life, opportunity to help others, love for God -- or even the positive reasons you give for pursuit of morality and ethics.

You can debate how many Christians fall into each camp ("primitive" or "honest") - but is it always possible to judge from the outside? Fortunately, I don't think that is my responsibility.

Questioning harmful rules (or interpretations of rules) is good - but not always easy. It can be uncomfortable to challenge ones own assumptions, and unpopular to challenge those of the powerful - in any subculture.

Sometimes we make too many kind assumptions about those who see things as we do - or too many unkind ones about those whose views we find distasteful. Challenging that (even realising it) can be even harder.

Even though we will surely never know all the answers - in this life at least - it does seem cowardly to wait until the next life to look for answers, or see wrongs righted.

But is the unexamined life really the sole prerogative of the twice born?
November 7, 2007 at 5:03 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sunday distractions at Colpetty Methodist Church

Thoughts of growing up days and church. My mother, ensured the family got its weekly share of church. For some reason, for a reason beyond me at that time, we always sat at the very back. Since it was a very big church (by Colombo standards), this meant we were very far away from the Reverend (that's what we called the preists in our church. Reverend. Hmm. Person who is reverential? Chief of revering? Interesting choice on noun for a preist. Very interesting, as compared to, father, boring, and also too family-like for us methodists. We wanted to make it very clear we were not related in any way At All. Also not, pastor. No, that was for only those neo-liberal low-churches. We, with our stip upper lips, and suede shoes, didn't need pastoring at all. We were not sheep. We were in the cat family, we chose to be reverent, or irreverant as we felt. In those days, we actually sang bona-fide hymns. No happy-clappy hand gestures and guitars for us. It was always pre-1900, and it was a...
Read more

What's happiness?

The balmy feeling on a very windy day, when it just might rain, but it just might not. The simple euphoria of being on the edge of crazy weather. Unexpected laughter that bursts from you, at what a colleague said, a colleague you thought so far was shy and quiet. A warm hug from a friend you haven't seen for a year, who hugs you though you are grubby and tired after a long hard day. That first taste, just as you bite into an almond, or a peice of feta cheese, when you come home raving hungry after a long day. The love that bubbles up like champagne when a dog you don't know, decides to like you and play with you. A funny you tube video, that shows talent, sheer fun, humor, art and love of life is not about contemporary notions of beauty and perfection. But the way human spirits shine as bright as the sun through all the imperfections. The relief at the end of a long period of self-doubt, when you come across a book, have a chance conversation, or hear something in a talk that g...
Read more

Enduring Word Commentary on Romans 1

These are extracts from the  Enduring Word Commentary on Romans 1 A bondservant… an apostle : Paul’s self-identification is important. He is   first   a   servant of Jesus Christ , and   second  called to be an apostle . There were several ancient Greek words used to designate a slave, but the idea behind the word for   servant   ( doulos ) is “ complete and utter devotion , not the abjectness which was the normal condition of the slave.” (Morris) “ A servant of Jesus Christ,   is a higher title than monarch of the world .” (Poole) The word “ God ” occurs 153 times in Romans; an average of once every 46 words – this is more frequently than any other New Testament book. In comparison, note the frequency of other words used in Romans:  law  (72),  Christ  (65),  sin  (48),  Lord  (43), and  faith  (40). Romans deals with many different themes but as much as a book can be, it is a book about...
Read more