thread: 2006-09-08 : Salvation, damnation, justification, a la Sydney
On 2006-09-18, joshua m. neff wrote:
Josh: The fact that you've found strength and inspiration in Christ is wonderful, Sydney. But in these threads you told us what you think Christ has to offer us, and it doesn't appeal to me at all.
Twila: Can you explain why it doesn't, Jeff?[sic]
Now that the 24 hour break has ended, I'll do my best to explain.
Basically, it's like this: I don't know if I have a soul or not (immortal or otherwise), I don't know what will happen to me after I die, I don't know if there is a God (or gods) or not, and I don't know if Jesus was really the Christ or just a cool philosopher. And frankly, the answers to all of those questions are irrelevant to me. The Bible doesn't offer me any ethics or morals that I feel I'm lacking (and gives some ethics and morals that I find useless at best and reprehensible at worst) and it doesn't offer me a cosmology that I find engaging or useful. Sydney has said that faith in Christ gives him the strength to try to be a better person. I don't feel any need in myself for that. Maybe, as you say, it's a hardwired thing, but I just can't have faith in any gods (and if I were going to enter into a relationship with supernatural beings, diplomacy and bargain make more sense to me than worship and veneration and subjugation). It's just not something I find easy (or particularly appealing, since, as I said, I don't feel the need for it). When it comes to spiritual beliefs, I find Buddhism and Taoism much more appealing and grabby to me. On a fundamental level, Christianity doesn't make any sense to me, even after Sydney and others have gone to great lengths to explain why it appeals.
Deep down, I don't believe there's any grand narrative to the universe that is applicable to humans. I don't believe, or even hope, that "love wins in the end" because I don't believe (or even care) if there is an "end" and love is just a human concept (not to mention a really vague word that means different things to different people in different contexts). To quote Joss Whedon, "If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do." The universe is a vast, uncaring place (and I do not find that a depressing thought to say the least) and someday I will be dust (also something I don't find depressing) so the only thing that matters is how I live my life and what I do with my limited time. And the easiest way for me to use my energy, the easiest way to live, is to be a nice guy who treats people with respect and caring. I don't do it because I think some supernatural being or force wants me to, I don't do it because I fear for my eternal soul or because I believe I'm fighting for some cosmic good. I don't *need* or *want* any great explanations or reasons to life. I don't *need* or *want* there to be anything more than our actions.
So, Christianity has nothing to offer me.
Does that work as an explanation?
