You are what you are
Submitted by F.O.D. on June 12 1999 at 09:58:37
In reply to It is not the real you Submitted by Adam TBK on June 10 1999 at 22:47:13
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Hi Adam, your social explanation for the dynamics of Christian relationships makes good sense, if you are an atheist. What you are doing is completely excluding a Christian's relationship with God from your analysis. Which is a fair enough thing to do, if you don't believe God exists. But, in fact, it is not a fair thing to do. Yes, my relationships with other people are secondary to my relationship with God. That is how it should be. But my relationship to God is based on he himself, not on the desires and opinions of those around me. It was from knowing a priori that he is there that I sought him out, and having known him I will remain his friend, God's friend. As for the surrounding Christians, they give me the means to know and understand God better, and allow me to share what I know of him, but if they were not there, would that have stopped me seeking God? No. I am a Christian for God's sake. Indeed, of those who were influential in my youth, I think of several who have now given up on the faith. If my faith is only socially determined, then must I not therefore likewise give up on God and join them? I will not. This absence of God is the fatal flaw in your explanation of what Christianity is. If you take God out of religion, you're right, you just end up with a club. But that is not what we have, or what we are. What we know of God, how well we understand what he wants of us, I accept, can be partially explained by social forces. But it does not explain the core relationship established with God. And the difference between this and masturbation is that masturbation is a private thing, while faith already involves someone else - God, and he would not care to be left locked inside while I go out and play with someone else. Would you? Regards, Fod |