Month: November 2019

Sometimes religious people post stuff on social media that just makes me roll my eyes.  This meme is one of them. 

It originates from the thinking of Blaise Pascal and is thus called “Pascals Wager”.  It is one of those which has been making the rounds online lately.  This is a classic manipulative tactic designed to target your deepest existential fears. It’s an attempt to bypass your ability to reason with the intent of herding you into the corals of fear based religion.  I would like to point out some problems with the thinking it represents:

There is an assumption going on in the background that the only reason we are brought into material existence is to see if we can pass a divine final exam. To hopefully come to find and believe in the only correct information about God. The purpose of acquiring this information is not for the good of this life either. It is only so you can escape this earth someday and more importantly….escape the default destiny of being tortured forever in hell for the crime of not finding the right information in time.  The end goal is to end up in some blissful place called “heaven” for eternity.   Based on this thought process which is the foundation of evangelical Christianity, there are two logical ways of thinking about this meme.

1.  There are thousands of religions around the world.  Apparently there is only one belief system which will exempt you from eternal torture. Christians claim that theirs is the only one.  However, most other religions make the same claim.  I’m not much of a gambler. In fact, I once had to walk through the casino on a cruise ship to get to another part of the boat.  I saw the slot machines and was about to put a quarter into one, when I realized I would likely never see that quarter again.  I put it back in my pocket and kept on walking.  The stakes are much higher and the odds are not in your favour in this supposed eternal gamble.  Wouldn’t it be smarter to embrace and practice all religions?  I would be much safer becoming a Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist Christian just as a start!  Exhausting, yes.  But hey…who wants to be tortured forever?  Might be worth it to diversify. 

2.  Most Christians believe that hell is a place where the presence of God is absent. They also believe that somehow, while loved ones who died without believing correctly are being tortured endlessly, they will be enjoying heavens bliss.  I won’t presume to know your capacity for relationship with dodgy people, but for me, I would have a real hard time trusting someone who claims to be good and merciful, then finding out that he tortures people in his basement.  I just couldn’t bring myself to have a close, vulnerable relationship with that person.  Why?  Anyone who tortures someone else—for any reason is a monster and cannot be trusted!  If the religious people are right and God is truly like that, then God is indeed a monster. If heaven is a place where that god is, heaven is really hell.  “Hell” is an excellent name to call a place where you are trapped for eternity with someone you can’t trust. Someone you cannot ever feel safe around.  Knowing that people you love—people this god claimed to love while they were in physical form are being mercilessly tortured with no chance of reprieve. Also, if hell is a place where that god is absent, it must be heaven.  It becomes a place of bliss.

What if Jesus was right?  What if there isn’t and never has been some quid pro quo intellectually or morally for enjoying a nice afterlife?  What if Jesus was simply introducing to us a way of living (the way of Christ) which shows us how to be fully human and live fully alive on this earth as we were meant to live?  What if the “heaven” we create on earth from living this way simply continues in the afterlife?  What if we have always been unconditionally loved and accepted by a God who is incapable of doing anything else and all we need to do is to participate in the love and acceptance we have always had?

If I’m right, we live in a very safe universe where we truly can be at peace, where we can experience joy, where authentic relationship can flourish as we live in a reality which is saturated with love.

If I’m wrong, we’re all screwed.  No matter what you believe.

As brilliant as Mr. Pascal was, his thought process is rooted in the wrong presuppositions. I choose to believe Jesus and His way of living!

In my hometown there is a WWII air museum.  It has one of the last intact Lancaster bombers on display.  Volunteers recently rebuilt and restored all four engines. Several times a year, this airplane will be brought outside and they fire up those mighty engines.  It’s an impressive display and always draws a large crowd.  Nanton, Alberta is a small community…with a population of only 2000 souls, but big enough that I’m always astounded at how loud the roar of the Lancaster’s engines are no matter where you are in town.  

Loud and ominous like a distant rolling thunder.  

Last summer I stood there in the crowd and observed the engine run as I have many times before.  On this occasion I imagined that I was back in time when this aircraft was fulfilling its intended purpose.  I imagined that I was on the ground and hearing the approaching death.  The terror that must have been felt as the last sound those people heard was the loud, angry roar of those engines with no place to hide.  

Albert Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”  What does this have to do with a Lancaster bomber?  It has to do with how we as humans have always tried to deal with conflict. How many wars have we fought with the idea that it will ultimately result in peace?  How many wars do we need to fight in the future before we finally figure out that we are indeed collectively insane?

There are those who have actually used nonviolence and diplomacy in the past.  They have left an indelible mark on the pages of history.  The most notable ones that immediately come to mind are; Mahatma Gandhi, Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesus of Nazareth.  They showcased the power of non-violence and became beacons of hope that there might be a way out of the downward vortex of human hatred and fighting. Can you imagine a world in which people like this are not the exception, but the rule?  Imagine if they represented  a normalized response to conflict?  

We know that violence perpetuates more violence and it just keeps escalating with each retaliation. This is well documented. We also know that forgiveness absorbs the blow of violence and when that destructive energy is recycled into forgiveness, there is healing and potential for relationship.  Yes, it is risky. It is costly, but it ALWAYS leads to the greater good of humanity. 

Allow me to quote the inspired words of Andrew Klager as written in Brad Jersak’s book, “A More Christlike Way”:

“Those who say Jesus Way of nonviolence and peacemaking are naïve and unrealistic reveal that they think is the most real.  The kingdoms of this world are more real to them than the kingdom of God.

Violence never creates peace, only a lull. It defeats or exhausts your opponents without dealing with the conditions that first created the violence.  Defeating the other only puts us in the position of power (e.g. the Treaty of Versailles). We become the belligerent who exacerbates the problem. The pseudo-peace only buys time for the defeated to reload. The next war becomes the inevitable. Violence doesn’t work—killing only enrages the clan and escalation comes next. The next retribution must always be one step higher.  It’s a naïve non-solution. 

Compassion and kindness, by contrast, have real potential to tap into and draw out the true self of our world-be enemies. Compassion and kindness are more effective than bullets and bombs because they awaken what is more real than this life. However twisted, we are still humans created in the image of God. Peacebuilding is effective in awakening the kingdom of God in this world because it IS more real.”  

This remembrance day, let us indeed remember. 

Not the glory of victory. Not the triumph of standing with our boot on the neck of our enemy. 

As we attend remembrance day services, stand there at museums, air shows and military demonstrations, instead of celebrating our victories and superior weaponry, let us feel sorrow at our lust for violence. Let us regret our creation of the war machines on display.  Let’s remember the senseless deaths of our soldiers. Let’s also remember the needless deaths of our enemies. And mourn both. 

Let’s remember that there is no such thing as just war. There is no such thing as righteous violence. Let’s remember that war has never worked to create lasting peace and never will. 

Let’s remember and work towards the sanity of non-violence.