"Now I don't want to get off on a rant here, but...." -Dennis Miller
Like everybody, there are quite a few things in this world which just annoy the hell out of me. I try not to voice these opinions for various reasons. I never want to hurt anyone's feelings, I appear bitter when I do, etc. Unfortunately, unless I voice my frustrations, they don't go away. The solution I've come up with, is this Rant & Roar section of my website. Every so often, I plan to vent my frustration, go on a rant and just plain roar about a certain topic that annoys me. I mean absolutely no offense to anyone in particular. This section is not an excuse for me to attack anyone. It's just me letting off some steam.
You can also check out my previous rants.
At the request of my parents, I went to synagogue this Rosh Hashanah. For those who don't know, Rosh Hashanah is the start of the Jewish New Year. It is believed that during this holiday, God writes each person's destiny for the following year in a great book. At Yom Kippur (one week after Rosh Hashanah), God closes this book and seals your fate. During the week between these two holidays, you are supposed to make amends for your sins so God will improve your destiny before he seals his book. As we were reading from the High Holyday Prayer Book, we came across an interesting passage.
"Now, Lord our God, put thy awe upon all whom thou hast made, thy dread upon all whom thou hast created; let thy works revere thee, let all thy creatures worship thee; may they all blend into one brotherhood to do thy will with a perfect heart. For we know, Lord our God, that thine is dominion, power and might; thou art revered above all that thou hast created." (Birnbaum, p.330)
The reason I found this interesting is because it seems that we are praying to God not because he is a moral authority, but because he is powerful. "For we know, Lord our God, that thine is dominion, power and might; thou art revered above all that thou hast created." We seem to assume that God is in a position to judge us morally simply because he is extremely powerful. Is that really a good enough reason? Does having power make God moral?
Admittedly, I doubt there are many people who would say that God is moral because he is powerful. They are likely to say that he is moral and powerful. If so, then why do we excuse God's actions when they are clearly wrong? Why are there actions that are considered wholly and completely immoral when we do them, but perfectly acceptable and good when God does them? If God were truly omni benevolent, then there should be no discrepancies. There should be no exceptions. Let me give some examples. The following quote is taken from a discussion about abortion, which can be found at www.femalenerd.com. Brian, a pro-life supporter, says that:
"In a God-less world, the easy way out is to kill the baby. Besides, its her body, right? But, one question... who gave that child life? WHO? The answer is... God did. And only God has the right to give and take life, not man or woman. Therefore, abortion is wrong. The only true option is adoption, or to keep the child. No, unlike some of my brothers and sisters, I do not believe that abortion is an unforgiveable [sic] sin. You can be forgiven for it. But, YES, it IS a sin. Something that God is not pleased with and writes in that big book to be read aloud one day."
Now, Brain says quite clearly that taking a life is wrong. For us, it is a sin. However, he also says "only God has the right to give and take life, not man or woman." Why? If it is wrong to take life, and if God is all-good, then why is it not wrong for him to take life? It seems to me that the reason Brian allows God to take lives is because of God's power: "[O]ne question... who gave that child life? WHO? The answer is... God did." God created us; therefore God is morally permitted to destroy us. Why does the power to create, morally allow the action of destruction? Just because God created us, that does not mean it's morally acceptable for him to destroy us. In a discussion I once had with a devout Christian, I was told that it is morally allowable for God to destroy us for the same reason it is morally allowable for an artist to destroy his own painting. It's a matter of property. People are not paintings however. People are sentient beings with feelings and dreams and hopes. God has the power to create us and destroy us, but his great power does not make his actions moral. If God is truly all-powerful AND moral, then we need an explanation, besides his great power, for why he can morally commit acts when we consider them immoral. Another obvious example of this is the flooding of the entire earth in Genesis (Genesis 6:1 - 8:19). The casual taking of life by God does not seem to be considered wrong by any of those who believe in him. God, who is all-powerful, could have easily removed the evil from the hearts of mankind, but instead he drowns them all.
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. This famous expression refers to the corruptibility of humanity. Dictatorships have shown, without exception, that great power always corrupt those wielding it. It is for this reason that true communism cannot exist in reality. Now, if we can all easily accept that power corrupts, and that absolute power corrupts absolutely, then why do we not apply this to God? God is the ultimate example of ultimate power. God is the most powerful being to exist. He is Omnipotent! He is ALL-powerful! Why do we accept his moral judgments when we know that power is a strong force in corrupting morality? It is argued that humanity is corrupted by power because we are weak. We are fallible. God is neither of these things. He does not have the same corruptible nature that we do. We are, however, made in the image of God. We also have the same moral capabilities that he has. Genesis 3:22 - Then the Lord God said, "See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. If our image is the same as God's, and our ability to distinguish right from wrong is the same as God's, then isn't it safe to assume that his ability to distinguish right from wrong is equally as tainted by power as ours? An interesting problem I came across while thinking about this is, if we worship power and consider it an excuse for immoral behaviour, then why do we accept that it corrupts people, instead of just worshipping those in power? I think the reason for this might be because God's power is unattainable. A dictator is a regular person, like you or me. He became a dictator. Power that is acquired this way may not be viewed as true power since any one of us can attain it. God's power however, is beyond anything we can conceive. Perhaps we view power leading to morality when it is power that is beyond our ability to understand or attain.
This worshipping of power is something we see throughout history. Natural disasters and storms were thought to be the work of angry gods. Virgins were thrown into volcanoes to appease the volcano gods and to stop them from destroying villages. Did these people question the morality of these Gods? No. The Gods were powerful. Their power made them moral. Perhaps this worship of power is a psychological result of conditioning. When we are children, we are rewarded for good behaviour and punished for bad behaviour. That is how we develop our ideas of right and wrong. No one ever bothers to question the morality of the one doing the conditioning.
God might be sitting up in heaven as I write this, judging me on my sins. Even if he is though, I feel no compulsion to ask his forgiveness or seek his consent. If I knowingly wrong someone, then it is this person's forgiveness that matters. It is for the sake of others that we need to be moral. It is not our own salvation or the approval of God that is important. We should be moral because we want to help others and because we can make the world a better place for us all to live. If I am punished for doing what I consider to be moral, then so be it. I'd rather believe something is morally right because I have reasons for believing it, not because a powerful entity says so.
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