God Is Not Stupid . . .
I try to impart this idea to my kids whenever possible; beating out of them the insanely stupid [exp. deleted that they have picked up from friends, family, the media, the internet, and (dear Lord I hope not) their churches.
I’m currently teaching Dante’s Inferno so this has come up a lot, and I have to address things as if I were not a Christian. But still, some things are just logically stupid.
Par exampla:
No, God would not just let you into heaven because you said a “magic prayer of repentence” on your deathbed. He would know if you were serious. He’s a pretty bright guy. (Stop watching “Dogma”)
No, you wouldn’t just be drinking 40s and smoking splifs with your homies in hell. It wouldn’t be a “good time” because “all of your friends are there” too. It would be painfull. Hell is about punishment. Not fun. If you are having fun in the afterlife, there is another name for that: heaven.
No, you would not “get used to” the punishment of hell. That’s the point. It’s “hell.”
No, your dislike of the idea does not change anything. If Hell exists, it exists. The universe will not realign to better fit your desires.
Yes, and appropriate answer to “go to hell” is “lead the way.”
( etc. etc.)
I love my job, but I love the fact that for the first time some of these kids are re-evaluating their ideas about the topic. Even the sunday school groupies. Paradigms are being shifted. Maybe for good.
Or maybe my East Coast, Plymouth Brethren roots are starting to show again. . .
“real Life Is Harder Spiritually. . .”
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, and yea we wept, when we remembered Zion. ~ Psalm 137:1
she sainted herself daily
never dallying to become
another post-Jesus pawn
raised to seasonally carry
her Christianity: a crib
fallen palms, an ashen dot
the cross.
she gracefully hails Mary
and petitions Peter
for those half asleep
:displays of more
than a mere digital devotion
(a childish connect the dots
with misshapen marbles).
absolutions complete, she complies
she wares of her world:
a handful of hats
high heeled boots
a baby’s shirt, a painted face.
kissing His image she departs
knowing more the fear of cast stares
than stones, but deciding
once again
to sin no more
tomorrow
~ MEH
The Penwood Review. Spring 2005
I’m Not Grading Anything This Weekend!
The one joy of being stressed out all last week with final, projects, papers and the end of the semester, is that right now, their next group of assignments will be due on monday, not yesterday.
w00t w00t!!
Crunk
The Lament Of Christian Who Teaches Philosophy (a Story Play/rant)
Cast: A = Atheist Teacher / C= Christian Student
________________________________________
C. “Where did everything come from?”
A. “There is no God, so God didn’t do it.”
C “Uhm that wasn’t the question.”
A “Well that’s my answer.”
C “But, that doesn’t answer my question.”
A “Well, that’s what I got. There is no God.”
C “Fine. There is no God. How did everything get here.”
A “Evolution formed everything.”
C “But that is a geocentric answer. I’m talking bigger than that.”
A “The Big Bang . . .”
C “Is a cosmological answer, and . . .”
A “Yes, I know, but you see before the Big Bang the universe was compressed into a single point of infinitly dense matter, which some call a singularity, other argue might be a super string, a black hole, or the collapsed remains of a previous universe. At the moment of ignition, when the Bang took place, all that matter began to move outward at great speeds. Over time that motion created the galaxies, constellations, solar systems, stars, and planets we see, including our own. After this, other natural cosomoloigcal events and forces created the life we live. All without God. Do you understand now?”
C “Yes. Thank you.”
A “No problem.”
C “I do have one question.”
A “Anything.”
C “You mentioned that point of all matter from which the universe came.”
A “Yes.”
C “Where did it come from?”
A “Well .. .”
C “Oh and I understood the idea of it being from a possible previous universe, but, where did that universe come from?”
A “You see . . .”
C “Oh and since we’ve dismissed the idea of an eternal higher power which has no set beginning, I’m going to assume you don’t believe that the universe is eternally old, right? I mean if the idea of a personal, all powerful being having no beginning is insane, the same would apply of the universe? How would you test that? That theory doesn’t seem to meet the requirements of the scientific method any more than saying that a timeless God created everything.”
A “Yes, but . . .”
C “And I thought that string theory and black holes are still untestable ideas which are still considered theoretical as well. They could be true, but we have no way to test them. Besides, even if either is true, my question is what created the string or the black hole?”
A. “Uhm . . .”
C “So, where did everything come from?”
fin
“where Do We Go From Here?”
Ironic really, how this phrase keeps coming up. Everywhere I look.
In the papers I’ve graded. The conversations I’ve had. The songs I’ve heard.
The songs I’ve written.
It assumes that there is a potentaility for direction in every moment. That the individual can shape or mold the future. That the actions, thoughts, and words that are let fly in this very instant have the life giving power of creation. As if we were gods.
Or at least made in the image of one.
That each passing drop of experince gives birth to the future, from an infinite realm of possible children, and that I am it’s father: my choices fertilize the egg, whether I am ready to see them through to maturity or not. There are no abortions; no arrested developments here.
…