Thursday, February 28, 2013

Do All Religions Cause People to Take Advantage of Others?


Below is a brief discussion copied from "Ezine Articles" contributor Lance Winslow and my response to his piece.

By Lance Winslow



"Not long ago, I was discussing the sorry topic of religion with a pen pal from India. I say it is a sorry topic because far too much breath has been wasted on this topic, and it is as if it has been beaten to death often with such nonsensical fantasy and arguments in angry debate that one could ask; why bother, further, maybe we should all be asking if; enough is enough already. Too many wars and conflicts have been fought over religion, and too many long-lasting arguments have destroyed family relations, and neighborhoods and communities.
In any case my acquaintance noted that their family was Hindu and so too were all those in the nearby and surrounding area. Now then, she noted that there was abuse towards others in the society, where those of higher authority who had higher status in the religion had economically enslaved others at the lower levels, something she felt was wrong. Indeed, from a pure ethical standpoint it is wrong, and yet, I don't believe any of this should be blamed on Hinduism. Let me explain.
You see, her experiences with those of the Hindu faith are common to all religions, unfortunately sometimes religion gives an excuse for humans to micro-manage other's lives, often for their own gain. Religion after all is a control mechanism, used to organize society. So, it is not necessarily a Hindu problem rather it is a character flaw evolutionary throw-back for all humans - it is innate, part of their nature. Does that make it okay?
Certainly not, and yet, I can tell you that the Catholic Church has been a lot like this over 1000s of years, and my own heritage is of Protestant background, and they did the same thing here in America. I've noted the Amish in Pennsylvania doing the same thing, and Baptists in Georgia (US) also. This obviously goes on in Islam where Clerics control things and are the learned men who can read where many of the followers are illiterate and thus, everyone needs the Clerics to interpret and tell everyone else how to live. With that much power there is sure to be at least some abuse.
Remember "absolute power corrupts absolutely" so, do all religions take advantage of people, perhaps, although that would be hard to prove, still, it isn't the religion perhaps as much as the humans themselves acting out in their primal upright walking carbon biped based form. Please consider all this and think on it."


Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow

My Response:


1 Article CommentArticle Comments RSS Feed


Kerry writesFebruary 26, 2013 at 3:39 pm

Subject: Human nature

Hi Lance, you ask the question "do all religions take advantage of people?" And then you answer from an evolutionary standpoint. 

I think you should turn the question on its head. "Do all people take advantage of religion? If you answer in the affirmative, and I think it reasonable to do so, then you see that the problem is not so much with religion- as it is with people themselves. 

Then we ask another question: Do we see this pattern repeated in other human institutions, say politics? I think you know the answer to that also! Find any sphere of human activity, what about sports? Hey I think we're onto something. The evidence points to- what might be called- a universal law, because it is applicable to all people in every place and for all time. What I refer to is the law of human depravity. It is at once the most commonly denied and at the same time the most empirically verifiable fact of human existence. 

No- evil is most certainly not confined to the religious domain. Having said all that, I think you and I agree that it would be impossible to make any statements about evil if we did not live in a moral world. All talk of "taking advantage" and the "corruption" of power- points to a standard of behavior does it not? 

Again this seems to me to point to a law or standard by which we measure good or evil. Now we have two "laws"- the law or rule that declares universal human depravity, and another standard or rule by which we have been able to measure this depravity, the moral law. 

Does the law of gravity depend on humanity for its existence? No. Well you might think humanity first expressed it in terms of a formula, but no- its existence is independent of humanity. Is that also true of moral law? If it is true of moral law then we might rightly give, as a reasonable explanation, that these laws are the result of a universal "law giver". 

Does there exist a belief system that endorses this view of moral law and human depravity? I would venture to say that Christianity is the only game in town that specifically is centered around these truths. 
"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:2 

Human depravity cannot be explicated in evolutionary terms. Does a lion commit evil when it devours the antelope? Of course not! Right or wrong behavior is only validated on the assumption of a moral law.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Book Review: The Land of Christ – A Palestinian Cry by the Reverend Dr. Yohanna Katanacho


This scholarly book carefully, even tenderly written- comes from the pen of one who- it might be said- is living in a state of affairs brought about by a theology of privilege. But not a privilege that he enjoys. Far from being a book from those whose experience of life and whose knowledge of this subject consists in observations made from the pleasure of an armchair, a theology devoid of risk, comfortable and with no inherent danger- this book comes from the heart of one deeply embroiled in a world of conflict and violence. Dr Katanacho lives at the epicenter of a centuries old conjunction of three major world religions.

The sense of care and objectivity that emanates from it is surprising given the circumstances. It is not what many might expect from a person so close and so involved in the day to day crises arising from misinformation, prejudice and extremism. It is not a rant.

Dr. Katanacho is the Academic Dean of Bethlehem Bible College  who earned his PhD (2007), at Trinity International University in Deerfield, IL; M-Div (1999), Trinity International University in Deerfield, IL; MA (1996) in Old Testament, Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL; BS (1992), Bethlehem University in Bethlehem, Palestine.

For myself the authority of this book rests not only in the academic degrees that lie behind the name, (and that is not to disparage the value of conscientious study) but rather lies in the proximity of this person to what he is experiencing and living as a result of certain religious views.  It is this very thing that helps to validate, at least to me, what he writes about, as someone has said, perhaps crudely- “nothing concentrates the mind so wonderfully as the prospect of death”, he lives and breathes in the midst of life and death and because of this there is great honesty, soul searching sensitivity and care with his subject.

Strangely this book brings to mind something I read years ago written by William Barclay about another man living and breathing this same conflict that is largely the focus of this book. He too grappled with a centuries old paradigm- Jews and Gentiles, Israel and the Church and the relationship to God.
William Barclay, a Church of Scotland minister, and Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism at the University of Glasgow expressed the view that St. Paul, being too close to the conflict may have coloured his theology.  While appearing to defend St Paul’s views expressed in Romans 9, Barclay contended Paul was disadvantaged, and his thinking clouded because he was too close to his subject thereby tending to undermine the authority by which Paul spoke:
“We must remember that this is not the argument of a theologian sitting quietly in a study thinking things out; it is the argument of a man whose heart was in despair to find some reason for a completely incomprehensible situation. In the end the only answer Paul can find is that God did it.” [i]
Despair? Incomprehensible? I am not persuaded that Paul was any of these things with regard to the situation he wrote of and interestingly this is also the precise opposite to how we find Dr. Katanacho characterized in the forward to his book by Dr. Bisharra Awad, President of Bethlehem Bible College:
“The author” he writes, “does not leave us in despair. Like the author himself, one can find peace with God, contextualized in loving the oppressed, the thief, the enemy and the sinner. For Katanacho the centrality of Christ; and His redeeming power are the most important issues.”

In point of fact what characterizes this book is hope, yes hope in the face of what many would concede to be hopeless. In many ways this book is reminiscent of another story of another time. A story of a people’s political oppression, how they sought to understand this evil in the light of their relationship to God, a story of political intrigue and undercurrents of insurrection, zealotry and terrorism. A clash of worldviews. Some sought to enlist God as their ally in their political insurrection, others sought solace and hope in a God of love, whose only claim to violence was to be at the receiving end of it, and to love radically through it. This story also began in Bethlehem.

My own interest in this book could well have been defined as purely “academic” even in the worst sense of the word. As an armchair theolog my interest was purely intellectual. I have never been to Israel, my interest lies chiefly in respect for the Bible, and in defending it as the Christian authority for knowing truth and instructing in righteousness. However, with a growing awareness that theology does not exist in a vacuum, but has strong and sometimes catastrophic consequences for those on the receiving end of erroneous views, I welcomed this book- not only as an affirmation to some long held viewsof my own- but particularly because the consequences of those whose views are antithetic and are currently "in vogue" -are literally life and death for brothers and sisters in Christ living in this land so soaked in blood. 

It is a story that must be told again and again. 

It is a timely reminder that orthodoxy and faith are not matters of mere intellectual assent, but must be lived and breathed in whatever circumstances we find ourselves, and if our “orthodoxy” is to be firmly and authentically founded in the truth then it must be able to be lived out, not just in the comfort and security of the West but in the shattered citadels of the poor and the oppressed.
 
K.A. Campbell



[i] THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS, REVISED EDITION Translated with an Introduction and Interpretation by WILLIAM BARCLAY THE WESTMINSTER PRESS PHILADELPHIA Revised Edition. Copyright (c) 1975 William Barclay. Chapter: THE POTTER AND THE CLAY Rom. 9:19-29


Monday, February 25, 2013

Book Review- Scott of the Antarctic: A Life of Courage and Tragedy by David Crane


Scott of the Antarctic: A Life of Courage and TragedyScott of the Antarctic: A Life of Courage and Tragedy by David Crane
My rating: 3 of 5 stars




View all my reviews

This book lays bare all the foibles of human character, yet at the same time it manages to preserve Scott's story as an inspiring one of sacrifice, and heroism, compelling leadership, dogged determination and something especially compelling even in the face of failure. Failure to achieve the goal of first to plant a flag at the Pole, and failure to get his team home to safety. I cannot help but feel the lives expended in the way they were deserved a better reason for the sacrifice they gave. I think near the end this was even perhaps their own reflection.

For me the book took on a greater significance when I read the following comment by David Crane when interviewed about his biography. After spending five years researching the life of Robert Falcon Scott his biographer, David Crane was asked: “What was the most moving moment in your research?” His unhesitating reply was upon reading personal notes in the prayer book of Scott’s friend, fellow explorer and one of those who perished with him- Dr Edward Wilson. 


“…It’s one of those unbearable documents. It’s very, very moving. At the beginning he’s written… good protestant theology- that because Christ has died for us there is nothing more we need to do. That is the faith in which he died and by which he lived, To have in your hand the physical evidence of that faith is wonderfully touching…Wilson’s prayer book wakes you up to a different culture, a different world, a different concept of humanity.”