For those who don't know, I've been taking a course in Literature and Religion this semester. The course is centered on theodicy. Theodicy is simply the study of evil and why/how it can exist in a God created world. Suffice to say our reading list hasn't been the stuff dreams are made of... unless you're referring to nightmares. Despite the depressing material, this foray into theology and how it's played out in literature has been an eye opening experience for me.
Here's a little taste. In regards to evil people (when thinking about such things from a distance) fall into some patterns: god has a purpose beyond our understanding and works all things to the good, god gave us free will we chose sin (or Adam and Eve did, and subsequently we do too) so we're stuck with it till we are redeemed with Christ, god either doesn't care or is dead, and finally god is some sort of vengeful force toying with humanity. I use little g's because I don't want to attribute any of these personifications to Jehova at this particular moment (not without great explanation and analysis). All of these forms or manifestations of god can be found in the literature of mankind. As a Christian it really puts some of the 'art' with which we engage, in a completely different light. For example, what does The Dark Knight really say about the world in which we live? The Joker is practically a symbolic representation of Satan while Batman is nothing like Christ. We automatically perceive the juxtaposition of good and evil, but in reality what we see is Evil and a lesser evil. Batman is borderlin psychotic, maybe serving split personalities, in a pledge to life-long vengence. This is our hero? Yikes!
I guess you could argue that the fallen nature of man makes these 'anti-heroes' more compelling, more relatable. But something has to be said for aspiring for something greater than the lesser of two evils. I really think it's a reflection of the pessimism that consumes our culture. Between the liberal media and science we'll have killed god before the decade is over (IF he's not dead already, a nod to my Jewish theologians and Woody Allen). I don't mean that in the literal sense, only that it appears that, even in our literature, we seem to be enthralled with the concept that God cannot possibly make sense in a world like ours.
Insane.
Look, I realize that pontificating about the nature of evil isn't going to do jack$*** for someone faced with the tragic loss of a loved one, but I am just stunned that men and women of faith appear to be dumping their belief in exchange for 'best of luck, it's all chaos, and it's all screwed up' view of the world. The secular world believes this will lead to enlightenment. Ask the USSR, I think it leads to Vodka and depression. Seriously though, the ramifications of HOPE versus nihlism seems justification enough for a belief in god, but let's drop that for a minute.
I just want to try and put on paper (or Liquid Crystal Display) where my own theology rests in regards to suffering. This isn't necessarily right. It may not even be defensible, but as I mature and learn, this is simply where I'm currently residing...
If God made us in His image, how could he not give us autonomy? If God predetermined our choices we would be Pinochio, not Gepetto. God set this creation in motion and we chose to seperate ourselves from God. Trying to see God as existing outside of time and therefore as a manipulator of our choices fails to acknowledge that God created us for a temporal experience over which we have agency and authority. God is willing to help us, through his spirit and his Word, but he's not necessarily going to agree with our wishes, nor is He going to live our lives for us. We are left with a world and a mankind that is without the fullness of God. Such a world is essentially chaotic. But to say that such an existence is without meaning is to completely deny the afterlife and the fullness of God we will receive. WE ARE NOT EVIL, THE WORLD IS NOT EVIL, BUT WE ARE (AND IT IS) INCOMPLETE WITHOUT THE FULLNESS OF CHRIST. So we look forward to the fullness in our redemption, BUT we also have a measure of the presence of God in our lives now. The 'paracleet' or the Holy Spirit is a real and supernatural agent that exists in our world now. The Gospel of John, and everything Paul wrote, pushes us to draw upon the power of the Holy Spirit as we aspire to live like Christ knowing full well such perfection is beyond our grasp. I believe the other 'measure' of Christ we have in the here and now is the Church. NO, not the American Evangelical Movement (also known as the Republican Party). I mean the community of believers. The American church has been blessed with a minor resurgence lately thanks to the Emergent Church movement. Protestants were so desperate to escape Papal authority and the Catholic Church at large that they took the whole 'priesthood of the believer' thing to ridiculous levels. The individualistic nature of our Capitalist society has only reinforced this divorce from community and accountibility. The CHURCH is about COMMUNITY AND ACCOUNTIBILITY. God is manifested, as the Trinity, as community. We are created in God's image and we NEED community. It's not about socialism, marxism, democracy... NONE OF IT. If we are to be true believers we must be CHRISTIANS FIRST, being American, Texan, Black, White, Left-Handed, or Left-Brained... it's all secondary to how we choose to relate to our creator.
SOoOoOo. Evil exists because we are incomplete without the fullness of God. We can experience some measure of joy and fulfillment in this life by living in community and seeking out a relationship with our creator through the working of the Holy Spirit (made possible by Jesus Christ). That joy and fulfillment is a blessing, it is a gift, and when we leave this life, whether in pain or in the midst of sweet dreams, we will enter in to an existence so much more meaningful that I believe the temporary suffering, the terror, the horror, that we may have experienced in this life will only serve to show us the true value of fulfillment in our Heavenly Father.
Here's how it went down. Melissa was approaching a stop light where a Garbage truck was waiting in the middle of the road (literally not even in the lane). The intersection is wide enough for two lanes and people always approach it in to the left to go straight and to the right to turn right, in fact there are even sensors (the pressure sensors in the roadway for the stop light) for two lanes, BUT, there is NOT a dedicated turn lane. The truck wasn't signaling in any way and was sitting at the light waiting. Mel pulled up beside the truck to turn right. She came to a complete stop to check for oncoming traffic. As she was glancing to the left the light changed and the garbage truck driver accelerated, turning across her, striking the front of our van and tearing the bumper, headlight, radiator support, fender, etc. to shreds. NOW, here's the crazy part. He took off! He just kept driving. Melissa followed him honking and hollering for two blocks before she pulled over. We called the police and they tracked him down via the sanitation department (Mel had written down the truck number), but amazingly they explained that it "is exceptionally loud in those trucks... he just couldn't hear." The whole fleeing the scene deal didn't even make it in the police report.
