God on God's Side
Apologies for having abandoned the Blog for over three weeks. I know I have disappointed my readers (both of you), but I am a chapter away from completing a book and, unlike James Lileks, I cannot blog and write books (and chew gum) at the same time.
My apologies also to new commenter, Paul of Suffolk (no relation to Paul of Tarsus), who left the following comment on my last post:
I won't go into the details concerning types of ammo that mix well enough with cabins while not mixing well with the human body, except to say that some pilots and all air marshalls have carried guns for years. There are ways, as they say, to do these things.
Paul's blog is interesting; he seems a rather typical sort of skeptic -- I don't expect believers in Europe or Britain. (And yes, I distinguish the two. The UK is part of the Anglosphere; The Continent is not. Despite both bodies sharing a gernally post-Christian secularist culture, they're not the same beast.)
Paul says that is Jesus did exist, he was a socialist. Strictly speaking, I disagree. since "socialist" carries inappropriate political baggage; but I do believe he preached a form of socialism (yes, he was a long-haired, radical, socialist Jew...) Unfortunately, it will only work in a benevolent absolute dictatorship among an infinitely benevolent citizenry. Since we won't see such a thing until Christ returns, "socialism" in any other form eventually equals, at best tyrrany; at worst, mass starvation and/or genocide. Ask Robert Mugabe's subjects.
Paul categorizes believers as, one, those who wish to lord it over others using the Almighty as an excuse and, two, the irredeemably thick who want a certainty about life that doesn't exist.
Remarkably, it seems he's never encountered an intelligent person of serious belief. I suppose the last such people in his nation passed with C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. (Although Polkinghorne is still around, unless he's moved to Missouri or something). I know many who fit in one or both of Paul's categories, but I am surrounded by serious people who lead examined lives and yet believe in a literal and personal God.
As to God being on "our side" (as his title puts it), He is, but on everyone's equally; He is beyond our petty squabbles. An infinite being loves infinitely and equitably.
Maybe Paul is our archetypal modern citizen; the model denizen of the Age of Hooper. I don't know. I do know, however, that he used to blog under the title of "Ale Fan," and that means a) we have something in common, and b) he can't be all bad.
Monk
My apologies also to new commenter, Paul of Suffolk (no relation to Paul of Tarsus), who left the following comment on my last post:
Not sure guns and pressurised cabins really mix well !
Anyway I'd be genuinely interested in your comments on [his blog]: http://of-course.bravejournal.com/entry/22763
I won't go into the details concerning types of ammo that mix well enough with cabins while not mixing well with the human body, except to say that some pilots and all air marshalls have carried guns for years. There are ways, as they say, to do these things.
Paul's blog is interesting; he seems a rather typical sort of skeptic -- I don't expect believers in Europe or Britain. (And yes, I distinguish the two. The UK is part of the Anglosphere; The Continent is not. Despite both bodies sharing a gernally post-Christian secularist culture, they're not the same beast.)
Paul says that is Jesus did exist, he was a socialist. Strictly speaking, I disagree. since "socialist" carries inappropriate political baggage; but I do believe he preached a form of socialism (yes, he was a long-haired, radical, socialist Jew...) Unfortunately, it will only work in a benevolent absolute dictatorship among an infinitely benevolent citizenry. Since we won't see such a thing until Christ returns, "socialism" in any other form eventually equals, at best tyrrany; at worst, mass starvation and/or genocide. Ask Robert Mugabe's subjects.
Paul categorizes believers as, one, those who wish to lord it over others using the Almighty as an excuse and, two, the irredeemably thick who want a certainty about life that doesn't exist.
Remarkably, it seems he's never encountered an intelligent person of serious belief. I suppose the last such people in his nation passed with C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. (Although Polkinghorne is still around, unless he's moved to Missouri or something). I know many who fit in one or both of Paul's categories, but I am surrounded by serious people who lead examined lives and yet believe in a literal and personal God.
As to God being on "our side" (as his title puts it), He is, but on everyone's equally; He is beyond our petty squabbles. An infinite being loves infinitely and equitably.
Maybe Paul is our archetypal modern citizen; the model denizen of the Age of Hooper. I don't know. I do know, however, that he used to blog under the title of "Ale Fan," and that means a) we have something in common, and b) he can't be all bad.
Monk
posted by Monk | 01:26
