20 May 2006

Good Us Think, Bad Them Feel

Warning: the link article below asserts that God commands his people to wage war. If this is likely to wind you up, don't read the article!

I
came across this article whilst searching for articles on racism: Liberal Feelings vs. Judeo-Christian Values. One thing I find absolutely fascinating is the way that the article mentions the word 'feelings' so many times. If you read the article, it clearly contrasts 'feelings' with 'objective standards of morality'. I grew up in a denomination that also castigated feelings in this way. I have my own theories about why feelings are allegedly bad, but I'm not sure they are fit for public consumption; ask me in private if you know me!

What a huge contrast this article is to Miroslav Volf's book Exclusion and Embrace which uses the same argument about God-given, externally-posited values to make the argument that 'War is not the answer.' (Sorry, I may be banging on about this fantastic, illuminating book for awhile!)

The article, it seems to me, is a great example of Plantinga's assertion that 'at the heart of sin is a refusal to tolerate sin.' Of course, those who are attacked in war feel (that word!) that they must defend their homes and country; that doesn't mean 'their' war is 'just'. It is simply that, ethically, it is much less evil to defend oneself than to start a war.

The danger of refusing to tolerate sin in oneself is that we start looking for reasons why our cause is 'just' - why it is OK for us to hurt or kill the other person but wrong for her to hurt or kill us.

1 comment:

Sally said...

You continue raving about that book Pam, I have read it and it is a wonderful vehicle of grace...

We must not give in to those voices that draw battle lines and declare that us and them is a legitimate excuse for viloence either physical or verbal, God's grace wipes out those lines and declares that only he who is without sim may cast the first stone...