It’s Oct. 17th and I have sore legs from muay thai training last night. It’s a great way to wake up. The second presidential debate was last night and Obama purportedly was much better this time around. I couldn’t watch it because it’s too frustrating and stressful to hear either candidate speak– neither one is allowed to say how they really feel or what they really believe in.
I had an argument with an evangelical on campus last night. I was sitting outside and he came over and asked if I had found Jesus. The conversation went nowhere as he couldn’t answer or even respond to basic criticisms of the religion– I’m talking about the normal criticisms that everyone is well-acquainted with. Then he used a new one I hadn’t heard before:
Evangelical: When children are born, isn’t it true that sometimes they hit each other and steal each other’s candy? Why would an innocent being do such things?
Me: Because children are small survival animals and they’re highly reactive.
Evangelical: No, it’s because of original sin. All people have the potential to be good but they must be taught to be. That’s what Jesus was sent to do, to save us from the original sin.
Me: So babies were created “bad” by your God.
Evangelical: Created with original sin, yes. And they must be saved.
Me: Little puppies that are new to the world and trying to figure it out, when they “misbehave” they too have original sin?
Evangelical: No, puppies are animals, humans are made in God’s image. Have you ever considered why children naturally start believing in God? It’s because there’s a mechanism inside of all people that inclines them to seek out and find God, and even little children feel this calling.
Me: Yeah but children generally believe their parents are Gods– that their dad is Super Man and their mom an angel, not to mention the imaginary invincible beings of their own imaginations. Your God is one of those, one you chose to keep imagining under pressure of a large group of people who threatened you with great punishment if you didn’t continue to imagine this God, and imagine it in the way they wanted you to.
Jesus Freak: I found God on my own.
Me: That’s nice, and I hope you enjoy playing with God. But don’t try to get other people to share him/her/it– let them imagine their own.
That was basically where it ended. Obviously it wasn’t quite as smooth as this retelling, but it was along those lines. I do agree that children ascribe supernatural explanations to things, and that sometimes they imagine “God”, but the idea that this is God in their brain is crazy. When I was growing up, I used to believe my bike wanted me to ride it, and that it would feel better if I did, rather than leaving it alone in the garage. Perhaps I should be praying to Schwinn.
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Jam in Hollow Way tonight and then downtown for tacos to visit with a friend whose sister and boyfriend from Australia are visiting NYC.
Sore legs and shoulders and I brought my own chicken soup with me today. Life is good because of that and only that, currently. Hump day happiness to you.
