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Destiny
Every once in a while I'll indulge in a
little guilty pleasure of listening to, laughing at, and feeling appalled
by what some televangelist has to say.
I was watching one the other night and was actually quite impressed with
his economic theory -- but then he started dipping heavily into Proverbs
for 'promises' from God -- basically -- that if people will live 'right'
they will be rewarded with a happy life...
It should be interesting to note that up until around the time Proverbs
was written the idea of individuality really hadn't crept into Hebrew
thought.
People didn't see themselves as individuals with personal 'fates' or
destinies. They couldn't even conceive of themselves as separate beings
from their tribe. They could recognize that some individual actions could
bring harm to everyone and quite a bit of Leviticus is directed at
removing offenders from the fold -- for say -- no more of an infraction
than having an infected cut.
No one asked 'why do bad things happen to good people?' because there was
no good or bad people -- the tribe was either in favor with God or not.
Prosperity in a permanent settlement brought with it though the notion
that somehow the people had deserved this reward. However -- at some point
people began to notice that some had more than others. This -- they
concluded must have meant -- that they were more favored -- individually
-- than the others.
Protest literature began to crop up though. Such as the fictional story of
Job. This story begged the question -- and apparently drove the point home
-- because it was eventually included within the sacred texts.
This would also be important later when the Hebrews became genocidal after
their return from Exile in Babylon. They had to look for a reason why
God's 'Chosen' had lost their great nation and been sent into captivity
for generations.... and the notion of Tribal or Ethnic purity took over
again -- as well as the notion of 'rewards' for how one would live life.
Protest literature again cropped up -- the book of Ruth for instance --
another apocryphal work that portrays a foreigner being more obedient to
Jewish law than even full-blooded Hebrews -- bad things befall her family
-- she remains faithful -- and ultimately she is in the lineage of David
-- the great king... meaning of course under the law of the day -- the
greatest king would have to be expelled from Judah.
-- French Proverb
This question of fate really ties back into
the 'problem of evil' discussion in that the main point of it all is 'why
do bad things happen to good people?' and the answer is -- because life is
not fair -- and no amount of economic success, happy family life,
attending church, paying tithes -- or anything else -- is going to make us
immune from a tornado dropping out of the sky and taking everything and
everyone away from us.
Shit happens -- and whether or not we were fortunate enough to be born in
the wealthiest country on the planet we all will have to find meaning for
our lives. It doesn't really even matter whether or not there are pre-destined courses for our lives -- because here we are -- and life is
short.
There are plenty of resources in the world -- I don't dispute the number
of persons living in poverty -- it's just a problem of distribution and
greed. The poor will always be with us -- and it is a relative term.
There may be some Utopia out there --- there may be a Dystopia -- but what
does it matter? Here we are....
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...(John Lennon)
But we shoot people who think like that don't we?
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