I must give credit to Luke at Sonlight for bringing this item to my attention.
Jared Coleman, former leader of a small Christian house church, is now an agnostic. You can read the story of how he lost his faith here.
I'm fascinated by his story for two reasons.
Firstly, he says that he woke up one day and realized that his life would not change in any practical way if God did not exist.
Yes, if you have compartmentalized God to the tiny areas of your life that aren't already full, as Jared freely admits, then your life will not change in any practical way by eliminating God completely. So go ahead, Jared, lose your faith. Because guess what? If it made no practical difference in your life, it made no practical difference in anyone else's life either.
Secondly, he also acknowledges that he stopped reading the Bible, and even better, that he adopted a widespread cultural belief that will destroy anyone's faith in about two seconds.
JARED: I believe that people have a right to be happy. I was floored. I never imagined that I would feel that way. Still, I was happy to be able to be honest with myself and to know that I was not getting my sense of morality or ethics from the Bible.
Really? We have a right to be happy? Is that the same right that entitles people to spend money they don't have? To kill their spouses because they are getting in the way of their happiness?
BWA-HA-HA!
I don't usually laugh at statements of life philosophy, but "we have a right to be happy" is one of the more ludicrous ones.
Let's see how often the universe agrees with you on your right to be happy.
Just curious, Jared: do you have more of a right to happiness than the average person in Rwanda? And, if not, then do you have a responsibility to try to give some of your happiness to them, since happiness is a human right? Or is it just tough luck that you happen to be born rich and free and more capable of securing your "happiness" than the average child prostitute in the slums of India?
Only in a country as wealthy and safe as ours can people believe that a philosophy of personal happiness is a valid substitute for God.
It's enough to inspire me to write a satire about what happens to all these "I have a right to be happy" people when times start to get really tough.
What I hope is that most of them will come to their senses and find true joy that doesn't change, no matter how bad things get. "Happiness" is illusory. Joy is real.
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11 comments:
You have an interesting take on Happy. Got me thinking. In a good way :)always sad to hear of someone losing their faith. Bit sounds like he may never have had it in the first place.
Loved the laughter. I've agreed with your sentiments for quite some time. I pray for my children (and my husband and I) to be resilient and free in Christ. I pray for joy. Happiness is fleeting and not something we "have a right to."
Excellent post.
~ Wendy
I can't help but be sad for this man. I have to say that EVERY grave evil that I have experienced (either as the perpetrator or the subject) could be summed up as a direct result of the philosophy of the "right to happiness."
It is interesting that his change came vis a vis the issue of divorce and remarriage. Particularly as a child of divorce, I can't tell you the pain when you hear as an adult that the main reason for it was that one party, "just wasn't happy." I always thought that there were some big radical secret reason for effectively turning an entire family's life upside down. I longed for some higher purpose or poignantly tragic inevitability. But in the end, it was the old "happiness" hogwash.
I can only hope that this man can at least move toward some committment to duty, honor, fidelity, and virtue. That may lead him back to Our Father.
"Find the Lord before you need Him." ~ Randy Travis, from "Don't Sell Your Saddle"
Some people think professing faith in Jesus is enough. He's been found. He's there for the Day when you need Him.
Jesus isn't a ticket to Heaven, to be stashed in a back pocket or desk drawer, then forgotten. He is the living God. To "find the Lord before you need Him" is to develop with Him the relationship needed to sustain through everything life will throw at a person.
If any person catches a glimpse of Jesus and then ignores Him, He hasn't really been "found" in faith. The day will come when He becomes irrelevant.
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. (Hebrews 6:4-6)
What really bothers me about Jared-people who talk this way is that they assume that people who aren't actively seeking personal pleasure in all the main concerns of their lives are "people who want to be unhappy." Many people are made deeply fulfilled, yes, even happy, by spending a great portion of their lives working for the well-being or safety of others. Yet these people are considered somehow pathologically self-denying by the pleasure-seekers of mainstream American culture.
Pleasure-seeking has been one of humanity's greatest downfalls, no?
Great post! I for one would love to read that satire!
Thanks for the link love [smile].
And yes, that is a great point about life philosophy. Very good point!
~Luke
I enjoyed reading your take on "happiness." What is still disturbing are those who believe that standing for Christ will make one happy. I'd be willing to bet Stephen was very unhappy as he was put to death but still happy to call himself a Christian. Giving sacrificially may make someone else happy and God loves you all the more for doing it. I especially like Kathryn's comment too. Thx, The Spouse.
PS. I'm going to cut this comment short because I need some "me" time.
Rossilyn, I just love the depth of your blog posts! You have a wonderful way of getting me to think! I can't wait to read your fiction! I'm sure it's rich and deep!
Thanks, too, for your encouraging comment on my blog! Blessings to you! Keep me posted on how your progress is going with your hunt for the right publisher. Any bites yet?
I totally agree on this comment:
"Only in a country as wealthy and safe as ours can people believe that a philosophy of personal happiness is a valid substitute for God."
Typical attitude here in the U.S. that happiness is the ultimate goal in life. And yet so many people are very unhappy anyway.
Tabitha - I totally agree with your last sentence.
Wendy - Good prayer topic. I'll have to include that one.
Susan - Thanks for that insight into the feelings of children of divorce. That's the kind of thought that sticks with me forever once I hear it.
Anne - Very procative last quotation! I would love to discuss that one further--or perhaps see you discuss it further on your blog!
Kathryn - I'm so glad you brought that up. I had wondered if some stranger might stumble across this post and think: "What a dour Puritan!" HA HA!
Sarah - Absolutely. And thanks!
Jody - We've had a bite--now we just need to wrestle that big fish on board. :-)
Morgan - Excellent final point. We often hear that we're one of the loneliest peoples in the world.
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