by ProfDave, ©2021
(Apr. 20, 2021) — [Editor’s Note: Please see Part I of the series here.]
What would a “Right” World look like? Last week we looked at this question. It has become obvious that ours is not a Right World. It has also become obvious that we are broken people, living in a broken world. You may have noticed that we slid into the framework of the Ten Commandments – now banned from our schools and courts, by the way – shared by Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Is this a coincidence? In a Right World, would we (of all things) keep the ten commandments? How much better off would we be without coveting what isn’t ours, without deception, without being unfaithful or treating each other as sex objects, without hatred? How about if we respected parental authority? Our families would be happier and our children healthier in all dimensions. Our society and our world would be a lot better off. Right? Right!
We’ve shown, I think, that in a Right World we would keep the second table of the Ten Commandments – and be a lot better off for it. But isn’t the first table just religious? Separation of church and state applies to “no other gods,” “graven images,” taking the Name in vain, and Sabbath keeping (that’s blue laws, isn’t it?). Hmmh. But no end of trouble has been caused by bad religion (not the band), hasn’t it? This isn’t about Baptists or Catholics or Unitarians, but the misuse of God. In a Right World we wouldn’t use God for our own purposes. We might not all get everything right, but we wouldn’t distort His character to sanction our projects and approve our prejudices. We would love His children, respect His creation and His instructions. We wouldn’t make our own little god to accommodate our own agenda. In a Right World we would let God be God. And we would be a lot better off with His blessing. Right? Right!
In a Right World, we would keep the Ten Commandments. All the major religions in America – 95% of us – agree on them. No rocket science is necessary to see that we would be better off if we obeyed them. So why don’t we? It might not stop all the fire, flood, earthquake, and disease (though God might), but an enormous amount of human suffering is man-made. So, why doesn’t everybody keep the big ten? Why isn’t our world Right? What’s wrong with this world? I am. The Commandments are for everybody else. I’m smarter than God and I think I can get a better deal by doing it my way – without Him. Right? Right! And now I’m powerless to change and my life is unmanageable. And so’s our world. Right? Right!
In a Right World, as we have been demonstrating, we would do the Right thing and be a lot better off than we are. Why don’t we just do the Right thing? Have we forgotten what the Right thing is? It’s been a couple generations since it was taught in the schools, it’s seldom mentioned in church, it’s spectacular for its absence in advertising and it’s railed against in the entertainment industry. But the real problem is that we don’t want to. You see, to do the Right thing might mean actually (coincidentally?) obeying God. And isn’t that somehow unconstitutional? Politically incorrect? Un-cool? So, even though we know we should do the Right thing, even though we know the world would be a lot better off if we did the Right thing, there is something in us that rebels against it. Right? [original sin] Right!
In a Right World, we would do the Right thing and be a lot better for it. It’s not rocket science, it’s common sense. But we don’t. Christians believe it’s because we are broken people living in a broken world. And we broke it. We try to fix it, we try to fix each other, but we can’t even fix ourselves. Especially ourselves. If you think you can fix yourself – change your character – that’s because you never honestly tried. Hello denial! That’s why we need God. Right? Right!
In a Right World . . . Hold it right there! What makes me think I can get away with this pie-in-the-sky, Ten Commandments ‘Christian’ Right World? Wrong! Let somebody else have a chance. OK. In Your Right World, you would be totally free! You could do whatever you want, pursue your heart’s desire, let it all hang out. In the real world you are pretty much free to choose your attitudes and (within your capabilities) your actions, but not your consequences. Things like adultery get you a lap full of red-hot coals. But in Your Right World, there would be no Ten Commandments, no cost, no consequences, no responsibility: just take what you want and the Devil take the hindmost. Take what you want. Molest anything on legs. Off anyone who gets in your way. Be your own god (demon?). Invent your own reality. Drive on both sides of the road – it’s all yours! How would that work for you? Hmmh. Good luck! Is there a difference between being free and merely unbuttoned? Right? Wrong?
In a Right World, would you be totally free to do and be anything your little heart desires? Depends. In a really Right World, our desires would be right and there would be no problem: total freedom; total health. In the real world it’s another matter, isn’t it? In a hedonistic Right World, you’d better hope you are the only one around who lives like a god (demon?) and the majority are chumps who live by the rules – otherwise you’ll be taken, molested, and offed by other “gods.” Driving to work, Harry got a call from his wife on his cellphone, “Be careful! On the news it says there’s an idiot driving the wrong way on the freeway!” “No kidding! There’s hundreds of them!” Hmmh.
Is there such a thing as a Right World? Its basically a Judeo-Christian thing. Or Islamic. Other worldviews see the world as fundamentally wrong. We shouldn’t be here – the object of the game is to get out, to escape the wheel of being. Secular materialists have no basis for recognizing right and wrong, good and evil. A rat is a pig is a boy: it’s all the same. There is no difference between a baby and a tumor, Attila the Hun and Francis of Assisi. Microbes have just as much right to eat me as I have to eat tomatoes, Right? “Meaningless, meaningless, everything is meaningless,” said the Preacher in Ecclesiastes. But we’re a lot better off – the world is a lot better off -with meaning, isn’t it? With a clear view of how things should be? Maybe even work towards fixing things, Right? Right!