I have a great regard for consistency. Let me explain. Everyone has beliefs, opinions, principles, values, etc. (The Right likes to argue that the Left has no values. It's not true. Their values are just different from the Right's.) What I find refreshing is when people actually live by the beliefs, opinions, principles, values, etc. that they hold. And I have to say, it's less common than you might think.
Take Peter Singer. Peter is an Australian "moral philosopher," a professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. Peter is also a devout atheist. So, in keeping with his belief in "no God," Singer argues that babies in the womb have no special rights. Indeed, he argues that those of us who are pro-life are practicing "speciesism." Speciesism is the belief that one species is more valuable or more important than any other. But if all life on this planet evolved by random chance, no life on this planet should have more rights than others based simply on their species ... such as human beings. Singer argues that certain apes should be given the same rights as humans. Singer argues in favor of post-partum abortion. Singer argues that "value" is predicated on utility -- how useful are you? Singer, then, is fundamentally flawed at the outset ("No God") but completely consistent -- more than most.
Today's world is not so consistent. Young people decry capitalism while soaking up the benefits of capitalism. Climate change klaxons drive around in climate destroying vehicles. Atheists take advantage of "Thanksgiving Day" and "Christmas" holidays while denying there is a God. The Left screams about Trump as a "threat to democracy" while offering a candidate that was not voted on. On and on. And it's not just "them" -- it's "us," too. We Christians declare that we are saved apart from works ... while we work hard to keep ourselves "saved." We claim to believe that "God causes all things together for good" while bemoaning our unpleasant circumstances. We boldly argue that God is Sovereign and wring our hands over events outside of our control. I'm not surprised the world isn't so consistent. Sin rots the brain (Rom 1:21). The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked (Jer 17:9). I get it. But we who are in Christ or new (2 Cor 5:17), we're supposed to be renewing our minds (Rom 12:2). We should be living much more consistently with our professed beliefs. Are we? And why would an unbelieving world believe what we claim to be true when we so often don't live it ourselves?
4 comments:
When I'm at my most honest with myself I can acknowledge that there are areas in my life where my actions are not consistent with my beliefs or convictions, despite the fact that I also value consistency.
I agree that Singer is more consistent than most, although it's surprising how many popular Atheists/Materialists/Naturalists/Darwinians will admit that their actions are completely inconsistent with their philosophies or their beliefs. The reality is that virtually none of them live lives consistent with their philosophies, and most of them have borrowed Christian values to inform how the live their lives, while damning Christianity is superstition.
People who worship academics or experts don't realize how much influence people like Singer have. His students will absorb his philosophies, and pass them on to their students (if they stay in the academy) until they become mainstream.
A digression. This is a result of a seemingly intentional move by conservatives to focus on areas of life other than the academy which allowed progressive ideals and philosophies to pervade higher education and society.
"... most of them have borrowed Christian values to inform how the live their lives"
Some have even admitted it. Dawkins said he appreciates Christian values while rejecting Christian beliefs.
As you said at the end of the paragraph, we are all sinners with sin rotted minds and hearts. Ideally, more mature Christians should be more consistent between their lives and beliefs than new believers. I think the program lies in the acquiescence of the older believers not wanting to overwhelm the newer believers who then never truly become mature. 2000 years after Paul and we're even more dependant on milk rather than meat.
Stan,
The number of them who've built their lives and incomes on feeding people an atheistic/materialist/naturalist/Darwinian worldview who admittedly don't live according to the worldview they espouse is astounding. The number of those who follow them who are unaware of this is even more astounding.
Post a Comment