CAN WE CONSISTENTLY LIVE THE COMPASSIONATE LIFE WITHOUT JESUS?

CAN WE CONSISTENTLY LIVE THE COMPASSIONATE LIFE WITHOUT JESUS?

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An atheist argued that a belief in God is unnecessary and irrelevant to living a moral life:

∑       “If you think the positive outcome is a place of great love, then select actions that will increase love in the physical world, and you will find they tend to be what you would already define as morally good. I think we all share a similar understanding of positive/negative sensations and thus can come up with a set of generally acceptable… set of rules to operate under.”

Actually, I agree with you. We are wired in a way that equips all of us to know moral truths, and when we show compassion, we all (ideally) experience a satisfaction, a sense that validates the supremacy of love.

I even agree with you that we do not have to have a belief in God in order to experience the surpassing reality of love. As humans, we all share this (because we are created in the moral and cognitive likeness to God).

However, living a life of compassion is not easy. This is why we do not observe it as often as we would like. Why not? Because compassion can often prove inconvenient and even costly! It requires patience and sacrifice, if we are to live compassionately.

Besides, many of our neighbors represent a threat to us in one way or another. They might have competing views or they might even want to hurt us. How are we to love and forgive them? I think that this is only possible if we are convinced of the surpassing truth and requirement of showing compassion to others.

In this regard, our Savior instructs us to forgive others as we have been forgiven. This requires us to put his truths above our feelings and even our immediate well-being. Instead, if we live by our feelings and baser instincts, we tend to seek revenge or even a preemptive strike.

Then how do we live according to compassion? We have to know that when hurt and threatened and even when we face the prospect of death, we are supremely protected and loved. Therefore, loving others doesn’t require that they reciprocate by loving us back. Why not? Because we know that we are loved from Above.

THE CHRISTIAN IN-CROWD?

A skeptic had challenged that Christians are divisive:

∑       The evangelical narrative is concerned with separating Insiders from Outsiders, Us from Them.

Firstly, I have to acknowledge the truth of this critique. We do (and the Bible does) make such distinctions. However, I think that it is necessary to point out that we all make such distinctions, however much we might want to affirm the oneness of all humanity. Let me just list a few examples:

∑       “Receptive Skepticism” (a Facebook group) even refers to itself as “receptive skeptics,” as opposed to others who are not. However, I think that this is fine. You even have a secret in-group for the real RSers. That’s fine too.

∑       We distinguish democrats from republicans, males from females (although this distinction has now become politically unacceptable); senior citizens from non-seniors; adults from youth; educated from non-educated…

∑       You have even distinguished Evangelicals from non-Evangelicals.

However, these types of distinctions are not only unavoidable but even helpful, but here’s the potential problem – that we might regard our group as superior and more worthy than others, and, subsequently, look down on and degrade others.

This is something that we must not do. In contrast, we Christians are commanded to love all others, even those who wish to take our lives. We also have been taught that we have no basis to look down on others. If anything, the Bible teaches us that God scraped the bottom of the barrel to get us (1 Corinthians 1:26-29). (And this is certainly true of me!)

This is why we seek to be peace-makers, even with those who have wrongly maligned us.

STOICISM AND ITS GLARING VACUUM

I admire the principles of Stoicism. They are remarkably like our Christian values. However, it becomes quite apparent that something is obviously missing. For example, a leading Stoic philosopher wrote:

∑       “I don’t see the point of dreading a state of non-existence, especially considering that there is absolutely nothing I can do to avoid it [death].”

I responded:

“True, but perhaps irrelevant, in view of our humanness! We might know that it is not helpful or even reasonable to dread losing our job or rejection. However, such fears and insecurities seem to be hot-wired into our nature.

Consequently, I think that we need something more than our own logic, something else that has been hot-wired into us – the knowledge that we are being cared for from Above.”

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