Manifesto
I have tried to articulate to text exactly four other times what it is that I believe and failed. Which means I now have a much greater respect for those charged with the task of putting together doctrinal statements and manifestos. I’ve literally deliberated for years over what I could put down that could still be relevant by the next time I read it and the reality is precious little. But here is what I can say.
I will change
My beliefs and understandings will change and grow as time goes by. My parents have taught me a lot, my friends have taught me a lot, life has taught me a lot and books have taught me a lot. But friends, family, life and books aren’t done teaching me. The biggest problem I’ve had as I try and define myself, is that I change.
We need to teach kids to be good
If people are naturally good, why do we need to teach kids good behaviour? I start a lot of conversations this way. No one denies that kids need to be taught to be good, and everyone knows the difference between good and evil –or– no one needs to be told or convinced of their existence.
People then usually tell me that kids are corrupted by outside forces, TV, internet, etc. and I am sure years ago they would have included the radio in the list and years before that the village bard. It doesn’t matter because the implication of us being naturally and inherently good is that at no point the corruptive powers of external media could have ever existed to waylay unsuspecting children. We have a reasonable case for original sin. It’s only by admitting that an external force corrupted our genealogy that we can really account for the pervasive corruption of the human will. We are naturally bad, this is fundamental for me.
The second important point is that good and bad only exist when there is accountability to them. If murder were ‘bad’, but no force would ever act justly against it, would that be any different from ‘bad’ not existing? Is murder still bad if its committed beyond the jurisdiction of any authority? Would murder still be bad if the authorities decided that it was permissible in certain contexts? (The way authorities get around the stigma of the word murder is give it different names: abortion, euthanasia, ‘the final solution,’ etc.)
So I am inherently bad and I will be held accountable for my bad actions. Where is the hope? Can I just be really good to make up for it? Read Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables or even better the Bible, but in a word, no. Restitution must be made for every single bad action.
Now, I am a Christian, and I find hope in the following:
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life int Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23
Jesus was good and made it possible for us to approach accountability as wholly good people. It’s great news and it’s a focus of my life. That won’t change.
