Religulous Thinking
February 17th, 2009- I’m walking through the DVDs at Wal-Mart looking for something worth watching. It’s a task similar to finding a needle in a haystack. My eyebrows knit a bit as I scan one poor offering after another. I guess it isn’t right for me to scorn those who produce our entertainment for offering us this slop when the masses are buying it. The problem is…I’m not the masses.
My eyes latch onto a strange cover. It’s a gentleman named Bill Mahr standing between parted waters a’la the Red Sea. His shoulders and palms are raised in the, “I don’t know” or “I don’t get it either look.”
“Religulous? Oh, no.”
I pull a copy away from the rack and peek at the back. I’m going to paraphrase what the back said, “Comedian and TB host (Oops, I mean TV host, sorry.) Bill Mahr travels the globe questioning religion by asking the critical questions all else are afraid to ask. Such as ‘Why is faith good?’ and ‘If there is an all powerful God, why doesn’t he just speak to us directly?”
Note: I have not seen the documentary so I’m going on a little assumption. What I have pictured is a smug Bill Mahr ambushing the faithful with difficult questions then standing with the “I don’t get it either look” when the devotee is unable to answer.
There’s a lot to say here…I’ll just break it down by points.
Point #1- There’s nothing wrong with questions like these. If God is real, then they all have answers. They must. After all, if Jesus was asked these questions he would have an answer wouldn’t he?
I just hate the idea of shooting these questions at someone who might not know enough to answer them. It’s a little like throwing trigonometry questions at a fifth grader then denying the existence of mathematics if they can’t answer.
Point #2- Even I had to think about how I would answer the question, “What’s so great about faith?”
My answer would run a little like this… “Well Bill, that’s a little like asking, ‘What’s so great about oxygen?’ or ‘Why is water so special?’ Faith is the nourishment that feeds the relationship with our Creator. Our bodies were designed to use water and oxygen otherwise we would die. The same goes for the soul. In this case, we’ll use the Biblical definition for death…separation from God.
You need faith in order to have any relationship with the Almighty. I
Point #3- The question, “If there is an all powerful God, why doesn’t he just speak to us directly?” has been around for a while. Even believers ask God this question.
My answer? “Ok Bill, this question has a lot to do with us being created with a will. Ages ago, the angels were offered a choice and some rebelled against God. This fallen world (Adam and Eve’s stupid choice) offers us this same choice. Reject God or accept him.
He’s already offered us all the evidence we need to come to the correct decision: Christ’s empty tomb plus the testimony of saints and Scripture…the amazing intricacy of Nature and our bodies, which are IMPOSSIBLE without some design…and the structure of our souls, the ideas of charity, liberty, creativity, will, and a sense of right are constructs of a creative soul not chemical reactions.
And trust me Bill, one day he will make it plain and it will be plain for all eternity. As they say in the broadcast business…this is only a test.”
Maybe we will never completly understand God’s reasoning here; afterall it DOES mean some will be lost. Is it God’s choice to save who He will? He chose Isreal over the hundreds of different tribes of the ancient world. Have you noticed they’re still around?
Point #4- I have no doubt Mr. Mahr found plenty of things to criticize that cannot be defended. With all the flaws humans have and the houses of straw they build around the Bible’s strong bulwark, there are many man made practices that aren’t worth anything more than scorn. Throw in a few false teachers and the wackiness of the miss-informed and I’m sure Bill Mahr had a “hey” day.
Thankfully I’m not ultimately in charge.
COME BACK MONDAY FOR THE FINAL LETTER OF THE MALE STUDIES CATEGORY. IT MAY BRING TEARS.
February 27th, 2009 at 8:16 am
good reading matt
February 28th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
Well, someone needs to tell Bill that everything God wants to tell us in written in the Bible. Therefore, He IS speaking directly to us all. Bill Mahr is one of those people that remind me to forgive the lost for acting like they are lost. They don’t know any better. I haven’t seen the documentary but I’m sure if Bill had asked some devout Christians that studied the Word, they could have given him a good response to those questions, but would he edit that out of the final cut? Most definitely! His objective was to laugh at our beliefs, not find answers. Adding him to my prayer list
February 28th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
yeah, what jenn said…. and she forgot to mentiont that Bill Mahr’s a butt pirate
March 5th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Great post. It’s tough for me to take Bill Mahr seriously. Honestly, I find him a bit of a prick and not very funny. So it’s hard to like a prick who’s trying to be humble and talk about serious stuff and a not-very-funny comedian who is trying to be funny.
Anyway, I agree with your assessment. These questions do have answers – the questions that make sense anyway. But some of the answers take experience to understand. “Why is faith good?” is an example of a question that has an answer that some people just don’t get. But my answers to the responses would be something like
2) because it gives you an anchor – some days will be good and some will be bad; sometimes it seems everything contradicts there being a God, and sometimes it seems like God has revealed himself so thoroughly and explicitly that he is a “proven” fact. Faith keeps you stable, constant. Otherwise we’d be living moment to moment in a state of continuous questioning and unsure…ness (don’t think that’s a word). Also (not to get technical), from a theological perspective, faith is a virtue because it demonstrates our trust in God. It is a mark of great love and trust to believe the words of someone and that they have our best interests at heart, even on the earthly level. For example, dad’s advice and/or punishment may seem harsh and even malignant, but it is only years later that I see the wisdom in it. Since we cannot know for certain what is the good that will come from the present dilemma, through faith we can trust that it will work out right in the end, and that says something about our character. It provides peace and hope, two qualities I would definitely call “good”.
3) You’re right about this. It’s a question that’s been asked forever. People can go about trying to justify why they think God doesn’t – i.e. the rebellion theory. But I think the only thing that can be said with certainty is that God chooses not to reveal himself because he does not want to. I do not know why he does not want to, but that’s beside the point. Trying to read the mind of God is fruitless. He hides himself because he wishes to be hidden. I have no doubt that if God wanted to make his existence known beyond all shadow of a doubt, he could do so – and indeed I think he will do so someday. But for the present, it appears the relationship he wants with his creatures is one built on belief… and (I doubt Mr. Mahr has thought of this), perhaps many people would not *want* to see God fully revealed/face to face? The Israelites heard God on the mountain and begged for Moses instead, lest terror should kill them. I imagine many people – myself included – would have a similar experience. We tend to focus a lot on God’s loving attributes and make him bubbly and warm, but as the creator of the universe, his power would be terrible to behold.
Interesting discussion! Wish there were more of them.
March 5th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
He has found a way to be talked about which is good publicity. These questions are good, but if he really is seeking the answers he should be the one proving his case by showing there is no God. As far as his questioning of issues like faith, most agnostics (sorry I don’t believe there is such a thing as atheists but I’ll save that for another conversation) will consent that faith is good. You have faith in the chair you are sitting in, faith that the food you eat will not kill you, and so on. The person who challenges the existance of God has the burden of proof not those who are being questioned. I personally would like to know what he believes so we can question his beliefs and point out the possiblity of error in them. Good stuff Matt