| #1117: Agreement? |
[11 Mar 2008|12:50pm] |
Know that I am not updating because I am abounding with time (I have absolutely none) but only because this library book is due back very soon and I REALLY want to write about it.
I never ever expected to agree with Philip Pullman on anything. But it turns out I'm not the only person in the world. Many Christians don't mind Philip Pullman, as they see his attacks on religion simply as attacks on oppressive religion - and that is something that we ourselves dislike and strive to eliminate, so we really are united with him in that. And there's also many Christians out there who feel that Pullman occassionally unwittingly reveals important spiritual truths, and that without meaning to he can help us grow closer to God.
And that's what this entry is about. Excerpt time!
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'No, it's no eady, this kind of work,' Fletcher said. 'It isn't clean. You can't expect to feel good about it. But we're feeling bad on behalf of all those people out there, the innocent ones. We're not innocent, we know. I don't know if you're religious. The Garden of Eden - you know that story? The tree of knowledge of good and evil. Remember that? Before you eat the fruit you're innocent, whatever you do is innocent, because you don't understand. Then you eat it. And you're never innocent again. You know now. And that's painful; it's a terrible thing. I know what I'm asking you, Chris. I'm asing you to betray a man you thought was a friend. I'm asking you to taste the fruit.
'But I'll tell you something. Losing that innocence is the first step on the road to real knowledge. To wisom, if you like. You can't get wisdow till you lose that innocence... Those people out there - innocent, because they don't know. Like children. Like sheep. No sheep can do evil, because it's innocent, right? But no sheep can do good, either. If you don't know what it is, you can't do it. So it's paradoxical, isn't it? You can't do good unless you stop being innocent. All the real good in the world is done by people who've taster the fruit of that tree. And found it bitter and painful, just as you're finding it bitter and painful to betray Barry Miller.
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If we just do good because that's the only thing we know, why does it matter? If it's just because we're forced to do it, or just because we don't know any other way, does it really count for anything?
That's why it's so important that God gave us choice. Because we are sinful, the fact that we choose to do good means a lot more, and can be a lot more influential. God is more proud of us when we choose to do good, even though we know how to do bad, than if we're just going along with the flow.
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