The best answer I have ever heard about fairness.
Being the brand new atheist that I am, I sometimes hear an educated atheist say something that means more to me than anything I have ever heard a pastor say. This is one of those times. In response to a woman’s thoughts on cosmic justice he lays it on the table and dissects every single part. It takes that fairness christians think their getting and exposes it for what it really is.
Here’s the link to their podcast episode 7.7 Start listening from 48:16 thru 53:24. This part of the podcast is not explicit but many other parts are for those who care about that.
This is from The Non Prophets, one of my favorite new podcasts.
TRANSCRIPT
VCurious [wrote]: “I don’t want to live in a world where those with power impose their evil intent on the masses and not face any type of consequence. Without God people can easily escape human justice. I can’t buy into that.”
Matt Dillahunty [response]: The kind of world you *want* to live in has no bearing on what kind of world you *do* live in. If this is your principle objection to world-views that don’t include some cosmic justice then, if you’ll forgive the condescending remark, you really don’t understand what you’re talking about.
Life isn’t fair and the desire for justice that you express is one of the key foundations of most every religion. We’re all aware that sometimes good goes unrewarded and evil goes unpunished, so some justice-seekers invent a security blanket to ensure that they aren’t mired in depression. It allows them to avoid facing the harshness of an indifferent reality. Whether it’s heaven & hell or karma dictating infinite rebirths, it serves the same purpose.
Some of us prefer to actually face reality. Some of us realize that there is no good reason to believe that the universe is anything other than indifferent to our existence and our perceptions of good and evil. Some of us realize that dealing with reality on reality’s terms is the only way to make any real improvement in the situation.
Life isn’t fair and that’s actually comforting, if you think about it. If life *were* fair that would imply that you actually deserve the bad things that happen to you and that those who benefit from evil deeds are similarly deserving.
The realization that there’s no reason to expect justice is what ensures that we take steps to impose justice. The realization that good isn’t always rewarded is what drives us to reward it when we see it. The realization that evil isn’t always punished is what drives us to work together, as a cooperative society, to deal with our problems, collectively and individually, in a way that encourages real change and that, hopefully, minimizes harmful actions. Realizing that justice isn’t guaranteed allows us to appreciate it when it happens and work toward ensuring it on a more regular basis.
Your particular god-concept view of justice represents the height of irresponsibility and injustice. Your chosen religion has us born as reprobates, guilty before we’ve taken a single breath, responsible for things we’ve never done. It offers instant, undeserved, forgiveness for the most horrible of crimes and punishes people whose only “crime” is disbelief – forever. It advocates slavery, denigrates women, curses homosexuals, orders the stoning of unruly children, sanctions wars of extermination, condones human sacrifice and poisons every mind it touches. It includes only one unforgivable crime: disbelief. Is that just?
This “justice” you so admire, is no such thing. It is divine edict, arbitrary, capricious and ultimately unjust and immoral.
Yes, I realize that there “are pedophiles out there who have escaped our flawed justice system?” Do you realize that your system says that they’re all eligible for an eternal paradise? How does that address your objection? Under the rules of Christianity, the pedophile who escapes justice here can also escape your ultimate justice. Under the rules of Christianity, he may live forever in paradise while someone who spent their entire life doing good, helping others and contributing in a generally positive way to the one-and-only life we’re sure to get, is ultimately judged unworthy of that reward.
Don’t kid yourself. You haven’t accepted a cosmic sense of justice that alleviates the problem – you’ve accepted one that you believe alleviates the problem FOR YOU. It is a selfish justification that shows no regard for real matters of justice. It is the height of arrogance and your desire to feel special because “someone up there” thinks you’re special. Well, according to the paradigm you advocate, he thinks that *anyone* willing to worship him is special – with no regard for justice or character.
Go, read Romans. No one makes this point clearer than Paul. The “law” was established with full knowledge that no one would be able to fulfill it, it was established to demonstrate this inability and damn us further – and then a loophole was established to let some people through, regardless of their standing with the law.
Your religion has made you a slave. It has made you uncaring. It has made you support immorality and injustice while claiming that arbitrary edicts and loopholes count as either. It is a reprehensible lie that poisons the mind and prevents you from understanding reality.
When the scales drop away from your eyes, as they have for many of us…we’ll be here, and you’ll realize that you’re not alone and not to blame.
This entry was posted on Friday, April 11th, 2008 at 2:47 pm and is filed under From the Internet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
