The Power to Hurt: Or Help

Sin and free will are not well-understood by many folks in my native culture. Quotes, one from a fictional detective, another attributed to one of the 20th century's outstanding leaders, showcase an all-too-common attitude, and its effect:

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"There are times, Charles, when even the unimaginative decency of my brother and the malignant virtue of his wife appear to me admirable."
(Lord Peter Wimsey, in Murder Must Advertise, Dorothy L. Sayers (1933))

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"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
(attr. Gandhi)

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Verbal Venom and Born-Again Atheists

Malignant virtue oozing from radio preachers drove me to an appreciation of rock music, and later to become a Catholic. I think some - perhaps many - folks assume that the loud, colorful, advocates of a particularly venomous brand of faith are all there is to Christianity. That's sad.

On another cluster of soapboxes, born-again atheists denounce the 'hateful,' 'tyrannical,' 'discriminatory,' Catholic Church: whose beliefs, in their world, bear a striking resemblance to those of the 'kill a commie for Christ' radio preachers of my youth.

That's no surprise, since I've encountered folks who say they're Catholic, and seem to have learned their faith in the 'First Church of Holy Hate.' Also sad.

On a brighter note, I've long since learned that Christianity - and humanity - aren'tt defined by the occasional antisocial soreheads I run into.

Before getting to this week's 'Bible and catechism' post, here's a quick look at what I believe:

• "The World isn't Flat"
  (June 9, 2012)
• "Catholics aren't Calvinists"
  (May 7, 2012)
• "Religion isn't For Blind Sheep?"
  (December 10, 2010)
  Particularly
  • Debate, Blair, and Wasting Time: Another Blogger's Take
  • What 'Everybody Knows' May Not be So
• "Home Schooling, Religious and Moral Instruction, and American Culture"
  (March 6, 2010)
  Particularly
  • NOT ALL CHRISTIANS ARE DOLTS
• "Jessica Logan, Sexting, Suicide, What Guys Want, and Malignant Virtue"
  (December 8, 2009)

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Eden, and One Simple Rule

Another section about original sin starts with this paragraph:

"God created man in his image and established him in his friendship. A spiritual creature, man can live this friendship only in free submission to God. The prohibition against eating 'of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil' spells this out: 'for in the day that you eat of it, you shall die.'²⁷⁶ The 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil'²⁷⁷ symbolically evokes the insurmountable limits that man, being a creature, must freely recognize and respect with trust. Man is dependent on his Creator and subject to the laws of creation and to the moral norms that govern the use of freedom."
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 396)

I suppose I could complain about God creating this world, and us: and giving us a choice. That doesn't make sense, though. Not to me. I like having free will. I'm also willing to acknowledge that God's God, and I'm not.

Free Will and Natural Law

We could "freely recognize and respect with trust." Or we could decide that we didn't like God's creation, including its moral norms, and would rather do things our way.

The "moral norms" in Catechism, 396, seem to refer to natural law. That's the idea that cause and effect exist; and that ethical principles are part of the universe, just as physical laws are. There's more to it than that, of course. (Catechism, 1954-1960)

By the way, given the narrow scope that the word "moral" has in my dialect of English, I'd be a little more comfortable with "ethical norms," but "moral norms" is accurate - providing that the reader remembers that "morality isn't just about 'morality'."

Choice and Responsibility

The choice our first parents had about "the knowledge of good and evil" is described in Genesis:

"The LORD God gave man this order: 'You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden

"except the tree of knowledge of good and bad. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die.' "
(Genesis 2:16-17)

There's quite a bit going on there. Being "free to eat from any of the trees of the garden" except one seems to show the remarkably wide scope of dominion humanity has over creation. And the remarkably heavy responsibility that goes with it: although folks in Victorian England and America seem to have missed that implication.

Free Will and Wrecking the Car

God's putting "the tree of knowledge of good and bad" off limits, without actually removing it from Eden, seems to upset some folks. Apparently God's not being fair, by:

• Creating
  • A world with ethical principles
  • People with free will
  • Opportunities to exercise free will
• Allowing our decisions to have consequences
  • Good
  • Bad

Some of the complaints I've read seem a trifle unreflective. A common sort of 'God is unfair' response to ideas about free will remind me of a situation that some parents may recognize:

• An adolescent gets
  • His driver's license
  • A new car
    • Which he promptly wraps around a tree
• The adolescent is
  • Injured
  • Angry
    • At his parents
      • For letting him wreck his car

As we get older, we generally get better at making 'see what you made me do' and 'it's not my fault' seem reasonable. I think it's easier when the self-described best and brightest make saying 'I couldn't help myself' a virtue. And that's another topic.

There's more, about that first sin. (Catechism, 397-401)

Fault and Consequences

Bear in mind that Catholics aren't Calvinists:

"Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command. This is what man's first sin consisted of.²⁷⁸ All subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his goodness.

"In that sin man preferred himself to God and by that very act scorned him. He chose himself over and against God, against the requirements of his creaturely status and therefore against his own good. Constituted in a state of holiness, man was destined to be fully 'divinized' by God in glory. Seduced by the devil, he wanted to 'be like God,' but 'without God, before God, and not in accordance with God.'²⁷⁹"
((Catechism, 397-398)

Despite the impression that "mea culpa" ("through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault" in the current English translation)¹ may give the impression that the Catholic Church preaches a message of shame, guilt, and self-hatred.

That's not the way it is, as should be obvious from Romans 13:8-10.

I don't think it's reasonable to assume that "love your neighbor as yourself" means to 'hate my neighbor because I hate myself.' More to the point, that's not what the Church says. (Catechism, 2196, for starters)

On the other hand, the Catholic Church doesn't preach a 'feel good' gospel. We're supposed to recognize that this is a basically good world: but that it's not perfect. Neither are we. Yet. And that's yet another topic.

Who's Boss: Me or God?

I know that God's God, and I'm not. I also have a hard time living as if that's true.

That's a consequence of the first sin. I'm still responsible for conforming my will to God's: yet again more topics.

Here's what I got after breaking one paragraph from the Catechism out as an outline:

• In that sin man
  • Preferred himself to God
    • By that very act scorned God
• Man chose
  • Himself over God
  • Himself against
    • God
      • The requirements of his creaturely status
        • Therefore against his own good
• Constituted in a state of holiness
  • Man was destined
    • To be fully 'divinized'
      • By God
      • In glory
• Seduced by the devil
  • Man wanted
    • To be like God
    • But
      • Without God
      • Before God
      • Not in accordance with God
  (Catechism, 398)

Humanity's story didn't end there, of course.

As for the 'fairness' of God allowing us to make decisions that make a real difference? God could have created a world where we lived lives of futile activity, where nothing we did could hurt - or help.

I prefer being able to do good: even though responsibility comes with that power.

Related posts:

• Sin, original and otherwise
  • "Fallen Angels and Risk/Benefit Ratios"
    (June 20, 2012)
  • "Original Sin, Consequences, and Bootstraps"
    (June 13, 2012)
  • "Sin, Freedom, and Toy Monkeys"
    (May 23, 2012)
  • "Eden - and - Adam and Eve Weren't German?!"
    (May 16, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Harmony, Mastery, and Loss
  • "Original Sin, Free Will, ADD, and There Goes the Air Conditioner"
    (October 15, 2010)
• Free will
  • "Being Saved, the Narrow Gate, and All That"
    (October 26, 2011)
  • "Catholic Teachings: Not Fashionable"
    (June 7, 2011)
    Particularly
    • Self-Control and Other 'Shameful' Ideas
  • "Demons: The Other Angels"
    (February 20, 2011)
  • "Oh, Hell: You Mean That Place Really Exists?"
    (November 20, 2010)
    Particularly
    • Heaven, Hell, and Free Will
  • "August 11, 2010 Being Catholic Because We Know Why We Believe"
    (August 11, 2010 Being Catholic Because We Know Why We Believe )
• Hope
  • "The Man Who Wouldn't Stay Dead"
    (March 11, 2012)
  • "A Little Look at the Big Picture"
    (February 13, 2012)
  • "Hope, Joy, and Working for a Better World"
    (September 13, 2011
  • "Christianity: A Religion of Hope"
    (May 5, 2011)
  • "We Won: Quite a While Ago"
    (January 13, 2011)

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¹ Source:

• "Order of Mass"
  Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal; © 2010, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved (2010)
  (archived November 27, 2011, currently available at usccb.org/romanmissal on June 26,2012)