Inspiration strikes at funny times, and in funny ways. Last night, I was pumping gas at a local BP station, and a guy started to walk up to the store. Now, and I'm ashamed to say this (but we've all been there) he looked like the type of person that would be going into a gas station to hold it up. It's funny how there are little moments that occur in life to keep us humble- obviously I am not as non-judgmental as I thought I was.
But I didn't come here to confess my sins or to make you feel better about yourself. No, this whole incident got my mind spinning inside. I honestly wish that there was a way that I could somehow visually project the thought processes that go on in my mind. It would be a fascinating view!
As this man walked into the BP store for some snacks (unbeknownst to me at the time), I pictured in my mind him pulling a gun on the guy at the register, then bolting out of the store and deciding to start shooting at me, being an eye witness and all. So then I started thinking about that little iddy-biddy thread that holds this whole thing together- society.
One of the arguments that I've read about the existence/non-existence of a God is the idea of human morality. Pro-theists would say that the fact that there are morals, and an innate sense of "right vs. wrong" is a proof that there must be a God- otherwise, how would this be? Those against the deity idea counter that there are people who don't believe in God that exhibit perfectly functioning moral compasses.
To those who work diligently to prove/disprove such things, this argument might be simple, and possibly already irrelevant. But I feel that, having gone through the trauma of being shot at in my mind, I have earned the right to speak on this issue.
I honestly don't believe that this argument can be used on either side- because we don't really know where morality came from. We can, however, reasonably deduce the reason that it has continued- society.
I don't want to get into an evolutionary debate- but I think about stories I've read about feral children, and it's very obvious to me that if we aren't a social "animal", then at the very least we are social "beings". That is, we learn about everything through interactions with others, on many different levels. In fact, to skim the surface of a very deep idea, even our own notion of self is merely the byproduct of social interaction.
This is why the presence of morality cannot be considered a rational argument in regards to the existence of divinity, because morality is a concept that is ingrained in us at an early age and is constantly reinforced through our relationship with others and with our environments. I'll borrow from a brilliant piece of writing to illustrate my point. If we consistently used the 'F' word in our house, and did not attach any sort of negative connotation to it- no scoldings, no "that's a bad word", no mean glares- then our kids would grow up to believe that the 'F' word is a perfectly normal form of expression. At least, that would be the case until they said it around one of their friends- and watched as their friends face lit up in shock. Or when they said it in class, and got sent to the principals office.
A couple things could happen at that point (probably more than that, but let's not argue semantics). Our kids could either get the picture that this is socially unacceptable and conform, or they could decide that they are going to continue to engage in the behavior. Now, there are myriad reasons for these two choices, and an equal number of consequences. The point is that there is no innate understanding that they have "swore"- they have just been socialized as to what the expectations are of language around other people.
Thus, the source of morality is not an issue- all that matters at this point is that it is an acquired trait. And I'm so glad that we have it! As human beings, we are afforded luxuries that animals are not. For instance, if that gas station scenario had played out in the animal kingdom, all bets are off. We'd all be in survival mode, and if our lone gunman needed something I had- and was bigger/faster/stronger than I was (which, he definitely wasn't, I just want to point that out) then there wouldn't be much I could do about it...except drive away in my mini-van. And that would have made me sad, because then I wouldn't have been able to get that chocolate milk or cherry pie that I needed to top off my day.
Basically I have written, and will continue to write, against many of the aspects of the greater society. I think that there are many restrictions that are arbitrarily placed on us that restrict our freedom as human beings. However, I also believe that a certain level of structure and order is required in order to assure us that we can even be human beings, and not just another figment of the animal kingdom.
Besides- if we weren't human beings I couldn't have even allowed my mind to wander to such ridiculous places- you'd be forced to read blog posts from me about great places to eat grass, Posturing 101, and tips on running for your life. And I don't know anything about posturing.
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