Many times this is called the "nanny state", but it really is just another form of tyranny. If you want to believe in a certain religion, live your life in a certain way, or consume only certain things, then do that. That is your right as a free person living in a free country. But when you try to force your own choices on other people "for their own good", then you have stepped over the line and are destroying freedom instead of furthering it.
Maybe the choices you have made would be "better for me" (and maybe they wouldn't). But in a free country, it is my choice to make -- not your's.
I agree with your premise but I disagree that all "tyranny's of the good" are bad. How many more people and children would die without a seat belt law? I was opposed to mandating the wearing of seat belts but after my first accident where a seat belt kept me from injury, I changed my mind. Our politicians must be careful to pass those laws/rules that are for the greater good rather than for just the individual good. That's why I would like Medicare for All. Those who want more coverage can buy supplemental insurance like those of us who are currently on Medicare do. We haven't outlawed tobacco, alcohol, or fried food but we have made illegal cocaine, meth, and more, that have societal consequences. Insider trading is illegal for everyone except for those in Congress. Should we make it legal for everyone or make it illegal for Congress too? This is a very complicated idea with very complicated solutions. I don't pretend to have the answers nor does anyone else, even C.S. Lewis.
ReplyDeleteBut isn't this exactly what advocates of religion, especially Christianity, do?
ReplyDeleteNo. Not even close. If you take an honest look at Jesus Christ, who He is and what He went through for people like you and I, then you may see, and perhaps even understand, what He "advocated" and for whom He died and why. Moralists, busybodies, and religious hucksters are the ones who pervert the Gospel into some kind of shame game and then fleece people for their money. Jesus, the epitome of humility and grace, never had a nickel to His name. He sought only an awakening of people to the reality of God, sin, grace, and salvation. He could have called 10,000 angels, as one Hymn claims, but He didn't. Instead, He poured Himself out for the sake of sinners, unbelievers, and seekers. I am one of those, but I found grace and forgiveness at the Cross of my Savior, who rose from death in victory over sin and offered salvation to all. Not my or anyone else's merit, for grace is not earned. It is far more difficult than that. We must take the hardest step of all, realizing and confessing that we are hopelessly flawed, lost in the things of the world, vain, selfish, and sinful. Ask yourself, what if it is true? Who could love me so? Who would take my sins away when I have deemed Him a hoax and a phony? But it boils down to this: He is one or the other, as C.S. Lewis so expressed. He was a madman and a fool, or He was the Son of the living God who, through His life, death and resurrection, bought salvation with His blood for those who believed. I choose to be a fool. As C.S. Lewis said, in so many words, if you are correct and Jesus Christ is nothing more than hoax, then it is of no consequence. But if He is who He said He was and performed miracles, healed the sick, fed the multitudes, raised the dead, suffered a horrible death Himself, and then rose from death in glory, then He can only be the Son of the Living God, taking our sins, and offering salvation to those who believe. Crazy? Maybe. But as C.S. Lewis said, "Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important." The choice is ours.
ReplyDeleteI have no problem with you believing whatever you want. But when you try to force it on me (or anyone else), then you are wrong!
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