Fatalism

The thing that Bosch says is that Christianity more than any other religion is a world-centered religion. As Christians we proclaim a Lord who doesn't step back saying, "ha! I made it to heaven to watch everything I left behind go to hell." Instead we proclaim Jesus who makes all things new. Jonathan, my friend who is the college minister at our church, has been attempting to drill that into people over the last few months. Sadly the hardest concept for most Christians I run into to get is the idea that eternal life starts now. It is not something that is pending until we die, hopefully having said the Lord's Prayer and begged forgiveness one more time before we slip out of coherence. Everything Jesus promised starts now. When we spout off the verse "for God so loved the world . . .", we typically do so with this attitude that we just have to convince ourselves of its factuality until it's time for us to leave this place, then maybe, just maybe it might be true.

Christianity on the whole has given up to dualism. We see this world as hopeless, so we attempt to hold on to micro-ethical standards to assure our own salvation which starts when our final breath exits our mouth. Micro-ethics are the standard expectations: don't cuss, don't drink, smoke, do drugs, have sex or speak of it outside of marriage, and especially don't stir anything up. Our attitude becomes one of maintenence. Somehow, the church has learned how to read the Bible perfectly and through that has acheived a stash of holiness, that we must horde to assure that members of our congregation can dole it out at the pearly gates and gain admission. Kind of like a trust fund for a really big theme park.

Here is the thing about dualism: it is best friends with fatalism. If you are a dualist, there's a 99% chance you are a fatalist as well. As most Christians in America are secretly dualistic, they are fatalistic too. In my last post I pointed out that I think dualism is wrong. Let me state that I think fatalism is a step beyond that. Fatalism is evil.

Here's why: fatalism is reason for the vast majority of oppression and injustice that goes on in the world. Nothing is done about it, because fatalism convinces both the oppressor and the oppressed that the way things are is the way they should be. In India (back to our discussion of Eastern religions), tens of millions of people are treated as less valuable than feces because they were born "untouchable". The Indian economy is largely dependend on the slave labor of these people. Though in modern day it is beginning to be challenged, it has been supported in the past by the untouchables themselves. Why? Hinduism has dualism & fatalism inherently built into its system. They are untouchable. This is their fate. Which is why it is seen as ok to rape them, kill them, and enslave them to jobs that no human should ever stoop to perform.

What Bosch points out is that the movement Jesus started is thoroughly anti-fatalistic. In this man God touched earth. Through this man God renewed the defiled things. He doesn't just teach his disciples, he cleanses their hearts of sin and sets their hearts on the Kingdom of God! And, citizens of God's Kingdom never tolerate evil. Where evil is present Jesus' disciples declare war. The way we wage war is different from the world. It is theocentric. It is humble. But, never assume that means it is not bold. It is more than bold, it knows that victory has already occured. This means that we relentlessly attack the lies of evil with Jesus' truth. We with the confidence of being backed by millions of Christian martyrs, share their Spirit and stand confidently against the systemic evils present in every society, especially those in our own.

That's where it gets hard. In America we have fallen prey to the thinking that the biggest battles we face are those of alcoholism and sexual purity. Behind these decoys lies a world of other demons that we are totally blinded to. Occasionally we can wander into a foreign part of town and smell their aroma. Occasionally a liberal reporter will call our attention to them. And, it is at those time that I think to myself, "what on earth could we (I) ever do about that." I am a fatalist. But, hopefully not for much longer.

Jesus' faith is ethical to the core. Not just on a micro level either. Jesus calls his followers to be superhuman, like he is. He encourages a faith in God so perfect that it will look it's own evils in the face and attack them. The personal level always funnels into the social level, so the evils we speak of are not just our own issues. We are called to attack even our own country and culture when we see oppression and injustice incorperated into its system. On every level we are expected to show fate to be a lie.