Time is in short supply today, unfortunately. But that doesn’t mean we can’t spare a few moments of our precious time for dear old Darwin.
I wish I had more artistic talent. If I could make my living as a painter, I would feel like I had achieved nirvana. Or forget the money altogether. If I never sold a single painting but I could paint the way I’d like to I’d feel the same. (Which reminds me: rest in peace, Jim Tar.) So let’s say I can barely draw stick figures, but that I own a masterpiece by Michelangelo. The painting is so incredibly rare and valuable that it stays locked in a safe. My insurance policy forbids me to remove it from the vault.
Obviously it’s doing me no good locked away, so I’m trying to sell it. Trouble is, I can’t let people see it. Again, security concerns and insurance regulations. I have no photos, so I’m left to try to describe it to people verbally, and to draw crude pictures trying to represent the piece. It’s not going so well, although if I could just get you to see the picture, you’d probably give up everything you own to make it yours. I have more agents than I can count, each one working with me trying to find a buyer, each having the same handicaps I struggle with. And for every agent I’ve hired, it seems that a hundred more unauthorized agents are out there doing their own thing independently. Some claim to be trying to sell my painting too. Others think this Michelangelo piece is garbage. They’re trying to convince interested collectors to choose their painting. Still others are selling completely different things that have nothing to do with art. To be honest, it gets very confusing and there’s a lot of competition and both subtle and overt warfare among us all. People have said my Michelangelo is a forgery, but frankly, I think their paintings are fakes. The unauthorized agents say I’m unauthorized. Well, it’s no surprise that a lot of art collectors won’t talk to any of us. They’ve sworn off art completely.
That admittedly flawed analogy is how I see Christians and their message. And probably other religions too. There are religions – lots of them – who think they alone have the truth and no one else does. You also have others who say every religion is good and there’s good in all religions. It doesn’t matter which faith you choose as long as you faithfully adhere to its principles. Some people attend the church that’s closest to their house. Others the one with the architecture they like the most. Still others, the one with the best daycare. “Attend the church of your choice.” The Bible is true. No, the Quran is. No, the Bhagavad Gita is. And on it goes. The landscape of religion is incredibly confusing.
Rather than take the time to investigate the subject, many people simply reject it altogether, and along with that choice they’re freed from the restrictions of the Bible’s (for one) moral code. They devise their own moral code instead. Evolution looks good. We’re the top of the food chain. We answer to no one.
My contention would be that the lack of clarity and unity in the religious world – the fact that you have millions of basically unartistic people running around trying to accurately describe or draw a Michelangelo, while others are actively trying to discredit Michelangelo – does not change spiritual truth, its value, or its very presence. Although that is exactly what millions, perhaps billions, think.
What about you?