I went to Borders over lunch today and in the parking lot I saw a car with a bumper sticker that read “In case of rapture the car is yours”. For the record, the car was a 1998 Ford Escort. See, this is what bugs me about the whole rapture experience. Not only is it going to cause a traffic nightmare for the rest of us but it will also leave a huge number of really crappy cars abandoned on the road. They won’t even be worth stealing.
In case the bumper sticker did not quite prove the theological point the owner was making he also had a decal of Calvin praying. You know, just in case the bumper sticker was too subtle. Now I don’t have a problem with what people believe and I do go to church so I don’t want to make this sound like a blanket statement against religion but I really do have a problem with things like this. If you can boil down your faith to the point that it fits on a bumper sticker then I think you have a serious problem. And if you feel this is the best way to show your faith to the world I think you are missing the point.
(My bigger theological issue on the whole rapture bumper stickers is this. Those bumper stickers indicate that the person driving the car knows the mind of God as their being saved is apparently guaranteed. However, attempting to claim knowledge of God’s ineffable plan is clearly a sin of pride and thus negates the bumper sticker. It’s quite a theological quandary.)
Since I’m writing about faith I’ll take some time to write a little about my view on the subject. I’m not an expert (though I do have a theologian on call for when the need arises) but this is how I feel. It might explain how someone who is a cynic and a skeptic and above all else a scientist can still keep the faith.
When I talk to people about faith I don’t care what they believe in or whether they believe at all. The important point to me is that they have thought about the question and have come up with an answer for themselves. It bothers me when people believe something solely because they were taught it while growing up. I was also taught that the tooth fairy exists but I gave up that belief ten years ago (ok, five). If you’ve thought about the subject, looked into your soul and came up with an answer, I feel that you are on the right path no matter what you choose. Here is my story.
I was really spiritual growing up all through high school and college. Always went to church and followed the rules. In my early twenties I got more and more disillusioned by what I saw. I disagreed with sermons and policies and what was said wasn’t matching what I believed so I stopped going to church. I still was spiritual but the rituals had lost their meaning and I decided that I would go back to church when I had come up with a reason to go back.
About two years later I still hadn’t returned. Then one night while writing in my journal I typed “You know, I think I was a better person when I went to church.” There was my answer. I knew it was true, couldn’t explain it but I knew it was true. The act of attending and giving up time helped me recognize the type of person I wanted to be. So I started attending again and haven’t stopped.
The scientist in me wonders at time how I can believe in something I cannot prove. Then I look at the world around me and look at all the wonders and see the beauty in the equations that lie behind it all and go “there has to be something bigger than me out there.” I think that is what I believe at the end of the day and I don’t feel like trying to express that on a bumper sticker.
Wednesday Night Music Club: I figure Mindy Smith fits well with the topic tonight. I’ll give her the last word.
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