It seems like when I enter the dialectical process with people, at the end of it, somehow, someway I come tumbling out loving the people I've gone through it with.
I realized yesterday why my closest and best friends are the by and large those whom I have dialogued deeply with.
It's because we see each other's souls in discussion, no more pretense, no presumption, it's a chance to look deeply at a thing outside ourselves and in so doing come to a greater love for each other.
Not that Philosophy's only merit is in bringing people to love one another, but for me, it is at least that.
Looking for the answer to life's big questions and then seeking to live them out.
When it's done right, people become authentic in a way that I just haven't been able to find anywhere else.
Here's to baring our souls so that Christ might somehow, someway conform us closer to His Image.
Good Day!
Showing posts with label Dialogue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dialogue. Show all posts
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
A Confession
Self Reflection is often a good thing.
In looking over my past blog posts, I see now how I was able to worry much less back then.
Partly it was because I didn't have as much to worry about.
But mostly it was because I spent an hour daily in communion with God.
I confess, I've slowly and imperceptibly but surely shifted my focus so that even though I'm at Biola, all this time I've been thinking, "It's by my power that I'm here", "this is my education", "this is my time to shine", etc, etc.
I haven't been talking with God as much or spending enough time in His Word as I ought to.
Besides being just downright silly, I've noticed that my personality, my way of being in the world reverts back to what I would be without Christ (It only makes sense that if you don't stay connected to the vine, you start withering!) - a craven, sick, wobbly, anxious, needy, insecure twit.
"Overcome us, Lord, that so overcome, we might be ourselves"
I don't know if it's Athanasius, or Williams, or Lewis, or the Bible, but one or several or all of them have this idea that since God is Being (unqualified), as we are restored by Christ to right relation towards God (i.e. Loving rightly) we are also being restored to our true selves, our true being. In other words, as we journey closer to the Heart of reality, we consequently become more Real, more truly ourselves than we ever could have been if we had tried to stray (See Augustine's conception of Good and Evil).
Evil is literally negative - that is, it negates what is truly real.
But then again, what do we mean by real?
All this is to say,
He truly is the Person in whom we "live, move, and have our being".
Lord God have mercy on me, a sinner.
All that I am and ever will be, I owe to God.
I'm going to start living out that fact again.
Under His Mercy,
Gabriel
In looking over my past blog posts, I see now how I was able to worry much less back then.
Partly it was because I didn't have as much to worry about.
But mostly it was because I spent an hour daily in communion with God.
I confess, I've slowly and imperceptibly but surely shifted my focus so that even though I'm at Biola, all this time I've been thinking, "It's by my power that I'm here", "this is my education", "this is my time to shine", etc, etc.
I haven't been talking with God as much or spending enough time in His Word as I ought to.
Besides being just downright silly, I've noticed that my personality, my way of being in the world reverts back to what I would be without Christ (It only makes sense that if you don't stay connected to the vine, you start withering!) - a craven, sick, wobbly, anxious, needy, insecure twit.
"Overcome us, Lord, that so overcome, we might be ourselves"
I don't know if it's Athanasius, or Williams, or Lewis, or the Bible, but one or several or all of them have this idea that since God is Being (unqualified), as we are restored by Christ to right relation towards God (i.e. Loving rightly) we are also being restored to our true selves, our true being. In other words, as we journey closer to the Heart of reality, we consequently become more Real, more truly ourselves than we ever could have been if we had tried to stray (See Augustine's conception of Good and Evil).
Evil is literally negative - that is, it negates what is truly real.
But then again, what do we mean by real?
All this is to say,
He truly is the Person in whom we "live, move, and have our being".
Lord God have mercy on me, a sinner.
All that I am and ever will be, I owe to God.
I'm going to start living out that fact again.
Under His Mercy,
Gabriel
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Salvation?
John Wesley has got to be my favorite author so far in Foundations.
So our class was discussing the topic of Justification and Sanctification and Faith. (Oh Boy!) This has got to be my favorite discussion so far too! It's going to be hard to distill our entire ream of thought but I shall try:
3 Analogies
1)
Good Tree=Good Fruit,
Good Faith=Good Works
The whole relationship is organic. By not doing some good works your faith doesn't automatically shrivel up and die, it moves in degrees towards being alive or dead. Also, when too many fruits are being supported and there are not enough resources to go around, all the fruits suffer. Same with good works. When one is spread too thin, all good acts suffer. This is, of course, a very incomplete and inept summary of this (awesome) analogy.
2) A Muscle is either: Healthy and Fit, weak and flabby, atrophied, or dead.
Same with Faith. It works (so we think) like a muscle. More it is used, the stronger it gets. When it doesn't get used, it starts getting weaker then shrinks then dies. (eventually...I think)
3) Vine:
Sometimes the vine needs to be pruned in order to be able to focus it's resources in order to produce better fruit. Same with us. In order to produce a few excellent good works, sometimes it requires just focusing on those few.
Those were the main analogies we had. We only had two hours but we covered alot! However we didn't go too much into what we meant by good works. Or maybe we did....Anyway, these questions about Faith, Justification, and Sanctification are some of the Cornerstones of Christianity. I hope I never stop learning about them.
So our class was discussing the topic of Justification and Sanctification and Faith. (Oh Boy!) This has got to be my favorite discussion so far too! It's going to be hard to distill our entire ream of thought but I shall try:
3 Analogies
1)
Good Tree=Good Fruit,
Good Faith=Good Works
The whole relationship is organic. By not doing some good works your faith doesn't automatically shrivel up and die, it moves in degrees towards being alive or dead. Also, when too many fruits are being supported and there are not enough resources to go around, all the fruits suffer. Same with good works. When one is spread too thin, all good acts suffer. This is, of course, a very incomplete and inept summary of this (awesome) analogy.
2) A Muscle is either: Healthy and Fit, weak and flabby, atrophied, or dead.
Same with Faith. It works (so we think) like a muscle. More it is used, the stronger it gets. When it doesn't get used, it starts getting weaker then shrinks then dies. (eventually...I think)
3) Vine:
Sometimes the vine needs to be pruned in order to be able to focus it's resources in order to produce better fruit. Same with us. In order to produce a few excellent good works, sometimes it requires just focusing on those few.
Those were the main analogies we had. We only had two hours but we covered alot! However we didn't go too much into what we meant by good works. Or maybe we did....Anyway, these questions about Faith, Justification, and Sanctification are some of the Cornerstones of Christianity. I hope I never stop learning about them.
Friday, September 14, 2007
A Dialogue
Written for Logic Last year (I know it has many flaws but I think it presents some plausible arguements for Happiness)
Gabriel Choo
Mr. Leigh
TA Logic
Yorba Linda I
Socratic Dialogue Project
April 24, 2007
PERSONS OF DIALOGUE: Uncle Bill, Nephew
The Scene: Aboard a Long-Haul Flight to New Zealand (First Class Seating).
NEPHEW: Uncle Bill, can you tell me whether or not happiness exists; or if we’re all doomed to a meaningless and joyless existence on this tiny, inconsequential speck of dust?
UNCLE BILL: Whoa there! When did you start getting so depressed? What happened?
NEPHEW: Puberty.
UNCLE: [Looks exasperated, at first, then chuckles and has a look of quiet amusement]
I can relate to that. I’ve often wondered myself whether there was any happiness on this “tiny, inconsequential speck of dust” as you so aptly put it.
NEPHEW: You mean you’re almost 50 and you don’t know yet!?
UNCLE: SHHHHHH! I’m in my late 30’s if anyone asks. [winkwink] And as for your question, I don’t think I would say that I have found the answer yet, but I wouldn’t say that I haven’t found the answer either. It’s complicated.
NEPHEW: How complicated?
UNCLE: Well, you live for 50…I mean 30 years and you see a lot of things. Some of the stuff you see around you seems to support one side of the argument, yet on the other hand you’ve got people like Mother Theresa.
NEPHEW: Hey! I know what we can do! Why don’t we do a Socratic dialogue that my Teacher’s been telling me about?
UNCLE: Oh! You mean the philosophical thing where all those Grecian old guys with huge beards dressed in their bed sheets start firing questions at each other and the guy with the largest beard does most of the talking and the other guy just listens and says ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘maybe’?
NEPHEW: Yeah, yeah that one! Why don’t you be that So-crates guy.
UNCLE: Why me? And by the way, it’s actually So-cra-tEEs.
NEPHEW: Well you are almost fif….forty.
UNCLE: And I suppose I am the only one with the ability to grow a beard…
NEPHEW: Hey, I’ve got some stubble!
UNCLE: Sure you do kid.
NEPHEW: You mean it!?
UNCLE: [Breaking the fourth wall] Sarcasm is a foreign language to my nephew.
UNCLE: I think I see some fuzz. [winkwink] Alright, so, your question is, “Does happiness exist” right?
NEPHEW: Right.
UNCLE: So, I think the most obvious place to start would be to ask, “What do you think happiness is?”
NEPHEW: Well, I think that happiness is having a purpose in life and enjoying that purpose. Because I see all those rich people and most of them aren’t all that happy. They just make money and try to spend it on something that’s more entertaining than the last thing they spent their money on, come to think of it, that’s what I do most of the time. That’s why I’m wondering if there’s something better.
UNCLE: That’s a good place to start, but I think I’ve found a way where your definition would fall through.
NEPHEW: Where?
UNCLE: Murderers are bad right?
NEPHEW: Yeah, that’s what the law and the Bible says.
UNCLE: Right, so what if you were a murderer? You’d have a purpose, right? And you’d also ‘enjoy’ your job, right? So who’s to say murderers aren’t happy?
NEPHEW: But that can’t be true! Murderers aren’t supposed to be happy, are they?
UNCLE: Well why not? According to your definition, they are.
NEPHEW: Oh, I see, I didn’t define my terms well enough, haha, I got marked down for that in school too. [smacks forehead]
UNCLE: Exactly, so what do you think would be a better definition that bypasses this obstacle?
NEPHEW: Well, I suppose we’d have to define happiness as having a purpose in life that does not interfere with the happiness of others and having the ability to achieve that goal.
UNCLE: Okay, but what if my purpose in life was to make lots of money and spend it?
NEPHEW: Well then I suppose that as long as you do not interfere with the happiness of others then you’re fine. But it seems wrong somehow.
UNCLE: How so?
NEPHEW: Well, we’re obviously pretty well off if we can fly first-class on all of our flights. First-class seating is almost three times that of economy.
UNCLE: Okay, our family is rich, so what?
NEPHEW: Well, a lot of our family doesn’t seem to be too, I don’t know, happy, all they do is work so they can enjoy themselves. It never ends.
UNCLE: Okay, so how do you think we should revise your definition of happiness into one that conforms with what we, as Christians can agree with?
NEPHEW: Isn’t that implying that people who aren’t Christian can’t be happy?
UNCLE: Whoa, haha, you’ve caught me. You’re right, it does imply that non-Christians cannot be happy so I should re-word what I just said. Obviously, rich people derive some sort of satisfaction from making money and spending it, else they would not work so hard for it.
NEPHEW: Correct, you should, therefore revise your statement.
UNCLE: Alright, how does this sound, “How should you revise your definition of happiness into one that accounts for worldly satisfaction and yet points to Christ as the greatest quality and quantity of happiness?”
NEPHEW: Good, but I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
UNCLE: And I thought I was playing Socrates. [Smiles] How so?
NEPHEW: Our original question was, “Does happiness exist, and now the way you’ve worded your question makes it sound like we’re actually starting with the premise that happiness exists and we’re happy-go-lucky Christians who want to convert everybody.
UNCLE: Wow. [shakes head] Pessimistic are we?
NEPHEW: I prefer the term: Angst.
UNCLE: Alright, we’ll do it your way. How bout this question sound to you, “Define happiness in a way that 1) does not interfere with the happiness of others 2) accounts for material satisfaction 3) yet points to a more profound form of happiness that worldly wealth is not able to satisfy.” To quote the popular saying, “Money can’t buy happiness”.
NEPHEW: How would you cite a popular saying?
UNCLE: Come again?
NEPHEW: Never-mind. Okay, so according to your guidelines, how does this sound? Happiness is having a purpose in life that is not based on…..desire?
UNCLE: How so?
NEPHEW: Well, in the bible it says that “He that wants money, never has it enough” so by denying the desire for material possessions we can achieve happiness.
UNCLE: That sounds an awful lot like Buddhism. Not that it’s wrong (we wouldn’t be politically correct in denouncing them) but as Christians…
NEPHEW: Who said I was a Christian? I mean, if this happiness thing isn’t solved for me, I see no point in being one. For that matter, if there’s no happiness, then why live at all?
UNCLE: Ah, all the more reason for searching. So, continuing, from a Christian perspective, why doesn’t everyone just give away all their possessions and follow Buddha?
NEPHEW: I don’t know? Money seems very meaningless and shallow to me.
UNCLE: So why aren’t you a follower of Buddhism?
NEPHEW: Wait, I think I just had an epiphany! This totally changes my definition of happiness.
UNCLE: How so?
NEPHEW: We’ve already established that worldly wealth cannot bring profound joy and happiness right?
UNCLE: Actually, we haven’t even defined happiness, but let’s see where you’re going with this idea.
NEPHEW: Alright, stay with me, the reason that I don’t follow Buddhism is that their chief motivation for denying themselves of everything and achieving ‘enlightenment’ is because they want to atone for all the bad things they’ve done and find happiness. All they’re doing is just avoiding the problem. They dismiss humanity’s innate desire for happiness by denying themselves of everything, emotions, wealth, etc. Essentially, Buddhism is based on denying desire.
UNCLE: Okay, so how does this help us?
NEPHEW: It gives us a HUGE clue!
UNCLE: I’m confused….
NEPHEW: According to Buddhists, being happy, also involves feeling atoned! Or being ‘good’! It involves satisfying that innate moral law that drives human actions. That’s why I feel so terrible every time I do something ‘bad’ which goes against this, this, law I have inside me.
UNCLE: [smiles] Now we’re getting somewhere. Keep going.
NEPHEW: Happiness therefore must also include not just fulfilling the moral law, but doing it for the sake of the thing itself and not for selfish gain, ideally, of course.
UNCLE: Of course. Nicely done, now finish it off.
NEPHEW: So happiness consists of 1) having a purpose which is fulfilling the natural moral law 2) is without selfish desire because we’ve already concluded that if you continue to want more, you’ll never have enough.
UNCLE: All right! But you still have a couple loose ends.
NEPHEW: Which are?
UNCLE: 1) You have not defined the moral law 2) Buddhism’s form of happiness is essentially the same as what you’ve just defined. So again, why are you not Buddhist?
NEPHEW: Huh? I thought I’d just explained that…please ‘enlighten’ me.
UNCLE: Your definition of happiness requires a person to fulfill the moral law with the right motives. Right?
NEPHEW: Okay.
UNCLE: So essentially, it’s now a contest between Buddhism and Christianity. Both offer a way to do this, fulfill the moral law, I mean. The first by human power and the second by divine. Buddha’s goal was to find the truth and attain happiness, a lot like what you’re trying to do. He basically said that the root of all suffering is desire and that by denying desire, we can find happiness and become ‘good’ people.
NEPHEW: Oh. I see. So are these the only ways to happiness?
UNCLE: You tell me.
NEPHEW: You know what Uncle Bill, I’m sick and tired of having to answer question after question after question. I do enough of that in school already, do I really need to do that over Easter Break too?
UNCLE: You know, if I tell you, it won’t be your’s to keep. You must learn to become independent, and find the answers for yourself. No one can help you except Him. [Points towards the cabin ceiling].
NEPHEW: Sigh. ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT.
UNCLE: Good. Now tell me why it is that we follow Christ instead of Buddha.
NEPHEW: Let me research on just what Buddhist believe. Okay? Then we’ll continue our discussion. Er, Socratic Dialogue.
UNCLE: Alright, wake me up when you’re done looking through their beliefs.
NEPHEW: Will do.
THIRTY MINUTES LATER…
NEPHEW: I’ve got it! I know why we don’t believe in Buddhism.
UNCLE: Okay, why?
NEPHEW: Buddhists believe in the Four Noble Truths which is basically summarized like this, “The world is screwed over because everyone keeps on pursuing happiness in their own, twisted ways. Therefore, by not pursuing happiness and changing your mind set to a state where you don’t care about anything and don’t hurt anyone, you achieve happiness.” Sounds easy right? Well, that’s just it! It’s not easy, no matter how hard we try, there will never be anyone who truly achieves this, we will always be sinful no matter how hard we try.
UNCLE: Good. So why do we believe in Christianity?
NEPHEW: Because Christianity can be summarized like this, “The world is screwed up because Man disobeyed God. Because you disobeyed God, it is now in your nature to sin and do evil to yourselves and to others. You can’t change your nature. And because you sin, at worst, you’ll die an eternal death and at best you can enjoy these meaningless pleasures that the world offers and then still have to die the second death. God knows this. So he sent his Son as a sacrifice for all of humanities sins. And because Jesus was fully human as well as fully God he was able to achieve the formerly impossible, live a perfect life and at the same time have a sinful tendency. And because Jesus did it, He can give this same power to live a perfect life to all who believe that he came to die for humanity. So that they can not only find happiness, but have eternal happiness. Free from sin forever.
UNCLE: Nice summary. But it seems to me to be just a matter of preference. Right?
NEPHEW: Wrong. It’s not possible to achieve happiness on your own, you need God.
UNCLE: So let’s summarize.
NEPHEW: We started with the question, “Does happiness exist?” and we tried several definitions. Then we finally came up with, “Happiness is fulfilling the innate moral law and having temperance or contentment.” We found that two religions offer a way to do this: Buddhism and Christianity. And we went through a discussion on which one works. We finally concluded that Christianity is more viable as a path to happiness because Buddhism doesn’t work.
UNCLE: Of course there are still those loose ends that I mentioned earlier, but…
NEPHEW: Let’s not worry about them and say we did.
UNCLE: Sounds good to me! [Both Laugh]
Gabriel Choo
Mr. Leigh
TA Logic
Yorba Linda I
Socratic Dialogue Project
April 24, 2007
PERSONS OF DIALOGUE: Uncle Bill, Nephew
The Scene: Aboard a Long-Haul Flight to New Zealand (First Class Seating).
NEPHEW: Uncle Bill, can you tell me whether or not happiness exists; or if we’re all doomed to a meaningless and joyless existence on this tiny, inconsequential speck of dust?
UNCLE BILL: Whoa there! When did you start getting so depressed? What happened?
NEPHEW: Puberty.
UNCLE: [Looks exasperated, at first, then chuckles and has a look of quiet amusement]
I can relate to that. I’ve often wondered myself whether there was any happiness on this “tiny, inconsequential speck of dust” as you so aptly put it.
NEPHEW: You mean you’re almost 50 and you don’t know yet!?
UNCLE: SHHHHHH! I’m in my late 30’s if anyone asks. [winkwink] And as for your question, I don’t think I would say that I have found the answer yet, but I wouldn’t say that I haven’t found the answer either. It’s complicated.
NEPHEW: How complicated?
UNCLE: Well, you live for 50…I mean 30 years and you see a lot of things. Some of the stuff you see around you seems to support one side of the argument, yet on the other hand you’ve got people like Mother Theresa.
NEPHEW: Hey! I know what we can do! Why don’t we do a Socratic dialogue that my Teacher’s been telling me about?
UNCLE: Oh! You mean the philosophical thing where all those Grecian old guys with huge beards dressed in their bed sheets start firing questions at each other and the guy with the largest beard does most of the talking and the other guy just listens and says ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘maybe’?
NEPHEW: Yeah, yeah that one! Why don’t you be that So-crates guy.
UNCLE: Why me? And by the way, it’s actually So-cra-tEEs.
NEPHEW: Well you are almost fif….forty.
UNCLE: And I suppose I am the only one with the ability to grow a beard…
NEPHEW: Hey, I’ve got some stubble!
UNCLE: Sure you do kid.
NEPHEW: You mean it!?
UNCLE: [Breaking the fourth wall] Sarcasm is a foreign language to my nephew.
UNCLE: I think I see some fuzz. [winkwink] Alright, so, your question is, “Does happiness exist” right?
NEPHEW: Right.
UNCLE: So, I think the most obvious place to start would be to ask, “What do you think happiness is?”
NEPHEW: Well, I think that happiness is having a purpose in life and enjoying that purpose. Because I see all those rich people and most of them aren’t all that happy. They just make money and try to spend it on something that’s more entertaining than the last thing they spent their money on, come to think of it, that’s what I do most of the time. That’s why I’m wondering if there’s something better.
UNCLE: That’s a good place to start, but I think I’ve found a way where your definition would fall through.
NEPHEW: Where?
UNCLE: Murderers are bad right?
NEPHEW: Yeah, that’s what the law and the Bible says.
UNCLE: Right, so what if you were a murderer? You’d have a purpose, right? And you’d also ‘enjoy’ your job, right? So who’s to say murderers aren’t happy?
NEPHEW: But that can’t be true! Murderers aren’t supposed to be happy, are they?
UNCLE: Well why not? According to your definition, they are.
NEPHEW: Oh, I see, I didn’t define my terms well enough, haha, I got marked down for that in school too. [smacks forehead]
UNCLE: Exactly, so what do you think would be a better definition that bypasses this obstacle?
NEPHEW: Well, I suppose we’d have to define happiness as having a purpose in life that does not interfere with the happiness of others and having the ability to achieve that goal.
UNCLE: Okay, but what if my purpose in life was to make lots of money and spend it?
NEPHEW: Well then I suppose that as long as you do not interfere with the happiness of others then you’re fine. But it seems wrong somehow.
UNCLE: How so?
NEPHEW: Well, we’re obviously pretty well off if we can fly first-class on all of our flights. First-class seating is almost three times that of economy.
UNCLE: Okay, our family is rich, so what?
NEPHEW: Well, a lot of our family doesn’t seem to be too, I don’t know, happy, all they do is work so they can enjoy themselves. It never ends.
UNCLE: Okay, so how do you think we should revise your definition of happiness into one that conforms with what we, as Christians can agree with?
NEPHEW: Isn’t that implying that people who aren’t Christian can’t be happy?
UNCLE: Whoa, haha, you’ve caught me. You’re right, it does imply that non-Christians cannot be happy so I should re-word what I just said. Obviously, rich people derive some sort of satisfaction from making money and spending it, else they would not work so hard for it.
NEPHEW: Correct, you should, therefore revise your statement.
UNCLE: Alright, how does this sound, “How should you revise your definition of happiness into one that accounts for worldly satisfaction and yet points to Christ as the greatest quality and quantity of happiness?”
NEPHEW: Good, but I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
UNCLE: And I thought I was playing Socrates. [Smiles] How so?
NEPHEW: Our original question was, “Does happiness exist, and now the way you’ve worded your question makes it sound like we’re actually starting with the premise that happiness exists and we’re happy-go-lucky Christians who want to convert everybody.
UNCLE: Wow. [shakes head] Pessimistic are we?
NEPHEW: I prefer the term: Angst.
UNCLE: Alright, we’ll do it your way. How bout this question sound to you, “Define happiness in a way that 1) does not interfere with the happiness of others 2) accounts for material satisfaction 3) yet points to a more profound form of happiness that worldly wealth is not able to satisfy.” To quote the popular saying, “Money can’t buy happiness”.
NEPHEW: How would you cite a popular saying?
UNCLE: Come again?
NEPHEW: Never-mind. Okay, so according to your guidelines, how does this sound? Happiness is having a purpose in life that is not based on…..desire?
UNCLE: How so?
NEPHEW: Well, in the bible it says that “He that wants money, never has it enough” so by denying the desire for material possessions we can achieve happiness.
UNCLE: That sounds an awful lot like Buddhism. Not that it’s wrong (we wouldn’t be politically correct in denouncing them) but as Christians…
NEPHEW: Who said I was a Christian? I mean, if this happiness thing isn’t solved for me, I see no point in being one. For that matter, if there’s no happiness, then why live at all?
UNCLE: Ah, all the more reason for searching. So, continuing, from a Christian perspective, why doesn’t everyone just give away all their possessions and follow Buddha?
NEPHEW: I don’t know? Money seems very meaningless and shallow to me.
UNCLE: So why aren’t you a follower of Buddhism?
NEPHEW: Wait, I think I just had an epiphany! This totally changes my definition of happiness.
UNCLE: How so?
NEPHEW: We’ve already established that worldly wealth cannot bring profound joy and happiness right?
UNCLE: Actually, we haven’t even defined happiness, but let’s see where you’re going with this idea.
NEPHEW: Alright, stay with me, the reason that I don’t follow Buddhism is that their chief motivation for denying themselves of everything and achieving ‘enlightenment’ is because they want to atone for all the bad things they’ve done and find happiness. All they’re doing is just avoiding the problem. They dismiss humanity’s innate desire for happiness by denying themselves of everything, emotions, wealth, etc. Essentially, Buddhism is based on denying desire.
UNCLE: Okay, so how does this help us?
NEPHEW: It gives us a HUGE clue!
UNCLE: I’m confused….
NEPHEW: According to Buddhists, being happy, also involves feeling atoned! Or being ‘good’! It involves satisfying that innate moral law that drives human actions. That’s why I feel so terrible every time I do something ‘bad’ which goes against this, this, law I have inside me.
UNCLE: [smiles] Now we’re getting somewhere. Keep going.
NEPHEW: Happiness therefore must also include not just fulfilling the moral law, but doing it for the sake of the thing itself and not for selfish gain, ideally, of course.
UNCLE: Of course. Nicely done, now finish it off.
NEPHEW: So happiness consists of 1) having a purpose which is fulfilling the natural moral law 2) is without selfish desire because we’ve already concluded that if you continue to want more, you’ll never have enough.
UNCLE: All right! But you still have a couple loose ends.
NEPHEW: Which are?
UNCLE: 1) You have not defined the moral law 2) Buddhism’s form of happiness is essentially the same as what you’ve just defined. So again, why are you not Buddhist?
NEPHEW: Huh? I thought I’d just explained that…please ‘enlighten’ me.
UNCLE: Your definition of happiness requires a person to fulfill the moral law with the right motives. Right?
NEPHEW: Okay.
UNCLE: So essentially, it’s now a contest between Buddhism and Christianity. Both offer a way to do this, fulfill the moral law, I mean. The first by human power and the second by divine. Buddha’s goal was to find the truth and attain happiness, a lot like what you’re trying to do. He basically said that the root of all suffering is desire and that by denying desire, we can find happiness and become ‘good’ people.
NEPHEW: Oh. I see. So are these the only ways to happiness?
UNCLE: You tell me.
NEPHEW: You know what Uncle Bill, I’m sick and tired of having to answer question after question after question. I do enough of that in school already, do I really need to do that over Easter Break too?
UNCLE: You know, if I tell you, it won’t be your’s to keep. You must learn to become independent, and find the answers for yourself. No one can help you except Him. [Points towards the cabin ceiling].
NEPHEW: Sigh. ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT.
UNCLE: Good. Now tell me why it is that we follow Christ instead of Buddha.
NEPHEW: Let me research on just what Buddhist believe. Okay? Then we’ll continue our discussion. Er, Socratic Dialogue.
UNCLE: Alright, wake me up when you’re done looking through their beliefs.
NEPHEW: Will do.
THIRTY MINUTES LATER…
NEPHEW: I’ve got it! I know why we don’t believe in Buddhism.
UNCLE: Okay, why?
NEPHEW: Buddhists believe in the Four Noble Truths which is basically summarized like this, “The world is screwed over because everyone keeps on pursuing happiness in their own, twisted ways. Therefore, by not pursuing happiness and changing your mind set to a state where you don’t care about anything and don’t hurt anyone, you achieve happiness.” Sounds easy right? Well, that’s just it! It’s not easy, no matter how hard we try, there will never be anyone who truly achieves this, we will always be sinful no matter how hard we try.
UNCLE: Good. So why do we believe in Christianity?
NEPHEW: Because Christianity can be summarized like this, “The world is screwed up because Man disobeyed God. Because you disobeyed God, it is now in your nature to sin and do evil to yourselves and to others. You can’t change your nature. And because you sin, at worst, you’ll die an eternal death and at best you can enjoy these meaningless pleasures that the world offers and then still have to die the second death. God knows this. So he sent his Son as a sacrifice for all of humanities sins. And because Jesus was fully human as well as fully God he was able to achieve the formerly impossible, live a perfect life and at the same time have a sinful tendency. And because Jesus did it, He can give this same power to live a perfect life to all who believe that he came to die for humanity. So that they can not only find happiness, but have eternal happiness. Free from sin forever.
UNCLE: Nice summary. But it seems to me to be just a matter of preference. Right?
NEPHEW: Wrong. It’s not possible to achieve happiness on your own, you need God.
UNCLE: So let’s summarize.
NEPHEW: We started with the question, “Does happiness exist?” and we tried several definitions. Then we finally came up with, “Happiness is fulfilling the innate moral law and having temperance or contentment.” We found that two religions offer a way to do this: Buddhism and Christianity. And we went through a discussion on which one works. We finally concluded that Christianity is more viable as a path to happiness because Buddhism doesn’t work.
UNCLE: Of course there are still those loose ends that I mentioned earlier, but…
NEPHEW: Let’s not worry about them and say we did.
UNCLE: Sounds good to me! [Both Laugh]
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