Absolute Truth

There are many issues in our society that cause us frustration in understanding this world. The topmost issue in my opinion is the belief by much of our culture that there is no absolute truth. This single belief, whether conscious or unconscious, affects every aspect of our life. It is the foundational reason that atheism is an absurd and ignorant mindset, it is at the core of all of the wars in the world, and it is one of the largest contributors to the confusion that people live with every day. It causes thousands of people to be frustrated every day and they don’t even know why they are frustrated!

Let’s start with some of the frustrations people face. First we have expectations. We all have expectations of other people, situations, and ourselves. When these expectations are not met, we are frustrated, saddened, or grow angry. Let’s say that Bob is working with Mark. One day Mark punches Bob in the face, flips him off, and spits on him instead of saying good morning. I don’t think many people would argue with the fact that Mark was wrong to do that. Why? Because it was wrong! How can I say that? Because it’s the true. Knowing that there is absolute truth is knowing that there is an absolute right and wrong. To paraphrase C.S Lewis; if someone has ever done something to you and you said “you shouldn’t have done that” you are admitting that there is absolute right and wrong. You are saying that in that situation, there was a right thing to do and a wrong thing to do and both of you knew it. How did both of you know it? Where does that innate since of right and wrong come from? What makes it wrong to kill someone in cold blood? Absolutes! People get frustrated when they are wronged by somebody, they feel that something should be done, but still try to hang on to the idea that we should all just do what we feel is right at the time. If I am free to live by the law that I can make my own right and wrong, I must allow others the same freedom. So if that guy feels that beating the crap out of a small child is right, who am I to say different? If someone feels it is ok to steal anything at any time, how can I tell them they are wrong? You see, our entire culture, our entire world falls apart with the simple idea that there is no absolute truth!

Atheists? Don’t get me started. These are people who have either 1. never taken a second to think about what they supposedly believe, or 2. who have started to think about it, realized it was too slippery a slope, and turned a blind eye. So let’s start from their point of view. There is no God. Right away I feel lonely. Aside from that, I need to justify my position. I will start with how we got here. I have to assume that something just came out of nothing, with no reason, and no structure. If there was reason or structure, that would point to a god of some sort, and then I have lost my atheist-ness. So, something from nothing, and then evolution started happening. Once again, no structure, plan, or reason for anything that happens for millions or billions of years (depending on how long you feel it would take for a piece of slime to become a human). So, we have made it through our genesis and would like to move on without too much discussion, for fear of having to answer a question about our beliefs. Now I need to explain what I believe about right and wrong. If I am a true atheist I will never feel wronged by anyone. After all, who am I to say that you are wrong to do something? If I tell you that you are wrong, am I not saying that there is an absolute right in this situation? I may not like it, but you have just as much a right to do that as I do. No matter what our society says is right, I can decide for myself. If there is no God, than there are no consequences to what I do, other than the punishment of our society. If I can get away with it, I can do anything I want. I hope you can see how stupid the atheist mindset is. Surely I don’t need to continue.

Where, then, do we get our sense of right and wrong? How do we know, without being told, that it is wrong to abuse someone, to murder, or to steal? As much as you may not want to admit it, we get our right and wrong from God. It is a hard pill to swallow for some people, but it’s true. To admit that there is a God, and that He has the right to say what is right and wrong, is to admit many things that people would rather not think about. It is easier to just ignore it, I’ll admit that, but that doesn’t make it go away. It’s there, it’s true, and all we need to do is think about it for a second, and it all makes sense.

Well, I don’t know how easy I made all this to understand. If you like the discussion of right and wrong and want to know more, I would recommend reading C.S. Lewis’s book The Abolition of Man either online or you can buy it here. I loved this book, and I think I may read it again myself. C.S. Lewis is one of my favorite authors and I would recommend getting as many of his books as you can. I feel like I may have fell short on explaining some of this, so I may try some more later. Feel free to discuss!

Age

Age is a funny thing. When I was young, I remember thinking that I would NEVER graduate high school. I remember thinking how old and "together" those people were. I mean the guys in the 12th grade could talk to girls! I don't mean that they could call them names and yell at them from across the room, I mean they could talk to them. I think one of the largest steps that they had taken, in my mind, was that they could sit next to them in class and ignore them. I know, it sounds crazy! but it's true. They didn't have to squirm around and push them and keep eyeing them out of the corner of their eyes. It was a very strange and wonderful place 12th grade.
Then something happened, I was in 12th grade. I don't know how I got there, and I really feel like there was a mistake. I don't feel together, I'm having more trouble with girls than I ever did in grade school. I can talk to them but I don't feel nearly as relaxed as the 12th graders looked!
It was all very strange. I didn't feel like I should be in 12th grade. I always felt that the 12th graders I had known had done something great to be that old. I knew what I had done, and all that was, was stay alive and pass grades 11, 10, 9, etc. That feeling still haunts me to this day. Right now, at this very moment, I own a home, I own a car, I have a wife, and a child, I have in the past, run a restaurant, owned a restaurant, owned a motorcycle, sold a home, and done countless other accomplishments that I am not capable of. After all, I'm the same guy I was when I was looking up at the 12th graders years ago! I guess I always thought there was some sort of change that would happen in me, that would make me an "adult", that would make me capable of "adult" things. That never happened. I'm the same. I just go where life takes me, and then I look around and I'm this child with all of these adult responsabilities! It can be frightening.
Whenever I reflect along these lines, I think about my parents. Growing up, they were parents, they had always been parents. There was no way that they felt like I do when I look at my daughter and have no clue about the ins and outs of raising children. They had it all together. They could solve my problems, they could make me feel better when I was down, they made money, they drove cars. How could somebody that had it THAT together, feel so out of place? But I'm sure they did. There were times I'm sure, that I would cry and they wouldn't know why, bills would be due and there was no money to pay them, or time had run out that day, and there was so much left to be done, but you know what? I never knew about those things. My parents just kept going. They did what they did, just like I do now. We just keep going. I have a child that will be one in a few weeks. I have no idea how to raise a teenager, but I have 12 years to try to find out!
Age is a funny thing indeed, but we all go through it, and although we may hide it very well, this is the first time for all of us!