When people value the law above life, you have to start questioning the law. Obedience is important, yes. But you always have to remember the principle behind the law and not blindly follow it. This applies to both faith and the secular world. I'm giving off pretty bad vibes in class these days when I keep questioning the lecturer. While other groups see me and laugh, getting amused by my hysterical reaction, I wonder why they can't see things the way I do. Different people different lifestyle, I always say. But I'm feeling more and more like the minority. I quite like it, being one of the few who think otherwise. But it is shocking how the majority take things at face value. Perhaps they cannot be bothered to argue, I really hope it is that.
"We live in a society that teaches us not to ask for permission, but to ask for forgiveness."
And this is how we have rape.
We are supposed to be learning about morals, but all we're receiving is a lesson on how to obey the law. Being law-abiding citizens does not equate to being morally upright. Yes, there are a huge number of laws that keep people good, safe, proper and sane. But not everything can be made into a template. You have to be flexible. You have to watch the circumstances and make a judgment call. If we obeyed the law blindly without judging the situation and without working with our hearts, we'd be just like the Pharisees won't we? Calling Jesus out for working on a sabbath. Jesus, in all His wisdom replies The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Mark 2:27
It is only in Literature class where the lecturers are bold and passionate and compassionate enough to talk about sexuality, gender inequality, and religion. This is why I desperately want to join the class. While the system has proper classes to teach you things about morals and social issues, it is only in Lit that you have the freedom to think for yourself and argue your case. We're currently reading a Marlowe play, Dr Faustus, where the demons have the best lines in the book. The play is about a man and his never-ending thirst for knowledge. He sells his soul to the devil and thinks he is outsmarting him by giving him a bunch of criteria before he surrenders his soul. But he was actually being manipulated all this time. The last part of the play touches on repentance, in which the man's "good angel" persuades him to seek repentance from Christ and the "bad angel" eventually convinces him that he has gone too far to be saved.
The lecturer asked why the demons had all the good lines in the book. And they did. I think it was because the devil knows God more than man will ever do. He was after all an angel once, worshipping God in His holy presence. What do we know? However, Christ is the Victor. Always has been, always will be. The only reason the man lost in the end was because he did not know Christ and did not have Him. With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Matthew 19:26 Against evil, we are triumphant because Christ stands before us. But without Christ, we don't stand a chance. The devil knows God. He knows Christ. He knows the scripture. He uses scripture to manipulate man, that's how well he knows his stuff.
And the lecturer used this to remind us that things are not as simple as they seem. Bad is not just bad, and good is not just good. Obedience is not just good. Every time I think about goodness, I always remember my favourite quote from Burgess. What does God want? Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who chooses the bad perhaps in some way better than a man who has the good imposed upon him? A Clockwork Orange. It's not that a man who chooses bad is better, because he is knowingly choosing to sin. But it shows that a man who has goodness imposed, who has no choice, is not really good after all. This is why freewill is so important.
ALWAYS QUESTION.
But ask with the intention of finding out the truth.
Don't ask with the intention of debunking or supporting a case.
Always seek truth.