THE COST OF VIRTUE

 

 

Sam and Pearl Oliner, both professors of sociology at California State University, are authors of one of the most highly regarded works on altruism, "The Altruistic Personality." The book was the product of the Oliner’s lifetime of study of non-Jewish rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust. They themselves had been hidden by non-Jews in Poland. (Dennis Prager, “Who Would Hide a Jew if Nazis Took Over America?” Townhall.com)

 

During an interview, Dennis Prager had asked them:

 

·       "Knowing all you now know about who rescued Jews during the Holocaust, if you had to return as a Jew to Poland and you could knock on the door of only one person in the hope that they would rescue you, would you knock on the door of a Polish lawyer, a Polish doctor, a Polish artist or a Polish priest?"

 

Although the Olinger’s are secular Jews, the husband responded:

 

·       "Polish priest." And his wife immediately added, "I would prefer a Polish nun."

 

Prager, who has been obsessed with the question, “who today would hide a Jew,” believes that, with the weakening of Judeo-Christian influence, fewer would be willing to risk their lives.

 

Why hasn’t today’s secularism shown promise of producing people with such moral fortitude? Secularism is committed to moral relativism, which denies the existence of any universal and objective moral laws. Therefore, we must make up the rules as we go along. Consequently, “goodness” and “virtue” have no independent existence apart from our creative efforts.

 

Although many agree that moral sentiments and judgments have been written into our DNA, secularists believe that blind purposeless evolution has done the writing. Why then follow the whims of chance, since it lacks both truth and authority?

 

The secularist appeals to “enlightened” pragmatism. By this cost/benefit proposal, what confers the greatest benefit to the majority (or to the elites) should be deemed moral. However, pragmatic reasoning has often proved to be self-centered, for one’s own benefit. Such a cost/ benefit analysis will inevitably conclude that we will be better off sending the Jews on their way.

 

For the pragmatist to live according to their personal sense of virtue is nothing more than self-righteousness. Why? Because, for them virtue is no more than a self-created, self-enhancing illusion, justified only by its benefits.

 

Humanist and author of The Humanist Manifesto II, Paul Kurtz, claimed that the pragmatic benefits are the only possible justification for morality:

 

·       How are these principles [of equality, freedom, honesty, morality, etc.] to be justified? They are not derived from a divine or natural law nor do they have a special metaphysical [beyond the material world] status. They are rules offered to govern how we shall behave. They can be justified only by reference to their results [benefits]. (Preamble)

 

Is there any reason to expect that such a morality will stand against genocide and the threat to one’s own family? The finger of the Oliners will once again point in the direction of the church and the convent where a higher Truth in honored.

LET SCRIPTURE BE YOUR GUIDE - TOGETHER YET INDIVIDUAL

 

 

What is Christianity – a personal relationship with the Lord or a corporate relationship? Why not both, instead of one or the other, as one “scholar had written without any Scriptural support:

 

•                  Christianity is not about a personal relationship with Jesus.

•                  When we read the Bible, we read communally. https://www.1517.org/articles/christianity-is-not-about-a-personal-relationship-with-jesus?fbclid=IwAR1d5CSHEU0qU5EhYmkIlqiQtgYgJvFtOrgQ9Z4MW-KExGxcVkQOODxIFlI#.YU6fwYEYXls.facebook

 

Cannot we read the Bible on our own? Doesn’t it say:

•                  The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. (Romans 14:22–23)

 

While we should seek the counsel of others, ultimately, our faith is personal, between ourselves and the Lord. Even when mistaken, it is I who must bear the responsibility for violating my faith.

 

God works with us, not only as a Church, the Body of Christ, but also individually:

 

•                  The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. (Ezekiel 18:20)

 

I hope that this lesson demonstrates that we all need to be Bereans (Acts 17) who weigh everything against the Scriptures.

 

FRIENDSHIP AND INTIMACY: THE ENDANGERED NECESSITY

 

 

A friend is offering a workshop on “friendship.” He writes:

 

• The #1 factor to a happy and long life is having deep and meaningful relationships. There is a dearth of these today, the # of close friends people have is far lower than several decades ago. Google “number of close friends dropping” and you will find many articles on the topic from various sources. Many of us are trying to combat this crisis. If you read “on the origins of totalitarianism” by Hannah Arendt, you will learn that this was the same type of scenario where the Nazis gained power - they offered friendship to lonely germans in exchange for loyalty to their ideology.

 

I largely agree with him. The absence of close and intimate friendships leaves a painful vacuum in our lives, making us vulnerable to false and malicious promises of “friendship.” However, I have reservations about my friend’s approach:

 

• How can you share who you are with others in a way that keeps you safe from harm?
•  How can you learn about others effectively to build meaningful relationships?

 

As someone who had had a hard time keeping friends and even feeling comfortable with them, I think I have something to say about friendship. As a highly self-conscious young man, I also had a hard time feeling comfortable enough with the opposite sex to approach them. I learned several one-liners to help me approach these threatening beings, but to no avail.

 

I think that far more is needed than learning techniques and even interpersonal skills. My own journey to find close friendships showed me that I first had to undergo some deep changes. I had to first needed to feel comfortable within myself before I could feel comfortable with others. I had to also become convinced that I was already beloved and therefore, lovable. As long as I didn’t feel that I was lovable, I was unable to believe that others would find me lovable.

 

I also had to believe that I was safe. However, the possibility that I might be rejected represented an unacceptable threat. Yet rejection is always a possibility. How then could I stick my neck out if I didn’t even consider myself lovable? I couldn’t! No workshops, therapy, or teachings could reach far enough within to make a difference. All of my positive affirmations also failed.

 

I tried many forms of self-help and psychotherapy, but none could even make a dent in my problem. Despite the various interventions, we continue to wear a mask to conceal ourselves.

 

Instead, it was only my growing conviction that Jesus loved me and accepted me as I am that was able to lance my impenetrable pustule and open the door to self-acceptance. Therefore, the Apostle Paul had prayed that we would come to:

 

·       know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:19)

 

Without this certainty, any rejection was an intolerable attack on my personhood, my personal worth.