Merton, Voltaire and Our Inner Pharisee

Dear M,

Thanks for yesterday's call. I treasure our conversations.

Here is the Merton quotation I shared with you. (Other Merton references are also included.)

ttp://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2012/04/merton-best-imposed-as-norm-becomes.html

And here is the inter-related Voltaire quotation I mentioned: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_is_the_enemy_of_good 

Grampa would often recite Voltaire's line: "I may disagree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it."  http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/v/voltaire109645.html  (Closer examination reveals these interesting facts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_Beatrice_Hall)

Grampa also said -- and it speaks highly of his insight and wisdom -- that any system of Justice which wishes to maximize human freedom will insure that lots of guilty people go free.

Without a significant admixture of indulgence (an essential Catholic characteristic) many innocent people are unjustly accused, unjustly condemned and unjustly punished. (See Roger Ebert's review of "West of Memphis: An Account of Wrongful Conviction - http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/02/west-of-memphis-wrongful-conviction.html)

The moment we fixate on "convicting the guilty" (or "damning the sinful"), lots of innocent people get convicted in the process (while we, of course, always "walk.")

And so a significant number of criminals must be turned loose if we wish to avoid the worse outcome of sadistically judgmental power structures condemning/imprisoning people on the basis of unsubstantiated suspicion, trigger-happy prejudice and shoddy evidence.

The longer I live, the more convinced I become that "bad religion" (and "bad politics") are rooted in the vengeful desire to condemn as many people as possible through the Pharisaic application of Impossibly Pure Principles.

Within the last year, I sent an article to a fundamentalist friend concerning a quick, inexpensive therapy that enabled sexually-abused kids to heal. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/02/a-brief-therapy-helps-heal-trauma-in-children/

Making no reference to this therapy, my friend wrote back: "I'm worried that the perpetrators will go unpunished."

Whatever one thinks about Christianity -- and it is remarkable how many self-proclaimed Christians give Christianity a bad name... http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2012/10/why-bible-belt-is-christianitys-enemy.html -- the carpenter's central vision is a challenge to us all: 

Matthew 5:43-48

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor^[a] and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? ⁴⁸ Be complete, therefore, as your heavenly Father is complete.

Love

Dman

PS When dealing with New Testament translation, I routinely substitute the word "complete" for the commonly used word "perfect," the latter translation being a misnomer which has had calamitous effect on many English-speaking Christians. Remind me to probe this translation issue with you. It is utterly fascinating and brilliantly illuminated by a biological discovery I made while researching the silkworm.

Here are other modern translations of this same passage from Matthew:

"Contemporary English Version"

⁴³ You have heard people say, “Love your neighbors and hate your enemies.” ⁴⁴ But I tell you to love your enemies and pray for anyone who mistreats you. ⁴⁵ Then you will be acting like your Father in heaven. He makes the sun rise on both good and bad people. And he sends rain for the ones who do right and for the ones who do wrong. ⁴⁶ If you love only those people who love you, will God reward you for that? Even tax collectors^[a] love their friends. ⁴⁷ If you greet only your friends, what’s so great about that? Don’t even unbelievers do that? ⁴⁸ But you must always act like your Father in heaven.

Footnotes:

a.       Matthew 5:46 tax collectors: These were usually Jewish people who paid the Romans for the right to collect taxes. They were hated by other Jews who thought of them as traitors to their country and to their religion.  (Dad here. Check out these links: http://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/tax-collector-faq.htm  ///  http://jesusfootprints.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/calling-the-despised/  Also see, "Is Perfectionism a Curse?" http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2012/09/paul-ryan-tells-truth.html)

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"The Message" 

^43-47 “You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that. ⁴⁸ “In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”

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