I'm not going to mince words here. Human nature just hit me in the face.
I just finished watching the movie Gladiator for the first time. I don't have the stomach for blood and gore so I always look away during the fight scenes, but I heard a part where the Emperor Commodus laughed as one of the gladiators was slaughtered. I remember thinking, What kind of a person would laugh at something like this?! How could anyone find that entertaining?! And then, as the protagonist killed one of the bad guys, my companion laughed. I confronted him, and he shrugged it off, justifying it by saying that it was just special effects and wasn't real.
As moderns, we think we are somehow better than the people of the past. We scoff and condemn them, thinking they were much more brutal and graphic than we are now. But what is the difference here? Why are the Romans so much more terrible and gruesome than us? What is the difference between watching someone actually be killed and watching a very realistic recreation of someone being killed? The principle is the same! In both scenarios, people are being entertained at the horrible expense of someone else. Why is this even entertaining in the first place? Why do people enjoy watching others being slaughtered and tortured? What is it people find appealing in this?
I don't think I will ever understand it. But this just goes to say that there is nothing new under the sun. People are people, no matter what time period they live in. No matter how hard we try to justify ourselves, we are still no better than the people of long ago. We have different means than they did, but we are still just as flawed and sinful as they were.
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I pray to god your an Atheist. Cause if you seen the shit religion has done to people, well then you too would be moved to violence.
ReplyDeleteJvecera107,
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I must disappoint you. I am not an atheist but a servant of the God of the Bible.
You did not say this directly, and I know assumptions are dangerous, but it seems to me you imply that the problems of the world are caused by religion. If I am wrong, please correct me. It is just that I have met people who believe this, and it is not an uncommon view to hold.
Imagine the world without religion. When I say this, you probably think of a peaceful world with no conflict and no war. Of course, I am probably exagerating a bit, but this is the gist of it, no? Problem. Human beings are sinful. It is a part of our nature, and we cannot escape it. We cannot help but fall into error. Thus, we need standards to hold us in check. Without religion, there is no foundation on which to base these standards. Human reason, perhaps? If we are fallen and sinful by nature, our reason is corrupted, and thus unreliable. Our emotions or feelings? Again, since we are corrupted, we cannot trust anything inside ourselves to base our morals upon. Thus, we have to rely on something above humanity. What better source than religion?
BUT, it depends on the religion. All of them cannot be lumped together because they all have important differences that, when applied to a culture, produce different worldviews. This is why I believe Christianity. Cristianity is the only worldview ever to have produced any sort of lasting freedom. It is supported by historical, archaelogical, and scientific evidence, and it has truly changed my life. I see the work God has done in my life and the lives of others. It is to the Christian God that I place my trust, my faith, and my love. Glory to God in the highest! Let His name be praised throughout the earth!