Hi Friend,
Finally, I’ve found the time to read your massively daunting letter… I’ve enjoyed it very much and wished I had read it much, much earlier.
I like the rather ‘poetic vengeance’ emanating from it. Its length bespeaks the passion, conviction and commitment with which you live. It’s a deep honor to me that you would spend much time and energy over our conversation together…
Lemme express my gratitude for the opportunity to learn from you. At the two fronts of study and love, we’re at a similar crossroads...
But dun let the CNY reminders abt marriage from the aunties disturb you OK? Hehe… I’d have my share of those!
Let me begin by saying that I understand the agony you felt after 20 years of seeing bad Christian individuals in action. I know people like that in Christian and non-Christian circles.
When my Grandma passed away, one Buddhist aunt was quite critical of the Taoist rites and caused much strife in the family. Unfortunate though it may be for you as well, it’s comically tragic for any Christian who loves God and His people
(the church) to acknowledge your descriptions of ‘bad faith’ in the lives of folks you have encountered.
But I must say admit that what you wrote is very, very near the truth for many!
Perhaps, the experience of being burnt by Christians explains why you’re passionate about offering a ‘rational critique’ against Christian faith while finding it hard to do the same for Buddhists.
Hmmm… perhaps your commitment to ‘naturalism’ is not entirely free from DESIRE after all? It’s negative desire, rather than positive desire… but desire nonetheless?
I agree with you that many times, Christians have stumbled terribly by ‘pushing’ the good news of God’s loving rescue like some ‘multi-level marketing scheme’. The first person who tried to ‘evangelize’ to me was rather pushy too… but as I reflect on it, I may fault him for his over-zealous approach but he certainly showed the kind of passion that reflect the reality of his task – warning people of the eternal consequences of their sins.
If it’s true that my house is on fire, wouldn’t you be rather zealous and passionate in warning me about it?
I’m glad that you recognized that not all of your criticisms apply to others “whose conduct and views are thoroughly commendable and whose occasional frankness” you appreciated “from time to time”. For that, I’m thankful for the growing common ground in our conversation.
Thanks for the interesting, brief review on Animal Farm. You spoke of the “the glaring injustices of a totalitarian regime”, and I can’t help but notice the moral terms that you’re using here.
Have you wondered if ‘injustice’ or justice actually means anything at all if we’re all a product of chance and matter with no transcendent Law?
On Schindler’s List, I’ve recently watched two more Holocaust movies called The Pianist and Amen! The first one was very moving, about how a pianist survived the atrocity and found human compassion in the unlikely places. The second one was about how the Vatican responded to the atrocity in Nazi Germany… it’s not flattering on the church but the protagonist, which reflects the spirit of Jesus most aptly is a Catholic priest, was so tired of the leaders’ inaction that he put a Star of David on himself and suffered together with the Jews. That’s Jesus’ call to bear the cross.
About Schindler’s conduct reflecting secular humanism, well, I can see the analogy… perhaps you may like to consider that historically, the number of Jews that he saved pale in contrast with the number of Jews saved by many devout Christians like Corrie Ten Boom who risked their lives to hide them. Well, if you’re gonna write about the shining example of secular humanist, it’s worth considering Christian humanists who have done more as well, isn’t it?
Appreciative of your long-suffering
Dave
PS #1: evolutionists like to point out that certain insurmountable problems (i.e. abiogenesis) in the blind-chance-is the-cause-of-all-things theory will be resolved when our scientific knowledge grows. But it could turn out to be a soft pillow answer. For example, if I have evidence of a man lying on the floor with six gunshots in the chest, it is possible that future knowledge in science proves that he died of malnutrition instead but I am obligated to decide on available information… ie there is ‘intelligent design’ in his death. And in some cases, the evidence for ‘intelligent design’ is so strong (like the gunshots) that it’s doubtful future discoveries will override it. It’s a rather morbid analogy, but it’s not out-of-place within the context I initially set.
PS #2: the extinction of the dinosaur by falling meteor is a ‘natural’ explanation. My argument is not: Since we can explain extinction of dinosaurs by meteor, we can explain origin of life by divine intervention. In the original context I use it, my argument is aimed at the claim that once we admit God’s foot into the door
of life’s origin, people will start to appeal to miracles or demons to explain diseases, photosynthesis and the like. Well, it doesn’t! For instance, I hear nobody explains the boiling water, tsunami or aedes by a natural hypothesis of meteors? Heheh..
Posted by Thundercats
Finally, I’ve found the time to read your massively daunting letter… I’ve enjoyed it very much and wished I had read it much, much earlier.
I like the rather ‘poetic vengeance’ emanating from it. Its length bespeaks the passion, conviction and commitment with which you live. It’s a deep honor to me that you would spend much time and energy over our conversation together…
Lemme express my gratitude for the opportunity to learn from you. At the two fronts of study and love, we’re at a similar crossroads...
But dun let the CNY reminders abt marriage from the aunties disturb you OK? Hehe… I’d have my share of those!
Let me begin by saying that I understand the agony you felt after 20 years of seeing bad Christian individuals in action. I know people like that in Christian and non-Christian circles.
When my Grandma passed away, one Buddhist aunt was quite critical of the Taoist rites and caused much strife in the family. Unfortunate though it may be for you as well, it’s comically tragic for any Christian who loves God and His people
(the church) to acknowledge your descriptions of ‘bad faith’ in the lives of folks you have encountered.
But I must say admit that what you wrote is very, very near the truth for many!
Perhaps, the experience of being burnt by Christians explains why you’re passionate about offering a ‘rational critique’ against Christian faith while finding it hard to do the same for Buddhists.
Hmmm… perhaps your commitment to ‘naturalism’ is not entirely free from DESIRE after all? It’s negative desire, rather than positive desire… but desire nonetheless?
I agree with you that many times, Christians have stumbled terribly by ‘pushing’ the good news of God’s loving rescue like some ‘multi-level marketing scheme’. The first person who tried to ‘evangelize’ to me was rather pushy too… but as I reflect on it, I may fault him for his over-zealous approach but he certainly showed the kind of passion that reflect the reality of his task – warning people of the eternal consequences of their sins.
If it’s true that my house is on fire, wouldn’t you be rather zealous and passionate in warning me about it?
I’m glad that you recognized that not all of your criticisms apply to others “whose conduct and views are thoroughly commendable and whose occasional frankness” you appreciated “from time to time”. For that, I’m thankful for the growing common ground in our conversation.
Thanks for the interesting, brief review on Animal Farm. You spoke of the “the glaring injustices of a totalitarian regime”, and I can’t help but notice the moral terms that you’re using here.
Have you wondered if ‘injustice’ or justice actually means anything at all if we’re all a product of chance and matter with no transcendent Law?
On Schindler’s List, I’ve recently watched two more Holocaust movies called The Pianist and Amen! The first one was very moving, about how a pianist survived the atrocity and found human compassion in the unlikely places. The second one was about how the Vatican responded to the atrocity in Nazi Germany… it’s not flattering on the church but the protagonist, which reflects the spirit of Jesus most aptly is a Catholic priest, was so tired of the leaders’ inaction that he put a Star of David on himself and suffered together with the Jews. That’s Jesus’ call to bear the cross.
About Schindler’s conduct reflecting secular humanism, well, I can see the analogy… perhaps you may like to consider that historically, the number of Jews that he saved pale in contrast with the number of Jews saved by many devout Christians like Corrie Ten Boom who risked their lives to hide them. Well, if you’re gonna write about the shining example of secular humanist, it’s worth considering Christian humanists who have done more as well, isn’t it?
Appreciative of your long-suffering
Dave
PS #1: evolutionists like to point out that certain insurmountable problems (i.e. abiogenesis) in the blind-chance-is the-cause-of-all-things theory will be resolved when our scientific knowledge grows. But it could turn out to be a soft pillow answer. For example, if I have evidence of a man lying on the floor with six gunshots in the chest, it is possible that future knowledge in science proves that he died of malnutrition instead but I am obligated to decide on available information… ie there is ‘intelligent design’ in his death. And in some cases, the evidence for ‘intelligent design’ is so strong (like the gunshots) that it’s doubtful future discoveries will override it. It’s a rather morbid analogy, but it’s not out-of-place within the context I initially set.
PS #2: the extinction of the dinosaur by falling meteor is a ‘natural’ explanation. My argument is not: Since we can explain extinction of dinosaurs by meteor, we can explain origin of life by divine intervention. In the original context I use it, my argument is aimed at the claim that once we admit God’s foot into the door
of life’s origin, people will start to appeal to miracles or demons to explain diseases, photosynthesis and the like. Well, it doesn’t! For instance, I hear nobody explains the boiling water, tsunami or aedes by a natural hypothesis of meteors? Heheh..
Posted by Thundercats
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