Upside down logic
There is a basic principle in christian theology. Theologists describe this by saying, "We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners." This seems pretty simple and straightforward to me. I mean, think about it for a moment.
When my children got old enough to start asking, "Daddy, why do people do bad things?" I told them that everyone is born wild, just like a fox, or a deer, or a wolf. We are not domesticated animals. We are still feral. As we grow up, we have to tame each other. The process of taming is called civilizing. It is what parents and society are supposed to do with a child when they teach it right and wrong,. But sometimes, they don't get the job done right, so the person grows up still part-wild. And they act like a wild animal because they still ARE part wild animal.
My kids nodded and went on their way. It seemed that a three or four year old had no trouble grasping this concept. So why do so many supposedly rational adults, particularly politicians, seem blind to it?
Case in point. Back in March there was a Columbine-style school shooting in Germany in which a young man tragically killed 15 people then himself.
As a resolute stroke, to show their firm resolve to prevent such horrible events in the future, the German government has bravely and resolutely determined to ban paintball.
I am not kidding. They are going to ban paintball, and any other game where kids shoot at each other with pellets. Which would include airsoft, etc. I did not see nerf bullets mentioned, but I presume they would be included as well, since they are indisputably projectiles. I am not sure if lazertag is included or not, since it doesn't throw pellets. I am guessing that cap guns are probably already illegal. But the ultimate rationale is that such games breed violence by teaching kids to kill.
I cannot help wondering what they will do the next time somebody gets shot. Perhaps remove all the horns from the automobiles? Under the reasoning that frequent honking causes irritation and promotes road rage maybe?
We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners. We are not dangerous because we act violent, we act violent because we are dangerous.
There is supposed to be an epidemic of obesity in the USA right now. By following the German reasoning, the thing to do is to institute a government ban on forks because they teach people how to intake food more efficiently and thus, overeat. Heaven forbid we consider the possibility, however remote, that individuals make individual decisions, and that these individual decisions might even be made WITHOUT being controlled by someone else's external instructions.
But then, that kind of thinking is heresy. The concept that someone might make a decision on their own, and do it independent of any outside influence? Impossible. No politician could ever take such a wild idea seriously.
When my children got old enough to start asking, "Daddy, why do people do bad things?" I told them that everyone is born wild, just like a fox, or a deer, or a wolf. We are not domesticated animals. We are still feral. As we grow up, we have to tame each other. The process of taming is called civilizing. It is what parents and society are supposed to do with a child when they teach it right and wrong,. But sometimes, they don't get the job done right, so the person grows up still part-wild. And they act like a wild animal because they still ARE part wild animal.
My kids nodded and went on their way. It seemed that a three or four year old had no trouble grasping this concept. So why do so many supposedly rational adults, particularly politicians, seem blind to it?
Case in point. Back in March there was a Columbine-style school shooting in Germany in which a young man tragically killed 15 people then himself.
As a resolute stroke, to show their firm resolve to prevent such horrible events in the future, the German government has bravely and resolutely determined to ban paintball.
I am not kidding. They are going to ban paintball, and any other game where kids shoot at each other with pellets. Which would include airsoft, etc. I did not see nerf bullets mentioned, but I presume they would be included as well, since they are indisputably projectiles. I am not sure if lazertag is included or not, since it doesn't throw pellets. I am guessing that cap guns are probably already illegal. But the ultimate rationale is that such games breed violence by teaching kids to kill.
I cannot help wondering what they will do the next time somebody gets shot. Perhaps remove all the horns from the automobiles? Under the reasoning that frequent honking causes irritation and promotes road rage maybe?
We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners. We are not dangerous because we act violent, we act violent because we are dangerous.
There is supposed to be an epidemic of obesity in the USA right now. By following the German reasoning, the thing to do is to institute a government ban on forks because they teach people how to intake food more efficiently and thus, overeat. Heaven forbid we consider the possibility, however remote, that individuals make individual decisions, and that these individual decisions might even be made WITHOUT being controlled by someone else's external instructions.
But then, that kind of thinking is heresy. The concept that someone might make a decision on their own, and do it independent of any outside influence? Impossible. No politician could ever take such a wild idea seriously.
Comments