"THE SHACK" AS THEODICY

In this bestselling work of fiction, a man
who is angry at God because of the kid-
napping and murder of his little girl is in-
vited to a weekend retreat in the woods,
where it turns out he is the only guest, and
is welcomed and waited on, hand and foot,,
by the three persons of the Trinity.

Lengthy discussions and demonstrations
ensue, in a situation reminiscent of the old
TV series "Fantasy Island." I kept expecting
a little person to pop up and yell, "the plane,
boss, the plane!"

The central message of the book is that God is
good, in spite of bad things that happen to
good people. It does take a powerful amount
of fantasy to bring this off, along with some
plain old dishonesty. These attempts to ex-
lain or justify the ways of God with men are
known as "theodicies." The most famous of
these, and justly so, are Milton's Paradise Lost,
and the Hindu Bhagavad Gita.

"The Shack" is not in that class. Not even close.
It uses Christian terminology and imagery, but
misrepresents the traditional doctrine of the
trinity, and embraces universalism (the teaching
that everyone will be "saved" in the end, regard-
less.) If the latter is true, there was no need for
Jesus to suffer and die an agonizing death for
our sins. But said death is a prominent feature
in this book.

In my view, the story is at cross-purposes: how
do you make a case for the goodness of God by
starting with the brutal murder of a child? That
spoiled the following fantasy for me. It remind-
ed me that a quarter of a million children die
everyday, worldwide. Starvation, HIV, and ma-
laria kill most of them, along with filthy or no
drinking water.

While the death of one child may be only a
speed bump on the way to explaining God, the
preventable deaths of ninety million kids a
year is a stone wall that can't be breached.
Sorry. It doesn't compute. No can do. It won't
wash. Case closed!

P. S. I'm not saying there is no God. I'm just
saying that God is beyond our understanding
or explaining. Attempts to explain God are for
children. This is a good kid story, for a 10-12
year old who has lost a playmate to death. As
for me, I hold the "blessed hope" that one day
it will all become clear.

comments appreciated.

jgoodwin004@centurytel.net

THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT'S SETTING SUN

"Elitism" As A Code Word

Ben Shapiro, writing in the Riverside Press-Enter-
prise, finds the country divided between "elitists
and the rest of us." That, of course, is pure hogwash.
Of course there is elitism (snobbery) everywhere,
but it's not what divides us! It's equally present
in both parties.

Religion is what really divides us. Religion and its
illegitimate step-child: sexual regulation, with the
folks opposed to sex ed in the schools, legal abortion,
gay marriage, gays, period, premarital sex, birth
control, etc. etc.

The people interested in who is sleeping with whom
and why are also concerned with what contracep-
tion they are or aren't using, and in keeping kids in
the dark as long as possible about how babies happen.
They are petrified by gays, and especially gay mar-
riage, and they insist that all abortions are murder.

But the no longer silent majority isn't buying this
sexual obsession any more! The main meaning of
the recent election is that it spelled the end of politi-
cal dominance by the religious sex controllers.
Colorado, a power center of the R. R., disagreed
(by 73% of the voters) with the long-held Repub-
lican contention that human life begins at concep-
tion. That's a biggie!

The country's young people swung this election.
In doing so, they rejected the phony "elitist"
baloney along with bogus sex issues. "That dog
(sex) don't hunt (anymore)." The young folks
don't care about other people's private business.
They care about the poor, the environment, glo-
bal warming, world peace, social justice, real
issues. The power of the religious right is waning,
and their political force is dwindling to a farce
(symbolized by Sarah Palin, with her "real Ameri-
can" baloney).

BTW, the parts of the country where this kind of
religious fixation on sex has been most dominant
has the highest rate of teen pregnancy, a predic-
table consequence of not allowing effective sex ed
in the schools. They also have the highest divorce
rate, along with teen marriages. And they have
the most spousal abuse, alcoholism, etc. etc.

As for elitism, it has always been part of human
nature. Insecure people need to feel superior in
some way to other folks. It is a sign of ignorance,
for sure. Wise people like Socrates, Confucius,
Jesus and Buddha have always been extremely
humble. Obama is humble like that, and wise.

There are lots of snobs among the rich. I'm not
saying all the rich are snobs. They aren't. There
are lots of wise (and humble) rich people. Among
the rich snobs, you'll probably find as many Demo-
crats as Republicans. Mr. Shapiro's article con-
fuses "elitist" with "liberal." To him they are
synonymous. But it was the young people and the
minorities who ruled this election. Elitism had
nothing to do with it. These folks simply ignored
the rants of Limbaugh and Hannity and the whole
Fox Noise lunacy. The agents of division have
been bested!

As Timothy Egan wrote in the N.Y.T. (11/5/08):
"In losing the urban vote and the suburbs as well,
the Republican party is now a shrinking regional
party of older white males, represented in the media
by talk-radio kooks and far-right women dressed
in high couture to sell low-culture friction." He also
points out that Obana racked up 66% of the 18-to 29
year-year-old vote. It's a new day!

jgoodwin004@centurytel.net