Lars and the Real World
In the previous post I posed the following question: "Why do we care so much about what people think of who we are, authentically, but don't give God the same consideration?" The idea is simply that we are quite interested with what others think of us. No, I don't believe for a second anyone who says they can say with 100% verity "I really don't care what others think." They're lying. By definition, for anyone to have any meaningful relationship, who one is must be expressed to another in some way. Otherwise we are all just schizophrenics.
Given this quite veritable premise, why then don't we give God the same consideration and at least work a bit to understand who He really is, if we hope to have relationship with Him? Many will say "Who are you to say who He is? How presumptuous." When these kind of people--and yes, there are many of them--say this, they are actually saying "I am a fool, for I presume that one cannot know who God is." Think I'm being harsh? Take a peek at Psalm 53 for what God thinks about it.
A few weeks ago my wife and I went to see Lars and the Real Girl. It was about a quiet unassuming young man played by Ryan Gosling, who finds true love in a blow-up doll. Through the entire film he treats her like a real live human being. Everyone else knows it is not--with lots of hilarity mixed in about their reaction to his peculiar affection.
After a while, most of those closest to him play along while they figure out how to deal with this. Why do they do this? It seems they don't want to hurt his feelings, for he is so convinced this blow-up doll is his genuine human companion. The fact is, at no point in the story does anyone at any time treat the blow-up doll as a real human--
But isn't that what postmoderns are supposed to do? Concede that each individual is merely part of their own "interpretive community" and that their truth is merely a product of their "narrative"?
This idea came up recently in a tragic real life situation when a mother of a teenage girl pretended to be a 16 year-old boy in a burgeoning web conversation with a friend of the girl. The mother/fake boy told the girl how fond he was of her, then after a time, cruelly dumped her. The girl then committed suicide.
The girl was so convinced the web relationship was real that it killed her.
The latest is that authorities are struggling to find a statute with which to charge the woman. There seems to be nothing in the books for what amounted to using information technology to inflict a kind of serious emotional duress and persuade another to commit murder (even if upon oneself).
How many would say, "Oh she should have just gotten over it, it's not the woman's fault." Or how about "She had serious emotional problems anyway." While these may have some merit, the main point here is this:
An individual is somebody, in truth. A blow-up doll is not a human being, no matter how much someone thinks it is. A fake web person is also not a human being, and the one who invented such a person can really murder someone.
This is precisely what happens in the World, through and through. There are thousands of fake gods out there who draw people into worship of them. What's really happening is the inventors of those gods are committing murder, keeping very real human beings created by God from being with Him, the One who wants them back home.
God is Somebody, in Truth. There are things you can know about Him, Truthfully. Just as true is the fact that brilliant sworn operatives work to get you to proclaim "There is no God one can know."
Do you know who they are? Do you care?
I guess if you don't, you can be perfectly happy with your blow-up doll god. And maybe you can get a bunch of others to buy into your folly.
But it will still be sad, in reality, when you get murdered.
In case you're a bit concerned, here are some of those gods. And for a tiny bit of a start to know who the Real God is, here are some thoughts.
Given this quite veritable premise, why then don't we give God the same consideration and at least work a bit to understand who He really is, if we hope to have relationship with Him? Many will say "Who are you to say who He is? How presumptuous." When these kind of people--and yes, there are many of them--say this, they are actually saying "I am a fool, for I presume that one cannot know who God is." Think I'm being harsh? Take a peek at Psalm 53 for what God thinks about it.
A few weeks ago my wife and I went to see Lars and the Real Girl. It was about a quiet unassuming young man played by Ryan Gosling, who finds true love in a blow-up doll. Through the entire film he treats her like a real live human being. Everyone else knows it is not--with lots of hilarity mixed in about their reaction to his peculiar affection.
After a while, most of those closest to him play along while they figure out how to deal with this. Why do they do this? It seems they don't want to hurt his feelings, for he is so convinced this blow-up doll is his genuine human companion. The fact is, at no point in the story does anyone at any time treat the blow-up doll as a real human--
But isn't that what postmoderns are supposed to do? Concede that each individual is merely part of their own "interpretive community" and that their truth is merely a product of their "narrative"?
This idea came up recently in a tragic real life situation when a mother of a teenage girl pretended to be a 16 year-old boy in a burgeoning web conversation with a friend of the girl. The mother/fake boy told the girl how fond he was of her, then after a time, cruelly dumped her. The girl then committed suicide.
The girl was so convinced the web relationship was real that it killed her.
The latest is that authorities are struggling to find a statute with which to charge the woman. There seems to be nothing in the books for what amounted to using information technology to inflict a kind of serious emotional duress and persuade another to commit murder (even if upon oneself).
How many would say, "Oh she should have just gotten over it, it's not the woman's fault." Or how about "She had serious emotional problems anyway." While these may have some merit, the main point here is this:
An individual is somebody, in truth. A blow-up doll is not a human being, no matter how much someone thinks it is. A fake web person is also not a human being, and the one who invented such a person can really murder someone.
This is precisely what happens in the World, through and through. There are thousands of fake gods out there who draw people into worship of them. What's really happening is the inventors of those gods are committing murder, keeping very real human beings created by God from being with Him, the One who wants them back home.
God is Somebody, in Truth. There are things you can know about Him, Truthfully. Just as true is the fact that brilliant sworn operatives work to get you to proclaim "There is no God one can know."
Do you know who they are? Do you care?
I guess if you don't, you can be perfectly happy with your blow-up doll god. And maybe you can get a bunch of others to buy into your folly.
But it will still be sad, in reality, when you get murdered.
In case you're a bit concerned, here are some of those gods. And for a tiny bit of a start to know who the Real God is, here are some thoughts.
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