Comments on: Some Voices Within

By: theologyontapomaha

theologyontapomaha — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:04:48 +0000

Cool! And in light of our last worship series on the Seven Deadly Sins/Lively Virtues, one can add at least fourteen more. Of course, these fourteen may simply speak though the other voices:
The voices of Pride or Humility, Envy or Gratitude, Anger or Faith, Greed or Generosity, Gluttony or Temperance (mindfulness), Sloth or Hope, Lust or Love!

By: theologyontapomaha

theologyontapomaha — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:00:01 +0000

Yes, giving license to suicide bombers is always to be avoided (!) – and is truly a risk when one emphasizes using subjective personal experience as a guide to discernment. Of course, what is the alternative to using one’s personal experience? We can either use that, or use the subjective personal experience of someone else who, from our subjective personal experience, gives us the perception of authority.

To me, what suicide bombers are likely doing is NOT following what leads them to deep peace and joy. I think they are “absolutizing their own hysteria” (as Ann Lamott would say) and/or letting some “higher” authority’s voice override their deepest instincts. It’s kind of like when Christians say, “It makes no sense to me that God would torture people in hell for eternity, but I don’t make the rules. God does.” Their gut tells them otherwise, but they pay more attention to the preacher/religious leader and/or a highly selective use of 2000+ yr old writings in scripture.

Back to the suicide bomber: even if one believes that one can authentically find deep peace and joy while envisioning brutal violence, death, and terror being inflicted on others, I do give an incredibly important (to me) “safety mechanism” in Asphalt Jesus on p. 9 (first full paragraph):

“One of the basic checks-and-balances mechanisms I use to gauge whether or not I’m on track is to ask if whatever I believe I’m being led to conclude or do ‘looks like Jesus.’ This is not quite the same as asking, ‘What would Jesus do?’ (often abbreviated WWJD). After all, Jesus might do a lot of things I’m not specifically called to do. I ask, instead, ‘Does the action I’m feeling called to take look like something that Jesus, as revealed in Scripture and in my experience of his ongoing presence (the risen Christ) would do?’ If not, the red flags start waving mightily.”

Bottom line: Even with safety mechanisms in place, discerning God’s will is always risky precisely because it’s subjective. We’re fully capable of getting our signals crossed and making mistakes that truly can hurt ourselves and others (Which is always a good argument for moving in small, slow steps and continually asking the Spirit for reconfirmation – principles #2 and 5) . It’s just that the alternatives to using our subjective experience seem so much less appealing and so much more dangerous …

By: Deb

Deb — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:39:05 +0000

Our small group focused on discernment Tuesday, sharing experiences and thoughts about knowing when the “voice” we hear is the voice of God. We found the 10 principles for discerning the voice of God helpful (pages 9-11), but questioned whether suicide bombers might not claim “a sense of joy or profound peace” or believe they are “acting in their true self-interest”. Reza Aslan (How to Win a Cosmic War: God, Globalization, and the End of the War on Terror) suggests that “Hasib Hussain…was a zealot, acting alone” believing he was “called by God to renew his faith by shedding the blood of unbelievers”. Aslan describes this act as imprudent, misguided, misplaced love, but we’re still left thinking about the distinction between Hussain’s listening and ours!

By: Calvin's Knights

Calvin's Knights — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:31:24 +0000

Our group thought of a few other voices that may resonate:

The Humorist
The Worrier
The Caretaker (may be similar to the parent)