pink lemonade, recliners, and free will
Pink lemonade and recliners: that’s it for me. I finished my exam in my dreaded economics class this morning around 8:45 and I am out for the summer. It is already starting out to be a good one. Tonight Joel, Robbie and myself are going to New Orleans to see Dave Chapelle. The only way today could be better would be some sunshine. The day I actually plan to go outside and get some sun and relaxation it rains. Bastard weather.
I was thinking about something before I went to sleep last night and wanted to write about it then, but it was late and I had to go to sleep, so I will write about it now. A little background on the subject: I go to church on a fairly regular basis. It would be safe to say that I go twice a month at the least. Kurt, the minister, is not a stereotypical minister. He is actually the reason I go to church. If it were anyone else I wouldn’t bother. He takes what is in the Bible and relates it to today: yeah this is how it was, but let’s put into perspective here and now. He has a real good understanding of it all and has a good handle on how it related to today. Well, it isn’t just him. The people in the church are really nice; it is a small community of people and everyone looks out for everyone else, like a family. Yeah, everyone has his or her problems but no one judges anyone else. Everyone is accepted for who they are, fucked up or not. Moving on…I like the idea of God/Jesus. However you want to slice that. Jesus had some really good ideas. He was a pacifist, he wanted everyone to hang out and be groovy (stealing a line from Eddie Izzard) and as the story goes, suffered and died for humanity’s sins. Got to give credit where credit is due. I have been reading the Sandman books by Gaiman recently and God and his angels and creation of humanity have come up more than once. Not to mention in Gaiman’s Murder Mystery story. I was thinking last night about God’s will and our free will. I hear all the time: “It’s God’s will” or “Don’t go against God’s will”. I was thinking that God’s will has nothing to do with us. God created the angels for a life of worship and servitude. They did whatever God willed them to do. God’s will is a part of them. They had no free will of their own. What separates humans from the angels? God gave us the gift of free will; a marvelous gift it is. God’s will has nothing to do with our own. We have choice, in God’s eyes; to worship the Name, ignore the Name, question the Name, etc. One of the things that brought this up in my mind was a conversation I had with my father one day. I was expressing my woes of the insurance company not covering some of the things I need, example: birth control. I don’t want any babies right now; therefore I take the magic pill. My insurance does not cover this and I was questioning my father if he knew why. It is cheaper for the insurance company for me not to have babies than for me to have them, isn’t it? My dad replied to me that some pharmacies aren’t filling people’s prescriptions for birth control because of the debate of whether birth control is a form of abortion. I was confused at this. Surely if there isn’t a baby there you can’t kill it, then I had to think like…well, I had to think like a fundamentalist. It dawned on me that maybe the people who are bringing this debate up are afraid that people are going against “God’s will” and that is wrong. If the Name gave us the freedom of choice then I choose to not have babies right now.
Posted by jessab at May 11, 2004 11:27 AM