politics, the Lord of the Rings, & evil

Since the DNC has been on and I’ve been pretty interested, I’m confused concerning both the political process and the choice to vote (and if to vote, then who for?). I’ve waded my way into a sticky conversation over at Andy’s blog. Not exactly friendly fire all the way around. My question:
Can we legislate morality? Or Christianity? Or “Christian morality?”

In other news…

TNT aired the Lord of the Rings trilogy over the weekend. I didn’t get to watch them as they aired, but I set our DVR to record them. I’m a huge LOTR fan, so I watched them in pieces over the last couple of days. We finished “Return of the King” last night. (Just a side note: 4 hour movies should be aired sans commercials. Seriously.) I know their have been tons of books written on the subjects of Spirituality or Christianity or Religion and LOTR. I don’t really have an interest in comparing Frodo, or Aragorn, or that long blonde haired elf (that my friend Michael had a man-crush on), to Jesus. But I did find the whole “good v. evil” theme that keeps the movie mired in spirituality to be intriguing. And false.
Here’s why: In LOTR, evil exists “out there,” in Mordor. Obviously it also exists by batches in the heart of men, but it seems to primarily reside in an external reality. In the same way, extreme good (often portrayed as heroism or bravery) is usually only manifest inside the hearts of men; though one could make the argument it’s stronger in non-men (such as wizards and elves).
LOTR aside, I think we often do this to a fault in religious circles. We characterize evil as something “out there” and don’t deal with the reality that evil resides in us as much as anything good, holy, or profitable does. The personification or outsourcing of evil only serves to dehumanize it; therefore releasing us of guilt. I would argue that for the ancient Israelites, this is one of the major areas their religion differed from the myriad religions of surrounding cultures and empires. Most major religions relegate the soul, or even humanity, as a blank slate that’s being fought for by good or evil. In contrast, the Hebrew meta-narrative sees the dichotomy not as “good v. evil” but “God v. man.” And I’m not saying that God is warring with men, only that the desires of God are set against the selfish desires of man. In the Israelite worldview, evil is selfishness. God is the remedy. If evil is primarily an external reality, then in some ways we find ourselves satisfied just to rid ourselves of evil so that we at least return to the blank slate. In the view orchestrated by God, we have to come to grips with the truth that the only way forward, our of the mire, is in Godly impersonation (Jesus gave us a way for this).

The Kingdom of God, fools, and radical thoughts

Hugh Halter’s book, The Tangible Kingdom, is kicking my butt. It’s weird because it’s not revolutionary stuff, I’ve thought through it all before, but the way he ties it in with life experience just makes it piercing.  

Here’s a section where he’s talking about the Kingdom of God and the way it contrasts with the “don’t you want to go to heaven when you die?” Gospel of American Evangelicalism. Afterwards, I’ll contrast it with other thoughts I heard tonight:

The gospel tells us why we fight with each other, why we have war, pain, suffering, and death. The gospel of Jesus shows the heart of God for humanity and the depths of his love and acceptance and vision for every human being. It  gives us hope in the face of injustice, hunger, and poverty, and for recovery from every vice or societal ill. It advocates for community, acceptance, fairness, forgiveness, and love of all people regardless of past mistakes, sexual orientation, or political bias.

 
For me, Hugh’s thoughts are rich with the holistic, driven, and passionate hope the Creator has for his Creation. It also harkens me to comments from the tube a few hours ago. In between some evening basketball and a trip with friends to hit some golf balls at Top Golf, I caught a segment where Larry King was talking with Bill Maher about politics and religion. I’m going to attempt to quote Maher for the sake of allowing it to line up with the prior quote from “The Tangible Kingdom.”

I asked my friend, “Why doesn’t God just defeat the devil and rid the world of evil?” He didn’t have a good answer, and here’s why: It’s just like the comic books. They can’t get rid of their enemies because then there would be no reason to keep up the story. Why can’t God just rid the world of evil? He’s “all powerful” (sarcastic use of hand quotations), right? No, that will never happen because we need the story to go on so that we keep people under control and keep passing the buckets and allow some people to keep their jobs.

I was intrigued, but I can only handle that kind of stuff in small doses. Plus I had to hit the road. But it got me meditating on the existence of evil, which can be dangerous stuff. Bill Maher asked a smart question. My first instinct is to write it off, right? “Where are we promised a world without evil?” See, I asked a good question, too. But does it’s logic fall apart in the face of Maher’s thinking? Now, this isn’t new stuff. Take the train one station further and we’re back to Voltairian criticism of religion. Is it sadistic to ask if maybe God loves us enough to leave evil in the world?

As Frenchie says in Talladega Nights, “God needs the devil.” Now, theologically I don’t believe this. God doesn’t “need” the devil. But love does exist fully in the light of un-love, or non-love, or hate. Could I appreciate the beneficent nature of God evident in Halter’s description of the Kingdom without the existence of the brokenness evident in said description? 

Now, the reality is that evil isn’t very far from us. It’s not some concept enveloped in the same grandeur as the Creator of the Universe. It’s the anti-God. So even though I wanted to quote Ricky Bobby’s nemesis, the truth is that evil needs God. It’s defined by the evidences of what is antithetical to that which is love, holy, righteous, and just (all the same thing, just needed to work in the concepts…). So, Mr. Maher, to answer your question…

If God destroyed evil, there would be very little of Creation left. It seems that God wants something to love, not destroy. At least, that’s how I see the Gospel.

Tim Keller @ Google

Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NY (one of my newfound Reformed kindred…), recently spoke about his book The Reasons for God at a seminar on the Google campus. Why can’t more of our organizations function like Google? That’s a sweet idea for staff development/enrichment.

I just spent the past hour watching this video in my office. Keller’s very smart, especially for a pastor (ha!)… but seriously, I’m impressed by his obvious devotion to a plethora of academic disciplines and intellectual endeavors. I’ll also have to give credit to Andrew the Tall Skinny Kiwi, who linked this on his blog recently.