Wednesday 4 February 2015

Fry-ing my brain

I have nothing against Stephen Fry. I don't enjoy any of his TV programmes but I have no beef with those who do. It's opinion, subjective to each person to his and hers own personality.

However I take great issue with his recent comments about God. 

This argument is often trotted out and it's falls very quickly and easily and here is how - You cannot make a moralistic judgement on anything without a undisputed set of absolute right and wrongs to stand on.

If you ask most unbelievers the rather difficult question of where morality has come from you'll, in my experience, get one of these answers:

'Morality evolved' - this is scary because it means that nothing is absolutely wrong, only wrong at that stage of it's evolution. Rape and murder could have been okay in the past and could be okay in the future.

'We make our own morals' - This is subjectivity of the highest order and not the good kind such as whether we prefer to watch QI or Have I Got News For You on the Dave channel. If we make our own morals we cannot be angry at anyone else because they have a different set of morals. If someone punched me in the face I couldn't be upset because it might not be wrong to them even if it is to me.

'Morality is defined by society' - this has the same issues as both of the above two.

Morality is such an evidence for God because it definitely exists yet there is no reasonable explanation for it's existence outside of a Higher Power. Without God we are simply like animals, it's dog eat dog and the fittest will win. Cats don't feel guilty after killing a mouse and if there is no God why should we feel guilty about anything we do?

Without a Higher Power, morality is subjective as no one persons opinion is bigger than another. However a Higher Power's, who is described as Holy, Perfect and All Loving,  moral judgements are bigger and there is none that can compete.

In fact, the much envied British justice and legal system is actually built upon the Bible, most of our law stems from the Ten Commandments or Biblical principles which are usually always based upon fairness to all.

God is Good and Has all knowledge and wisdom whilst loving all He has made. He made everything, including a perfect morality which we can never keep up with but can only live up to with the grace of God Himself, shown so amazingly through Jesus Christ on the cross dying for our sins so we could be reconciled to Him.

If you have no grounds for moral belief, you cannot even define the words 'evil' and 'monstrous' let alone accuse someone of it. Often people will use the wipeouts of entire groups of people in the Old Testament as an excuse to say God is evil. These groups were far worse than IS, some of them sacrificed children, and there isn't many people who think IS shouldn't be wiped out.
Some say that God was cruel letting Christ die for our sins, I'll let you in on a secret. God was Christ and He chose to do it. Because He loved us that much.

God is only one with the character to justify the creation of morality. Morality is unchanging, immaterial and universal, just like God and nothing else could account for those aspects.

The other thing that irks me is this idea that everything on earth should be perfect. Fry mentions insects that burrow through eyes etc. Anyone with an ounce of knowledge of Christian belief would know the Bible pretty much begins with the corruption of the whole world and ends with the promise of a perfect new heaven and new earth for (the Bible describes it as a place with no more tears) those who have simply acknowledged their own sin and accepted the grace of God offered through Christ. God never said that our world as it is now is perfect and Christians would never claim that.

It's amusing how often people such as Fry and Richard Dawkins criticise God whilst showing a complete lack of understanding of Him. It's sad how many people think that what they are saying is great.

I pray that Stephen Fry, Richard Dawkins and everyone else can join me in the world with 'no tears' on the great and glorious day.

Blessings,

Michael