An Interesting Reply
by Kathy Brown on October 21st, 2009 | 1 comment
One of the best questions we can ask someone is how they determine what is right or wrong. This is an encounter, concerning that matter, I had with my Hindu friend.
She balked at the idea of sin or the concept of universal morality. Trying to explore this unusual position further, I began to work backwards from the Tenth Commandment (coveting). No, she had never envied someone else’s things. The Ninth deals with lying, and she could not recall ever having done that. The Eighth concerns stealing. She hadn’t done that, either. I skipped the adultery, since she hadn’t been married very long and went directly to murder. Figuring that would get no positive response and just to make it a little more realistic, I described this one in terms of anger. She had never been really angry? Really. I was beginning to think maybe I was in the presence of more than a mere mortal!
Wow! My amazement must have been evident because she stopped, quietly reassured herself of the previous conclusions. Then, slowly and sheepishly, she hesitantly announced that she did have one very bad thing she had done a couple of years before. I was preparing myself for a shocking revelation. And it was stunning: she killed a rat in her lab experiment. It was jaw dropping alright.
In the Hindu faith, reincarnation into a higher or lower life form is the testimony of one’s good works (or not so much.) Therefore, destroying a rodent may be, in reality, murdering an old friend or past relative. It may also justify neglecting the poor and outcast, since they are understood to “deserve” this position. The Hindu gods are not personal and do not involve themselves with this life on earth; rather, this life is a painful illusion to be overcome by meditation and identification with the god Brahman, who has no part in this sorry universe.
The most common ethical systems are based on human comparison, not on a source outside man. Eventually the group or person with the most power will determine the value of everything: even a rat.
The Word of God:
"For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." Romans 1:21
Next entry: Truth and Consequences
Previous entry: A Captive Audience
1 Comment Add your comment
Peggy Kilen October 23rd, 2009
I hope you are going to put all of your thoughtful writings into a book eventually.
back to Blog Archive