glenn morton wrote:
...........................
>
> I guess we will have to disagree about the definition of religion. From
> your response to George, you define religion as"
>
> >a god is anything which is the primary source of good
> >and authority, with or without ritual,...
>
> As I understand your definition it is that which we expect something good
> from or which we can placate to avoid evil. I would contend then that I
> must be worshipping an oil company. Here is why:
>
> 1. I expect them to give me good things, like a paycheck which brings many
> blessings upon my family.
>
> 2. Over the last 10 years I have survived 11 layoffs and 1 merger whose
> total casualty rate has been 99%. (yes that is 99% of my colleagues have
> been laid off over the past 10 years) Much evil was visited upon those who
> were laid off--marriages failed, suicides took place, bankruptcies
> occurred, houses were lost and illness resulted. In order to avoid that
> evil and placate the evil oil company who has authority over me, I, and
> most of my colleagues spend about 12 hours per day and many a Saturday
> working. By our sacrifice we hope to get that next paycheck and avoid
> having the ultimate evil befall us. Mostly we have to placate the high
> priest of the oil company--the exploration manager or vice president. They
> are the ones who tell us what behaviors will be acceptable to the company
> and which ones aren't. My small part in all this is to convey to the people
> who work for me those requirements.
>
> 3.We also have other gods, like the god of sand. We study the sand god for
> hours at a time. We make it sound scientific by saying that we are studying
> sandstone depositional systems but in reality, like a true religionist, we
> spend hours reading our 'scriptures'. We are seekiing to be nearer to sand
> with our oil wells. Someone once made up a song, "Nearer my Sand to thee"
> but it didn't go over very well and so they changed the words. We expect
> good things from sand and if we don't find oil in the sand, the mean oil
> company will visit evil on us by laying us off. Thus we do everything we
> can to understand sand depositional systems and find the sand god as he
> snakes his way through the subsurface.
>
> Now, if you find this to be a silly example of what you mean by religion it
> is. But it does illustrate the problem with your definition of religion.
> No one worships the oil company; similarly the Ona didn't worship either.
Luther's statement which I quoted was not put in terms of a definition
of "religion" but of what it means to "have a God." & I could have saved you
the trouble of describing the oil company example if I'd cited a little more
of what the Large Catechism says. A few sentences after the part I quoted earlier -
"Many a one thinks that he has God and everything in abundance when he has
money and possessions; he trusts in them and boasts of them with such firmness
and assurance as to care for no one. Lo, such a man has a god, Mammon by name -
i.e., money and possessions, on which he sets all his heart, and which is also
the most common idol on earth. He who has money and possessions feels secure
and is joyful and undismayed as though he were sitting in the middle of
Paradise. On the other hand, he who has none doubts and is despondent, as
though he knew of no God. For very few are to be found who are of good cheer,
and who neither mourn nor complain if they have not Mammon. This sticks and
clings to our nature, even to the grave.
So, too, whoever trusts and boasts that he possesses great skill,
prudence, power, favor, friendship, and honor, also has a God, but not the true
God."
OTOH what Luther is speaking about is the object of one's ultimate trust &
reliance. Simply having some degree of confidence that you'll be able to pay your bills
because you trust the oil company's good faith, solvency, &c doesn't mean that you
worship it. If, however, The greatest good and the worst evil you can imagine for your
life is determined by what the oil company may or may not do then you've got a big 1st
Commandment problem. OTOH, this isn't just a rare pathology - the whole problem of sin
is that we do keep putting other things (ourselves, money, oil companies, &c) - ahead of
the real God.
Shalom,
George
George L. Murphy
gmurphy@raex.com
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
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