Mr. Taft [Part 7]

Mr. Taft wrote:

2. If a Christian is a Christian because they seek some sort of post-earth reward, they are not a Christian. I repeat, they are NOT a Christian.

Well now, that’s just it, isn’t it? You’re promised an eternity with your lord and savior [resurrection] if only you leave whatever ambition you may have at the door, if only you will give up your right to judge the world around you and love your enemies, let them drink your blood. You’re promised a reward for sacrificing your life, but told you’re not doing it right if you hope to achieve the promised reward... Christians believe in resurrection, but “if they seek this post-Earth reward, they are not a Christian.” So people go around secretly seeking eternity in paradise, performing selfless acts with their selfish [your definition] goal in mind, and they are made to feel immoral by people like you and Emmanuel Kant who argue that “for any action to be moral, the actor cannot receive any kind of benefit whatsoever.”

Do you see the impossible contradiction here? I repeat, do you see the impossible contradiction here?

By your moral code: If your action benefits some stranger who is homeless because he prefers smoking crack to working to pay his rent, your action is moral. If your action benefits you in any way, then it is evil, un-Christian. Then you say, “I feel so good when I sacrifice my weekend and go down to the local shelter to serve up grub.” But, Mr. Taft, that “good feeling” you get feeding hungry people is a benefit you have received doing your lord’s work. By your definition, your good deeds are selfish.

Once I offered to give a boy a pair of shoes. When I made this offering, I was—as I am today—NOT a religious man. My thought process going into the offering was simple: This boy looks poor. Those shoes he is wearing are the poorest shoes I have ever seen. I’ll go home and check my closet and my sons’ closets... There I discovered a half-dozen pair of never-worn shoes. Next day, I offered the poor boy a pair of shoes. The offering cost me nothing. In fact, had he accepted my offer, he would have saved me a trip to Goodwill, helped me clean out my closet, and saved me the anguish of having to watch him walk passed my classroom each day wearing those terrible shoes...pure selfishness [my definition].

Actually, Mr. Taft, I was just being nice. I’m not at all religious, but I am nice. I like being nice. I like smiling at people when I pass them in the hallway; I especially like it when they smile back. I like helping people out, especially when they haven’t asked for anything. I hate to see good people suffer, especially when they suffer through no fault of their own. I like having friends, people who like me back, not because I have done something for them, but because they enjoy my company. I think sometimes you think being nice requires strict adherence to the teachings of the ancient nice guy. It doesn’t.

So, you travel through life looking for opportunities to be nice like Jesus was, defining “niceness” as a sacrificial service you provide for others, denying yourself even the satisfaction of knowing you helped somebody. Satisfaction is a reward...that would be selfish!

I suppose the people who actually make a living pushing the paradise promise use it like a fisherman uses bait or a lure. The prize, the result of your selfless acts with no thought of reward for yourself [lest they not be selfless acts] is a great big hook in your mouth! Ever wonder why he called his disciples to be "fishers of men?"