That song always bothered me... why were people teaching kids to sing about a man trying to kill or otherwise dispose of his cat anyway? Still that's the phrase that keeps popping into my head whenever I remind myself that I need to come post on my blog.
I've been meaning to come back and post for a month now and each time I think of it I never sum up the courage to just get around to it and post. I've felt too guilty for being gone so long. Of course, the longer I put off posting the longer I'm gone and the heavier the guilt and... Anyway, I'm back.
And in full swing.
I had the most interesting discovery about religion while watching a tv show on China today. How odd is that? The show was a quick overview of Chinese history with a particular emphasis on their acheivements (the great wall, the terracotta warriors). And while discussing the rise and fall of dynasties they began to discuss the various religious (more accurately cultural, or sociological/philosophical) systems that rose up - for example Confucianism. I was sweeping at the time so I didn't hear the whole thing (a woman's work is never done you know).
But I did stop my chore when something caught my attention. The announcer was talking about a system (of belief) called Legalism. He said that legalism was in contradiction to Confucianism (which believed that man was inately good and society could be run and ruled through ritual, custom, and ethics - very similar to the system God established for the Jews); that legalists believed that man was inately evil, selfish, and ignorant - that good not come naturally to him. Therefore they taught that the best and only way to control man was with a system of written laws which were enforced through discipline and obedience.
That captured my attention so much that I was compelled to blog. The bible doesn't use the term "Legalism" or "legalist" that's a term we apply to those who, like the Pharisees in Christ's time, uphold the letter of the law above the truth of grace and love. I suppose it's simple for someone to believe that God is a legalist - after all, he did write a long, detailed, and complicated collection of laws.
But Paul tells us that the law was not meant to purify us, and that they were incapable of controlling man. He says the law was meant to show us right from wrong, to make us more aware of our actions and to draw us to God. It's through the law that you become aware that you need God. Legalists don't get this, they think that it's through the law that you actually acquire God. To be fair, it really is a fine distinction.
You know, in reality I suspect that the true answer lies somewhere in the middle. We need both law and grace, and the wisdom to be able to balance them. The thing that keeps resounding in me though is that legalists believe man to be innately evil, incapable of good without outside control. I'd never really thought of it that way but now that they said that it seems so clear to me.
I don't know about you, but I believe I was made in the image of God - in whom no darkness (or evil) resides. Yes, I'm a fallen creature, in a fallen world, and therefore have a nature that bends towards evil - but I don't believe any person is innately evil. They can't be - after all, they bear the image of Love and Truth, even if they have gotten a bit of dirt on it.