Can you be good without God?

From an article on foxnews.com:

You better watch out. There is a new combatant in the Christmas wars.
Ads proclaiming, "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake," will appear on Washington, D.C., buses starting next week and running through December. The American Humanist Association unveiled the provocative $40,000 holiday ad campaign Tuesday.

The provocative ad campaign begs the question: Can you be good without God?

One of the most contentious debates I ever had with a self-avowed "atheist" (I use quotations because he was actually an agnostic - he wasn't sure what he believed, nor did he - like most so-called "atheists" even really understand the distinction) was on the subject of "goodness".  My basic premise was simple - God is good defined, and as such, He is the basis of all human morality (goodness).  Therefore, the absence of God is the necessary absence of good.  He vehemently argued otherwise.  It was a great offense to him (feigned or real - I cannot be sure) that I would imply or suggest that atheists could not be "good people" - even better than most Christians he had ever known, he claimed.  

The real issue here of course is what we mean by "good".  What is the standard or measurement?  Is it subjective - whatever I deem goodness to be - or is it objective - based on a timeless standard or truth?  I argue for the latter.  

What's your take?  What does it mean to be "good"?  And is God a necessary component of human goodness?  I'm putting this one up on the tee to see who wants to take a swing at it.  I'll opine later!

Sometimes I wonder if I'm kicking the donkey ...

Are you familiar with the story of Balaam and his donkey? Actually, the donkey should get top billing, I suppose, but I digress. Here's the account from the Old Testament book of Numbers:

Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab. But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat her to get her back on the road.

Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between two vineyards, with walls on both sides. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam's foot against it. So he beat her again.

Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff. Then the Lord opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?"

Balaam answered the donkey, "You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now."

The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?"

"No," he said.

Then the Lord opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown. The angel of the Lord asked him, "Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared her."

- Numbers 22:21-33 (NIV)

The scene is almost comical, but deadly serious at the same time. Can you picture this frustrated guy not getting his donkey to do what he wanted it to do? Can you picture him kicking it, then hitting it, and finally beating it, simply because it would not move? I love the imagery: First the donkey turns off the road into a field, then the donkey crushes his foot against a wall, pinning him so he can't move, and finally the donkey just lays down, with crazy Balaam on top.

Have you ever gotten really frustrated at the way your life is going? Have you ever felt - metaphorically at least - like Balaam in this story? That no matter what you do, you just can't win? You just can't seem to get things going your way. You just can't seem to "move the donkey"? And we kick, don't we? And we curse. And we get infuriated at our circumstances. And we will even turn on those we have known and trusted for years. But sometimes, God uses donkeys. Sometimes, that 'donkey' is there to make you slow down and reconsider what you are doing, or how you are living. Sometimes that 'donkey' is there to let you know you need to turn off the path your own - even if it means going far afield from where you were headed. Sometimes, that 'donkey' - even though it causes pain or injury - is saving you from greater pain or injury. And sometimes that 'donkey' is saving your life by keeping you from going full steam ahead into disaster and destruction.

I am glad that God occasionally sends a 'donkey' or two into my life. And while I well know that not all opposition is a reminder from God to reconsider my ways (sometimes opposition is a test of may faith and obedience ... I have to pray for discernment to know the difference) sometimes God has to go to extreme measures to get our attention. Sometimes He sends people, events, or situations into our lives to stop us dead in our tracks.

You hearing me?

Some of you (because I sure know I have) are kicking the donkey right now. God is doing all he can to save you from yourself, your choices, and the future that lies ahead on your unchanged path. What Balaam didn't know, the donkey did. What Balaam couldn't see, the donkey could. And with God himself opposing Balaam - it was a donkey who saved him.

Maybe - just maybe - the "stuff" of your life lately that has been increasingly hard to handle, and even harder to figure out is a not-so-subtle message from God. Maybe that faithful friend who is now playing the role of corrector/exhorter is a Godsend. And maybe that "donkey" you are kicking is there to save you!

When God FINALLY got Balaam's undivided attention (a talking donkey tends to do that), Balaam responded to God's will and direction. Look at what he said:

Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, "I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back."

- Numbers 22:34 (NIV)

If you feel the opposition of God ... stop what you are doing, get off the 'donkey', and ask God if He is displeased with anythibg in your and if He wants you to turn around. Trust in Him and what He sees and knows. His way is life, hope, and healing.

A little bit of Romans 8:28 ... just when I needed it most

I'm going to keep this short. Here's the scenario:

My son Mark has had a terrible few weeks. I wrote about thsi already, so I won't rehash the details. Suffice it to say that hsi autism was wearing us all very thin. There is only so much aggression, screaming, and tantruming that one family can take.

Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse, we get this: Sunday night (around dusk) Mark is swimming in the pool - his and our only respite - although lately he screams even in there. Anyway, he hops out of the pool and goes to the trampoline. Again, this is usually a time of enjoyable respite for us all. But all he did was scream. Finally, saving both my sanity and that of the neighbor's, I go out and make him come in. I had to all but carry him to the house (and he isn't small). When we get him in, we realize he has a terrible rash. It is all over his back. We can't figure if it is from the cut grass, a reaction to his plethora of meds he takes, or what. All we know is that on top of whatever else has been driving Mark crazy lately, he now also has a terrible rash.

Cecilia goes out and gets some Benadryl liquid. After a little while of crying, etc. he calms down, does pretty well and finally dozes off to sleep. The next morning, we send him off to school (and he went surprisingly happy) - still scratching the rash - and guess what? The school nurse calls and says we have to pick him up because he cannot be around other students with such a rash. Of course, we also have Cecilia's dad in ICU at the time and we are both trying to work and cover all the family bases, so this is one more weight to an already over-burdened family. Thankfully, my mom was available to pick him up (around 10 AM). Of course now we can't take him back to school without a doctor's note saying he is ok. So ... Cecilia gets on the phone trying to get an appointment with Mark's autism specialist, Dr. Jeff Bradstreet. We have been at wit's end anyway with Mark and needed some help and some new approaches to his treatment so we figured we'd kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. Dr. Bradstreet could see if it was a rash - particularly one caused by his meds - and could also give us some new strategies or medications or anything to help us.

Miraculously, Cecilia gets an "emergency appointment" yesterday at 3:45 pm. For most doctors, this would not be so incredible, but Dr. Bradstreet operates two offices - one in Arizona and one in Melbourne, Florida - and sees many patients. Appts are very rare and very expensive. Anyway, we get in ...

Now here is where it gets interesting ...

Mark had a great day on Monday. In fact, we were telling each other that Dr. Bradstreet would think we're crazy describing how horrible his behaviors have been when he sees Mark. In his office, Mark was laughing, talking, and being very sweet. In fact, he was that way all the way to Melbourne.

The Dr. looked at Mark's rash and said it was from noceums. Keep in mind that Mark's pain tolerance is pretty incredible. Apparently, he was getting bitten up by these little "flying teeth" all the time he was jumping on the trampoline with no shirt. And what would cause most of us to run for the house, he just ignores - or cries thru (but you don't usually know what he is crying about. He asked what we had given him for it and we said Benadryl. He asked if it was working, and we said the scratching seemed to lessen. But we really didn't want to talk about that. We wanted to talk about these behaviors, and how to get a handle on them. We were really perplexed though, since he had 1 1/2 really good days though - after weeks of consecutive rough ones.

Dr. Bradstreet asked us if he was better after getting the Benadryl. We thought about it a little and said, "yeah - I guess so". Well, let me cut to the chase (since I said this would be short, and already it's not). As it turns out, Benadryl (an antihistamine) has similar properties to a few of the other meds Mark takes and also some (obvious) benefits helping him deal with his myriad allergies. Bottom line - the Benadryl probably made a big difference in how he was feeling, processing information, and behaving. And now it is part of our daily routine as of yesterday.

Just when we thought that all we needed was one more issue with Mark - and one more thing to frustrate and annoy him - it turns out that maybe the noceums actually benefitted Mark. (Although I wish there were about 30 fewer bites needed to accomplish it!). Mark is doing better today. And I know we would never have given Benadryl without a need.

So who knows how God can or might send small, unexpected blessings? It just reminds me that "... we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)

And when you think of noceums as unmitigated evil - think of this: "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done ..." (Genesis 50:20 - admittedly out of context)


And just when I (and Mark and Cecilia) needed it most!

Does God exist?

That's the question debated last week between the notoriously strident atheist Professor Richard Dawkins, Fellow of the Royal Society and Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University and Christian apologist Dr. John Lennox (MA, MA, Ph.D., D.Phil., D.Sc.), Reader in Mathematics and Fellow in Mathematics and Philosophy of Science, Green College, University of Oxford.

If you are interested in listening to the transcripts (they are rather long), you can find them here. Note: I am linking you to Dawkin's personal website, so understand in advance that his entire purpose is to undermine Christianity, erode confidence in the Bible, and defame God. That being said, it's the only source I know that has the complete debate in audio format.

If you have some commentary on what you hear and want to discuss it, leave a reply and we'll kick it around some.