Lord, Liar, Lunatic

I know that this topic has been covered extensively in many places, I but thought I might as well pitch in my ideas, because this particular argument really annoys me.

 In my (unwilling) years at the local Catholic youth group, the youth leaders used this QUITE frequently. This was basically their only counter to issue of atheism. Now they still don’t know I’m an atheist, so I never had the chance to directly argue about this with them. However, it is strewn with logical fallacies.

" If we take Jesus seriously, then we must take Jesus’ claims about himself seriously. We cannot say that Jesus was a great teacher whom we admire and look up to, but that the most fundamental element of his teachings was a monumental error. Jesus was not a great, but merely human, teacher; he was either much less than this, or much more."

- http://www.existence-of-god.com/lord-liar-lunatic.html

 First off, the issue of the false dilemma. We are presented with three choices, and told that these are the only conceivable choices. This is obviously untrue. Firstly, this theory contains an automatic assumption of the existence of Jesus. Now I’m not a scholar, so I can’t claim any expert opinion on this topic, but I have read multiple accounts of people who dispute the very existence of a historical Jesus. *prepares for angry Christians*. I personally think that this school of thought has some very good points. But the mere existence of this option nullifies the “Lord, Liar, Lunatic” theory. If Jesus didn’t even exist, the triad wouldn’t even be applicable.

 Even if Jesus DID exist, there would still be plenty of other methods of explaining Christianity that do not require him to be “Lord”.

" Under this infallible reading, it is impossible for there to be a case where, if Jesus knows something, that thing can be false. For the rest of us mere mortals, this is simply not possible. We all hold beliefs that we think are certain and yet our certainty does not guarantee the truth of those beliefs. The trilemma gets a lot of mileage out of the narrow-scope reading because the believer already assumes that anything Jesus knows is certain and true; however, it begs the question for Jesus’ divinity through infallibility."

-         http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/james_still/trilemma.html

 Begging the question. What if Jesus was simply mistaken, or had convinced himself of his divinity? Or, what if in the 40 or so years between the alleged death and resurrection of Jesus and the writing of Mark, the first gospel, Jesus’ teachings were exaggerated or misinterpreted by his followers? (I would like to note that even my textbook for Morality admits that Mark has very little to say about the divinity of Jesus, and instead stresses his humanity. Perhaps a shift in thought was taking place as the gospel was written?)

 Now some Christians may cringe at this as well, but…Jesus couldn’t have been insane or lying? Have cult leaders lied? Yes. Have politicians lied? Yes. Have they still said nice-sounding things about peace and harmony? Yes. For example, Jim Jones once said of equality and integration, “Integration is a more personal thing with me now. It's a question of my son's future.” Sounds nice enough. But we all know how that turned out.

 Whether or not Jesus was “Lord,” or even existed, its time for the Christians to admit the error of C.S Lewis and accept that this trilemma is simply logically flawed. It isn’t convincing anyone who isn’t already convinced. And considering that I was Catholic when I started going to youth group, and an atheist when I finished, they might want to even rethink its effectiveness on believers.

 Plus, as I know from experience, it can get REALLY annoying.

Two recent songs

Reality

Rainbows of leaves fall around my knees

I turn but I still know you see

My eyes are gone before you find

I was trying to catch your eye

 

Hope is spinning, dragging me down

As you fidget and smile stare at the ground

What are you thinking what do you know

The heat of the sun melting the snow

 

Reality falls down on me

 

One more inch to close the space

One more move to touch your face

Nothing separates you and me

But the wind blowing in between

 

Pacing and thinking I’m back and forth

As the winds change, come from the noth

Your face is burned inside my eyes

But will this ever be more than dreams and sighs

 

Reality falls down on me

 

One more inch to close the space

One more move to touch your face

Nothing separates tou and me

But the wind blowing in between

 

Reality keeps on bringing me down

When the whole world is spinning round

Dizziness only hits

In the moment when it stops

 

Reality falls down on me

Reality brings me to my knees

Reality separates it seems

Reality falls down on me

 

One more inch to close the space

One more move to touch your face

Nothing separates you and me but the

Wind blowing in between

 

One more thing is left to say

Just on more thing that separates

I just hear you call to me

I hear the wind blowing in between

Two Choices

I stabbed a knife into my leg

To see if I could still feel pain

Suddenly I jumped to life

Awakened to this world of strife

What better way to learn to feel

Than to overdose on something real

And what better way to stay alive

Than pain to open up your eyes

 

Two choices

Empty and dry, unable to cry

Or flooded, overflowed in pain 

Lost in a desert of beige and tan

Or all the colors stained on your hands  

 

I opened my eyes to this scene

Love that only lives in dreams

Love that starts and ends in tears

Happiness that turns to fears

 

What better way carry on

Than blurring lines of right and wrong

And what better way to fill your dreams

Than something impossible, it seems

 

Two choices

Empty and dry, unable to cry

Or flooded, overflowed in pain

Lost in a desert of beige and tan

Or all the colors stained on your hands

 Two Choices

 

 

Reach for the Stars?

Is it better to set ridiculously high expectations and fail, or to not expect anything, and not get anything?

I've been thinking about this a lot as school gets more intense, as college letters start to come, and as standardized test scores make their way to my mailbox. I'm focusing my ambitions more and more, and setting certain goals, like being valedictorian, attending MIT or a comparable school, keeping my GPA about 4.0. However, I'm starting to worry what will happen if (and when) I fail at one of my lofty goals. I'm sure some will be accomplished, but I know that failure at even one could be crushing. I'm imagining situations- who could get valedictorian instead of me, or what course could be the downfall of my GPA.

"Reach for the Stars." It's all over posters in classrooms and is a regular proverb of inspirational speakers. But is it really beneficial? Our lives are already so short and insignificant. Is it worth it to waste a life with worry and inevitable failure by setting impossible goals? Would it be better to simply be resigned to our incompetence and do nothing? Maybe I should just give up, stop setting myself up for disappointment. 

Then I think of the benefits of educations. Sometimes I get so stressed that I forget how much I actually LIKE school and learning. (I know, I know, I'm a nerd) I think of how much I WANT to achieve these goals I have set for myself. Furthermore, in my experience, the more ambition you have, the farther you get in life. Some of the smartest people I know, such as my father, don't try at all, and end up failing. Some less intelligent people have achieved moderate success through hard work and determination. 

Unless I end up working for NASA, reaching for the stars is bound to result in failure. However, I might make it halfway. If you simply reach for the remote, even if you succeed, you have barely done anything. So even if I don't achieve everything I want to, perhaps I can have some of it. Because if I don't try, I won't even come close.

Back to studying for finals, then.