Living in an interesting time

There is an apocryphal saying attributed to the Chinese that has a dual meaning: may you live in interesting times. [Thirty seconds of Google research turned up a Wikipedia entry indicating the actual origin of the saying is unknown, which comports with my understanding, so it must be correct.] While this saying sounds like an odd compliment or blessing, it is considered a curse. Whatever its true origins, the saying is quite fascinating to me, and rings true as a veiled curse.

There can be very little doubt that we live in interesting times, however, I'm not at all certain there have ever been times that were not intersting on some level. Our technoligical prowess is quite incredible, considering the world changed little by little prior to the late nineteenth century, but is now progressing in what seems like geometric progression. Add to this technological innovation the massive number of wars spread across the earth like metastisizing cancer, often leading to very unexpected and unpredictable results. Throw in the oddly large number of natural disasters our planet seems to be experiencing, and it all starts to feel like something is coming.

I'm reminded of the Yeats poem, "The Second Coming", which ends with the odd couplet:

"And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?"

Its not that I'm saying I think Jesus is on deck waiting to drop in at this moment, but the Bible says he can drop in at any moment. I'm very fond of apocalyptic thought but I'm always skeptical of people who say the time is now. No one knows the time, not even Jesus himself, as he made clear. People tend to make too much of the times in which they live, and are prone to equate the events in their times to the end of the world. I've heard it called "newspaper theology" and most believers are probably guilty of such thinking on occasion. I am no exception, but...

...while I think the times are indeed very interesting, I also think they were very interesting when the Black Plague swept across Europe, or when the European "discovery" of the New World wiped out the majority of the indigenous not-yet Americans. The times were probably interesting when fascists tried to enslave the world, and when men discovered that splitting tiny particles can destroy entire cities. I agree with the sentiment that our times are certainly suspicious, but I would have been equally or more suspicious at other times in history.

The end of the world? I certainly don't know. Despite my general cynicism, I tend to very optimistic when it comes to disaster and extreme scenarios. No more bills, no more taxes, no more junk mail and no more traffic.

A return to faith

Some years ago I became aware of a problem within the evangelical church community. Specifically, young people were leaving church once they were on their own and no longer under their parents' control. It appears I was part of this problem that I was unaware existed. There have been substantial changes made to the evangelical church model since I was a child, many of which are meant to help believers transition from childhood to adulthood, while maintaining their faith. Some of these measures should be helpful, but we still see a good bit of attrition among the older the students at our church.

My family attended a coventional Southern Baptist church, and I was quite devout in my beliefs, particularly during my senior year of high school. After high school, I left for college, rooming with one of my best friends, who was also a believer. Then, as seems to happen with some frequency, I hit a brick wall of questions, doubt and anxiety, followed by a long season of agnosticism. There will be plenty of time to describe my dark travels through agnosticism later. For now, I want to concentrate on the issue of young people leaving church, and perhaps their beliefs, and what can be done to help them return.

It would be a mistake to water down beliefs to make them more palatable, or to bring them in line with the skewed morality of political correctness. Rather, I believe part of the answer is to create resources, via multiple media methods (and delivered in person) that will help young people, or perhaps any person, with a crisis of faith. For an intelligent, truth seeking young person, any advice to simply believe and not doubt will likely be met with skepticism, and will probably do more harm than good. I can only speak for myself, but if I went to someone seeking answers to legitimate questions regarding the Christian faith, such a response would have only led me to agnosticism more quickly. Fortunately, I did not receive much advice of that type, and I now realize that the few people who gave me such advice most likely had an unexamined faith, and were simply unable to answer the questions. Still, it would have been better to simply tell me that they did not know an answer to the questions.

My idea is to gather real questions from real people, in order to find out a few things. Specifically, I want to know what questions and/or issues have led them to question or lose their faith. I have already begun seeking such questions, and I have a few of my own that were bothersome to me as a young adult. Basically, I want to create a resource that would have been useful to me in my time of need.

By way of example, I will share what my first big question was, and what responses I received. While attending a Bible study my freshman year of college, which interestingly was held in my dormroom, I had a series of seeming contradictions congeal into a single question, the answer to which was very important to me. What I knew of the nature and characteristics of God, primarily omnipotence, omniscience and unconditional love for His creation, seemed contradictory in light of the human need for redemption, and the fact that many would not seek such redemption, and would therefore spend eternity without God (or, hell, if you prefer, whatever that really means.) More specifically, how could I reconcile God's omnipotence and omniscience with his claim to love his creation without condition? In plain English, how could an all powerful and all knowing God, who creates people He loves without condition, create such people knowing that some of them are damned? I'm still not sure there's a complete answer to that question, but I can assure you that the response I received during that particular Bible study was most unhelpful: "let's just stick to the workbook."

Seriously, that was the response I received. I realize now that my question exceeded our "leader's" knowledge, and that he simply didn't have an answer. Unfortunately, I wanted one, and immediately decided that I would be leaving my own room on Wednesday nights, but that the group was welcome to continue holding Bible studies there without me. It wasn't that I was offended that the guy had no answer. I was offended that he wasn't even willing to discuss it with me. For all I know, such an exploration may have challenged his own faith, and that he may have been unprepared or unwilling to face such a challenge. All I knew was that I would seek alternate counsel, and unfortuately, the place I looked most frequently was inside myself.

That was not a particularly good idea, and literally got me nowhere. It did, however, cause me great consternation and spiritual pain, the scars of which I still carry today. If there is a way for me to create a resource that would help other people who encounter such questions and doubts, it would give me great joy, and perhaps make my own descent into doubt have some genuine meaning. I am very happy in my renewed faith, and I suspect that many of the young people who leave their beliefs would like some answers to reconcile their beliefs with their questions. I would like to try and provide them with some answers.

An interesting problem

While making no admissions or denials, it has come to my attention over the past few months that there is a downside to kicking an addiction. I was somewhat appalled to learn that society is prepared to accept alcoholism (and probably drug addiction as well to a lesser extent) so long as you keep quiet about it. Apparently, the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous were thinking ahead when they created the organization, particularly the requirement of anonymity.

The benefits of recovering from addiction are numerous, and strongly outweigh the detriments, but I have still been surprised at the detriments. So far, I am aware of three, two of which are significant, and one of which is merely interesting. They are as follows:

First, if you have sought treatment in a facility other than an anonymous group, it is (seemingly) impossible to obtain health insurance if you are not covered by a employers' group policy. As a consequence, if you are self-employed, or work for an employer who does not provide a group health plan, you will be denied coverage for health insurance. What would appear to be a question of premium adjustment is a total bar to coverage. If you think lying will get you around the denial of coverage, it will not. Not only is lying morally undesirable, the health insurance companies have access to a database that lists every prescription drug ever prescribed for you, even if the doctor or facility who prescribed anti-addiction drugs keeps the treatment otherwise private.

Second, it appears to be very difficult to obtain life insurance if you are a recovering alcoholic, or have gone through treatment for alcoholism or addiction. This is entirely logical in light of the difficulty of obtaining health insurance, but again, what should be a question of premium adjustment is another apparent bar to coverage. Again, perhaps lying is a solution, but surely it is not the best solution. It appears to be more of an option as it pertains to life insurance than health insurance.

Third, and this is a bit more appropriate, but still interesting when taken to its logical conclusion. Georgia is a "shall issue" state for obtaining a concealed carry permit for a handgun. That means that you automatically qualify for a license if you are not a felon, do not use illegal drugs, have never been institutionalized against your will, or have voluntarily entered a treatment facility for alcohol or drug dependency. Apparently, it is fine to be a falling down drunk and obtain a conceal carry permit...however, if you fix the problem, you are out of luck (for five years, anyway.)

While I understand that a past addiction can have potential health consequences down the road, these potential consequences are not nearly as bad as the consequences of continuing to live with an untreated addicition. As a libertarian leaning attorney, I understand the private underwriter's decision to deny coverage to certain categories of people. The problem, as I see it, is this: how is it good public policy to disincentivize recovery from addiction? The good to society of a recovered alcoholic or addict has to outweigh the detriment to society from untreated and ongoing alcoholism and drug addiction. As such, this problem should be addressed by private insurers, but it probably will not be. Understanding government as I do, if this problem is not handled by the private sector, it is likely to be handled by the public sector. That will not be good for anybody.

Grace Works in Alaska

My wife and I recently had the opportunity and the honor of working with a mission in Anchorage, Alaska called Grace Works. It was our second year to serve in Alaska, and I am absolutely in love with the place. We traveled with several friends from our church in metro-Atlanta, many of whom were returning as well. Grace Works focuses its mission on children living in federal housing projects in Anchorage, and we primarily work with the children of African refugees from Somalia and Sudan. Additionally, we work with a large number of Samoan children. Last year it was quite odd to fly to Alaska to work with Africans and Pacific Islanders, but apparently that's a large number of the people who move there each year.

Alaska is a place of tremendous natural beauty, with all of creation on full display. Despite the beauty, many of the residents live with very limited opportunity and limited income. They also appear to live with very little hope, which is perhaps a greater problem for the future. Alaska is apparently the "least churched" state in the nation (to use a term I did not develop, but use for lack of a better term.) In the outer villages, there is tremendous problems with alcoholism, domestic abuse and incest, and we will probably be moving into those areas in future years. I certainly want to push further into the interior of the state and spend some time in the villages. It gives me great joy to serve God by serving these children in Alaska, and I intend to continue doing so into the future.

As an aside, I work as an attorney in the Atlanta area, and while the work I do directly helps individuals, it is unsatisfying in a way. While I am helping people, I am doing so for profit, and money corrupts the relationship between attorney and client. There are simply too many expectations and too much ill will that develops when money is the center of the relationship. Serving the children in Anchorage has taught me that service for its own sake, with no expectation of reward, if a far more gratifying experience than working for clients as an attorney. Further, serving God and helping to build-up the spiritual lives of the chidren we serve is one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.