RiverLife - the good life?

if he is infinitely good, what reason should we have to fear him? if he is infinitely wise, why should we have doubts concerning our future? if he knows all, why warn him of our needs and fatigue him with our prayers? if he is everywhere, why erect temples to him?
- Percy Bysshe Shelley

RiverLife Youth Ministry
last saturday night, at the invitation of a friend, i joined them for a night of song and fun. the event targeted the NUS cell. basically, each church member currently schooling in NUS now brings some (i would think preferably non-christian) friends to the event. if campus crusades dont work, why not try turning on the charm at social events? humans are social animals who respond positively to pleasant stimulants.. like that frontman with the charming smile and boyish looks. a rather smart modus operandi.

priced at $5 for a live band performance plus buffet, the event was at a bistro located within the singapore flyer, complete with a raised patio at the front to accommodate the band. and boy the food was excellent. pasta with sauteed mushrooms, baked chicken wings, grilled fish in a batter.. salivating already?

Donate 10% of your hard-earned money to ME ME ME
notice how the churches constantly ask for donations? and you think that money is spent on charity? think again. in fact, most of that money is spent on heavily subsidizing events like this - spreading the gospel in a cool and chic fashion. booking the venue at a location within town, inviting singer-songwriter Alarice to feature (and probably paying her for the gig), free flow food and drinks, with waitresses to serve you to boot. i can just imagine the hefty bill. it's weirdly paradoxical how the average pious churchgoer (who donates weekly to the tithe bag) is picking up the tab for a hard-line agnostic like myself. heh. i'm not complaining though. thanks for a night of fun.. at your expense.

anyways i only agreed to go because my friend promised that the band will only sing secular songs. however, to a certain extent, that promise was renegaded upon. dont get me wrong; the band did sing secular songs. however, what i find rather distasteful is how the members would intersperse the secular songs with some form of preaching.

Example A
there was this girl who shared her experience of how her dad had always been rather demanding of her since she was a child. he sent her for countless tuition/enrichment classes and expected her to be the best in everything she attended. he was always judgmental of her, even going to the extent of tearing up her music book when she couldnt play a piano piece properly. she had to go to class without a music book, which traumatised her terribly. she found God, a father figure who was always there for her, who never judged, who knew everything about her.. her good and her bad, and hence converted. this God, is her 'only exception', who made her feel complete. after which the band played 'the only exception' by paramore. if the logic of the above sob story leading to the playing of the song appears slightly contrived to you, dont worry you're not the only one who feels this way =x

Example B
another dude, who is a major in sociology, shared with us how his dad abandoned his family when he was 3 years old. his mother had to raise two young children single-handedly, taking up 2 jobs to see her children through university. the stress of having to shoulder the burden alone could have led her on some occasions to vent that frustration on her children. he shared with us how the growing up process was trying for him, and how he is constantly envious of other children from complete families. in short, he said how he found God, and with God, peace. he shared how God assumed the role of a father-figure, and became the father he never had. God expelled the demons from his past. all in all, a nice sob story, laced with subtle messages convincing the audience to his point of view.

but, if he were truly a sociology student, then certainly he would have learned what durkheim (religion as simply an expression of social cohesion) and marx (religion as a opiate of the masses) say about religion. how he manages to reconcile what he studies in school and what he believes in, is beyond my understanding.

Utility vs Truth
just because i think via dolorossa is a touching song (the whole crown of thorns and driven into a stake scenario does stimulate the tear ducts a little) doesnt make the faith truer. just because He helped gal A and dude B doesnt mean He will help me too.

nevertheless, whether religion is useful or not shouldnt be the point of the debate. the point of the debate should be whether it is true or not. one major sticking point i had was that they over-emphasized on how religion is useful to their lives, totally neglecting to explore the historical/anthropological/archaeological basis for the faith. for them, it doesnt matter if the religion were true or not, what matters to them is that it has been useful for them, which is an entirely flawed approach to base your beliefs on.

no wonder sigmund freud (father of psychoanalysis) says that religion is a form of wish-fulfillment. freud adds the explanation that the adoption of religion is a reversion to childish patterns of thought in response to feelings of helplessness and guilt. we feel a deep-seated need for security and forgiveness, and so invent a source of security and forgiveness: God. how apt a description for what i witnessed.

Faith Triumphs All?
the problem of evil? the problem of divine omnipotence and omniscience? the problem of divine justice? the problem with petitionary prayer? the problem with original sin? so many tough questions, one probably searches for an entire life and can yet remain clueless. much work involved here. no wonder the typical layman is fond of brushing aside all these questions and proudly proclaim, as if with a God-given right, that "Faith Triumphs All!". *add in a beaming, almost gleeful, smile to complete the maniacal look of yet another god-bot*

i prefer the magic of reason.

born again agnostic,
jansen

climbing and cheesecakes

did 3 days of climbing at the climbing gym in putrajaya. it was my first time there, so naturally i was wowed upon stepping through the front doors. it's a climber's paradise, nuff said. the sense of awe and wonder gradually subsided, and the usual business-like approach to entering a new training ground took over.

i went a muerte (spanish for to the death) on every route attempted. the feeling of fighting the pump, gasping for air, lunging for the next move feeling like gravity's gonna have her way but miraculously sticking it, and then fighting again.. ahh.. forgot how much i enjoyed that feeling.

thoroughly enjoyed the trip with the climbers from ngee ann polytechnic. they taught me a thing or two about climbing (shaun is a high wall maestro with not a single fear cell inside him!) and most importantly, learning to take things easy. i recall why i enjoy climbing trips in the first place. forcing myself to step outside my comfort zone and interact with other climbers brings out the best in me. that way i imbibe a little of their styles and climbing philosophy.

going on trips having to be the resident clip-bitch babysitter who is also taken for granted as the gear dispenser takes a toll on my mental well-being. i seek to avoid such trips as much as possible.

and ohh i ate wayyy too many cheesecakes. am swearing off cheesecakes for at least a few months.. burp.