A response I made recently about why have Faith, & the need for God.
I don’t normally write apologetics- I mostly leave it to the pros-so to say, but I enjoy learning about them most of the time. Recently though I received a question on my tumblr page about this very topic. So I took a crack at it somewhat. Here are excerpts of my response.
PS. I was in a hurry writing this -sorry for any grammatical errors.
The points are in answer for the questions raised in the email.
“I’m mainly speaking about the Catholic faith since that’s what I know.
1) without God morals are susceptible to relativism. Some people think it’s okay to murder innocent unborn babies by the millions, some say all human life is sacred. Some say it’s okay to kill the invalid and those who wishes medically assisted suicide, some say - they should be taken care of, uplifting them in their inherent human dignity to their final hour.
2) violence caused in the name of religion let’s say Christianity is “out of step” of the teachings of Christ. Jesus even goes as far as to seemingly contradict the old testament- (in Catholic interpretation, this is God leading his laws ultimately into fruition, into love.) he says “it is written an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.. -But I say to you: love your enemies…” “love your neighbor as I have loved you.”
3) in the book the Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis, (btw, I recommend his book Mere Christianity) he describes hell’s door as “being locked from the inside.” this is because if ppl lived their lives refusing God- who as stated in the bible “is Love”, his ways are to love and to choose the good- then heaven will be “hell” for them. Therefore, it’s not so much as to “scare” people of heaven and hell- but if we keep choosing to do evil in this world, and if in fact there is a heaven- it would seem like hell for people who choose evil- since they are not formed in God’s love. Now- since we are made for God the “separation” will bring about some sort of pain. And since this is not bodily pain but spiritual -not in the constraints of space and time, therefore it is endless- hence, Eternal Damnation.
4) if we want to see how choosing God (all the way) really affects the human person- & therefore society, all we need to look at are the lives of the saints. They no longer live for themselves but a life committed to love or agape. They have become little reflections of God’s love. There are many saints who are normal people especially recent- Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassatti is an example. Opus Dei promotes that ordinary people can be sanctified by their daily tasks. Everyone is called/invited to walk this path of love. Because God is nothing but love, as the bible puts it. And if we keep doing what is right and what is good, then we are free from the bondage of sin, and consequently free to do what is right, and good. Why is it that even after Christ revealed all these truths there still reigns violence -it is because he did not remove our freedom. You can say that without violence, we would not really know the value of love- of peace, etc.”
A good addition to this I think is Fr. Barron’s comment on the movie Apocalypto. “In the old world, it was the gods and priests who sanction violence (human sacrifices, this was referred to by Rene Gerard as the ‘scapegoat mechanism’ since it provides the people an ‘ersatz’ sense of unity, the most recent of which is Nazi Germany & the holocaust.) The difference with Christianity is God does not sanction it, but “undermines” [this dysfunctional order in our lives.] Because in Jesus' Passion, Death (and Resurrection), God is now the Victim."
Last but not least, please check Fr. Barron's YouTube page www.youtube.com/wordonfirevideo for more answers to current & controversial issues about Christianity.
