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Meditation 1288
Godlessly not fearing the future

by: John Tyrrell

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While visiting the Grand Canyon last month, I saw someone wearing a t-shirt with the following message on the back:

DON'T FEAR
THE UNKNOWN
FUTURE
WITH A KNOWN
GOD

Now I'm going to make a couple of assumptions about the wearer of this t-shirt - the one who felt compelled to share his message with us, but I don't think I'm going too far out on a limb with these assumptions.

First of all, he's a Christian. Followers of other faiths don't seem to find it necessary to share such messages.

Secondly, he's an evangelical and fundamentalist - because among the thousands of varieties of Christians, it is the fundamentalist evangelicals that have the greatest need to share their faith.

And what do most fundamentalist evangelicals believe? That End Times will come within their life time. End Times are arriving next week, next month, next year - or at least some time in the next fifty years. So, in accordance with their religious beliefs - they face a KNOWN future - and they show no hesitation in telling the rest of us to be VERY AFRAID.

And the god they claim they know - their particular god - who is not quite the same as the thousands of misunderstood version of god worshiped by other fundamentalist evangelical sects is one, who if you pointed out all the contradictions in his description, they would explain away with "god is beyond human understanding." So much for knowing their god!

In essence, the message on the t-shirt is at odds with the basic religious beliefs of the one wearing it. Just like those beliefs are at odds with themselves. So I suppose there's some kind of consistency there.

Meanwhile I'm still godlessly not fearing the future.

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