God foundations

I used to argue points with people because I was absolutely sure I was right, and if they only heard how I reasonable my viewpoint was, they would change their mind. After all, my belief made more sense. I thought I could use deductive thought processes and other fancy ideas to define right and wrong, and that eventually everyone would always have to face it and agree with me. I thought I could win these arguments without ever bringing God into the picture. I thought the right way made enough sense that it wasn't neccessary to include God when trying to change people's minds.

Madeline hooked up with lots of guys, and then she'd dump them when her interest wore out or another came. She didn't feel bad about it. I thought I make her stop by using logic. "what if you get an STD?" "What if you actually get attatched and then he dumps you?" "Don't you care about all the boys you leave hurt and lonely in your wake?" "what if you get pregnant?"...but she had answers to it all. Finally I used what I was sure would be the final point. "that can't really make you happy, knowing what you're doing." She shrugged. "But I am. I like not having to depend on anyone, and doing whatever I want." but-but-but- "but its WRONG!" I burst out. She shrugged again. "Maybe, but I don't care. I'm happy. That's all I understand."

And that last part explained it. That was all she understood-happiness. My arguments on right and wrong, safety, and not hurting others didn't mattter to her. All she thought about was her own happiness. My reasoning would go nowhere.

My friend was starting to smoke pot. He knew it was dangerous to his body, he knew it was illegal, he knew that while smoking it he would do things he wasn't in control of. My good points didn't matter, he felt no guilt. He didn't care what he did. He wanted to smoke, he liked the feeling of losing control, he didn't like having his sensibilities cuz then he was sad. In fact, trying to explain why I wouldn't join in made no sense to him. It was fun for him at the moment, and I couldn't disagree with that. And beyond that, what mattered?

My sister said it best: "Well what do you expect of someone who doesn't believe in anything?"

And then it made such sense. All the points that I thought of as reasonable and well-founded were based on morals and convictions. Based on what God wanted. These kids didn't care what God wanted. My "strong points" had no impact on them. They didn't have anything to believe, anything to use as a guidline, just their passing emotion. What is sensible is what is right, but if nobody cares what is right, then nobody will be sensible, because why bother? And the only reason people want to do something right is if they want to follow God. Eventually, I found the bottom line:

without God, there IS no sensibility.