Choices matter

I finally got to read an interesting gag in a "Reader's Digest Magazine" that my wife had been hoarding and had to laugh, not just because it was funny, but because it was so true (November 2015, by comedian Eugene Mirman). I've changed some of the references in it to better fit our current time. It goes like this:

It seems a guy once saw someone on a bridge about to jump off and commit suicide.

I said, "Don't do it."

He said, "Nobody loves me."

I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?"

He said, "Yes."

I said, "Are you a Christian or a Muslim?"

He said, "I'm a Christian."

I said, "Me too! Protestant or Catholic?"

He said, "I'm a Protestant."

I said, "Me too! What kind of Christian are you?"

He said, "Baptist."

I said, "Me too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?"

He said, "Northern Baptist."

I said, "Me too! Are you a Conservative Baptist or a Liberal Baptist?"

He said, "I'm a Conservative Baptist."

I said, "Me too! Are you Pro-Life or Pro-Choice?"

He said, "I'm Pro-Life."

I said, "Me too! Are you a Republican or a Democrat?"

He said, "I'm a Republican."

I said, "Me too! Do you support Second Amendment rights or advocate gun control?"

He said, "I'm all for the Second Amendment."

I said, "Me too! Are you for Black Lives Matter or White Lives Matter?"

He said, "I'm definitely for Black Lives Matter."

With that, I noticed that he was black and said, "Die, you heretic!" And I pushed him off the bridge.

Have you ever wondered about single-issue people? You know -- the people who make up their minds about almost anything based upon a single issue, not the whole picture.

I wonder how many people voted against Hillary Clinton during the recent presidential election just because she strongly endorsed a pro-choice platform. Or, for that matter, I wonder how many people voted for Donald Trump just because he advocated strong Second Amendment rights and was supported by the NRA. Too many times it does not matter how many things a person has in common with someone else; it only matters if he or she agrees with you upon a single issue. Apparently, there are some issues where there is no compromise.

Or, to look at things a bit differently, why is it that people tend to uplift those who break the law or just live on the wild side of life? I guess it started with Adam and Eve in the Garden. They had it made. They had all the food they needed with a great variety to make it interesting, a great retirement package and an assortment of things to keep them busy enjoying life. BUT they just had to eat some of that forbidden fruit. Why? It wasn't any better than the other fruit. It was just forbidden, something that presented a choice for them and set them apart from the other creations. As such, it was a morality tree and they, of course, made the wrong choice -- as if they could fool God.

And so, I read the advertisement on television: "Wild and free." And I hear about the rogue cop who dares to take the law into his or her own hands, thereby igniting the excitement in thousands of those watching to do the same thing. Hollywood would have us all exulting the illegal way, the immoral way, the wrong way -- all in the name of excitement and adventure. And Barbara Streisand stands on the bow of a ship in the closing moments of one of her movies singing full throttle, "I did it my way," to the applause of the audience.

There is something basically wrong with the above scenarios. What is wrong with us that we are locked into single issues and prefer to choose our life's direction just because we aren't supposed to go that way? The biblical answer to this question is "sin," but no one recognizes sin anymore. As Karl Menninger addressed in one of his books, "Whatever Became of Sin?"

There is a need in our country to uplift those who want to do right, who choose to behave morally, who work to please both themselves and others, and who know the value of all human life. Our media is full of the tragic, but where is the joy of the successful?

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Robert Box is the former chaplain for the Bella Vista Police Department and is currently the Fire Department chaplain. The opinions expressed are those of the author.

Community on 12/07/2016