As humans, we love Superheroes. I remember one of those Christopher Reeve Superman movies (Superman II), where Superman is so sorry for something he did that he manages to turn back the clock--literally turn back time--by rapidly flying around the Earth the opposite way that it rotates, making the Earth "spin backwards," and then earning a "do-over" as a result. Considering the total mass of the planet, wow--that's one powerful dude! (No one ever explained how making the Earth rotate the other way could actually turn back time, but who cares about those trivial details....)
Santa Claus, of course, is another one of our most fabled Superheroes. Santa knows every little girl and boy. He has a list; he's checkin' it twice; because he knows who's naughty and nice. (If you've never thought of Santa as "godlike" in this respect, I don't know where you have been.) Now grown-ups understand the fiction involved. And when little Johnny asks a probing question such as, "How can Santa go to all those houses in just one night?" or "How does he get into a house that doesn't have a chimney?" we quietly nod and smirk a little bit, admiring in part little Johnny's emerging critical thinking skills, and amused and challenged to find an explanation for little Johnny that will continue to make the charade somehow vaguely believable. But whether it be Superman or Santa, we know through and through that stupendous stories and amazing claims are not to be taken literally or seriously.
Yet for some, God is a very notable exception. In the view of some people, God is essentially Superman and Santa on steroids. God can do absolutely anything. Like Santa, God is watching over us all the time. And considering that there are probably trillions of sentient beings in the universe (surely you don't think that God created all this just for you and me), He has an amazing filing system. Think for a moment about what it would take to monitor even the 6 billion people on this planet every second of their lives; it is way beyond mind-boggling. And if God can even read our thoughts, which some believe, that adds yet another fantastic layer of data. (And, all this makes me even more self-conscious if I happen to fart or pick my nose--sorry, Big Guy--I'm only human!) The notion that God sees all, knows all, and can do all is so patently ridiculous that it's amazing people can't see through it. If they can see through Santa, why can't they see through such notions about God? Well, I'll answer my own question: because they really don't want to. Perhaps if they read The Future of an Illusion by Sigmund Freud they would have at least a basic appreciation of the human psyche and its less-than-rational nature.
2 comments:
Hear hear!
This reminds me of an episode of The Simpsons: Marge, after attempting to kill her nanny, is put in front of a panel of mental health professionals who ask her various questions to determine whether or not she is clinically insane. Marge starts to pray, and the panel asks her what she's doing. She then explains that she's asking God to help the panel find her sane. The panel, then, asks her (paraphrased) "Does this God-person speak to you? Is He here in this room, right now?" And Marge answers "Oh yes--he's everywhere."
And so they find her insane.
Something to think about...
I very much like your analogy of Santa and God; and geek points for the Superman reference. Another good analogy for the filing system are our own computers - do we really know everything that's on our hard drives? How could we possibly shift through every digital piece and know everything. Still, the Santa analogy is good - because at some point most of us grow up and realize Santa isn't real, and that we should be thanking our parents or other loved ones instead.
Post a Comment