The Bishop

I heard a funny thing on the radio tonight. I was driving back to work from my last stop for the day and I was listening to the radio. It got to commercials, which I usually turn down, but for some reason this time I didn’t. What did I hear? I heard a commercial by a Catholic bishop (on the rock station no less). There’s no way I can guarantee that I’ll get this word-for-word, by I’ll give it my best shot.

“It is the holiday season where we inevitably turn our thoughts to the baby Jesus. Let’s take a walk into that cave and gaze upon the Redeemer lying there. As he lies there he serves to remind us of all the little children born into this world into bad situations. The Palestinian baby. The Israeli baby. The American baby. The Afghan baby.”

“Every day babies are born into this world, condemned to live in places of conflict against their will. It is my heartfelt prayers and hopes that we would each do our part to bring peace to these children and give them hope. As we give hope to these children, we give hope to the survival of humanity.”

After hearing the Bishops shoot off his little radio prayer, two things immediately popped into my head.

First I thought, “That’s a bunch of crap. He just wants to make sure there is a steady supply of kids around for him and his pals.”

I know, that’s probably stereotyping and all, but that’s what I thought.

The second thing I thought had to do with his statement about the kids being condemned, against their will, to be born into bad situations. I asked myself, “If it’s not the kids fault, whose is it?” I suppose the blame would fall onto whoever or whatever is responsible for who is born where. If you believe in God, then I suppose he’d be the one to blame. If you don’t believe in God, I suppose you can blame genetics or the parents or something like that.

I thought past that quickly because the whole “blaming God for situations in the world” is a very common argument by people who don’t believe in God, and I’ve heard many of the arguments from people on both sides of that issue. The thought did lead me to realize something else though.

It seems that everyone thinks that everyone has certain rights. People have the right to be born and live their lives free from abuse or harm. People have the rights to grow and become the person that they want to become. People have the right to choose the “path of life” that they choose to follow (I know, I sound like my New Age aunt there. Don’t worry, I don’t have any pet crystals). People have the right to grow as old as possible and not die “prematurely.”

For most people who live in “free” societies, and especially Americans like me, rights are something that everyone demands and believes that all people have a “right” to (rights to rights?). The question that came to me is this; Who says that any of that is true? Who exactly gives us those rights?

Some would say God. To that I’d have to point out that even people who don’t believe in “God” think that people all have rights. Plus the whole “God answer” is something that people seems throw into most situations where they don’t know the answer to a question, or don’t want to admit the answer to a question because it would conflict with their personal beliefs.

Others would say that society gives people rights, but I have a hard time believing that. Society can TRY to give people rights, but that’s all it can do.

If I had a friend and I told him he could take my Trans Am for a drive whenever he wants, I would in essence be giving him the right to use my Trans Am. The problem is that I don’t own a Trans Am, and thus am powerless to give him any more than words and false hope. And I think that is the same boat that society is in.

I think it’s true whether you look locally, nationally, or even at the whole world. People are content to try and promise people “rights” that they can’t truly give them, because there is always going to be forces fighting against those rights. There will always be things cutting people’s lives “short,” thus violating their rights to long lives. There will always be people who abuse and harm other people, thus violating people’s rights to live free from that. There will always be people born into situations that offer them no choice over what “path” they take in life, thus violating that right.

Those who think they’re helping their fellow man by “fighting” for these rights for people who don’t have them are really only offering people the illusion of something that they don’t actually possess the ability to give. They’re giving people the rights to drive a car they don’t own.

To me it seems about as futile as the medical profession. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful that they are there, but if you think about it in the most basic way, they are fighting a loosing battle that they can never win. Health professionals spend their entire lives trying to keep people healthy and in optimal shape and living as long as possible, even though in the end every person they ever treat is going to succumb to time and waste away.

I don’t know if there is a specific point to all this and I don’t know if there has to be.

“It seems like every day’s the same and I’m left to discover on my own. It seems like everything is grey and there’s no color to behold. They say it’s over and I’m fine again. Try to stay sober, feels like I’m dying here.

I feel the dream in me expire and there’s no one left to blame it on. I hear you label me a liar cause I can’t seem to get this through. You say it’s over, I can sigh again. Why try to stay sober when I’m dying here?” –Seether

PS- I’m really digging Seether.

Double PS- Concerning my last entry, my mom actually wrote me a thank you note for going to church with them. Hehe.