Owning Mahowny

Anselm's ontological argument is one of the most bizarre, yet almost cultishly followed. The greatest thing your mind can think of? Strange. Oh, and  there are some terrible ones; whatever is convincing Thomas Nagel of a god (er, supernatural existence) is not particularly convincing to me. For instance, the "Goldilocks" phenomenon, where this universe is "just right" for life, seems better explained, in by itself, Atheist viewpoints than Theist ones. The whole irreducible complexity thing, for me, is vacuous if not egregiously incorrect (although in fairness, Behe in no way claims a proof of God here and in fact seems only interested in the Science).

What I am writing about are of course the so-called proofs of God.

There are some compelling proofs. Godel has a proof. He's arguably the greatest logician to live, so it isn't a terrible idea to take it a bit seriously. The first cause proof is also compelling.   Roger Scruton's views drawn out of aesthetics are compelling.  Plantinga's evolutionary argument against naturalism (EAAN), if you're not careful, is actual proof. For me, they serve as evidence for the theist's unique claims on reason and logic, since it provides ontological grounding and, by the way, explains why evolution can lead to true beliefs. Can fiction prove God's existence? Some think Robinson's Gilead does. But I digress. And, most importantly, these are just really arguments. And while Paul argues that we are all Theistic presuppositionalists, Theist and Atheist alike (c.f. Romans 1:20), there is little room for conversation if by definition the Atheist denies God's existence (so for the sake of proof talk, that must be ignored, even though starting with the understanding of God existing and working our ways out instead of in, is the way we were designed to know God). Such that, any sort of self-evident or natural theology proof has to go out the window, despite their intimate relationship with the believer. One can as simply argue from the Atheist side, that only things that can be tested by understood scientific experimentation can be considered true (or false). Thus, in order to dialogue we need to move from both these positions --  and,  furthermore, there are some compelling arguments on the Atheist side of the fence as well, and not just the problem of hiddenness (evil).

Arguments can serve as signposts, but they are not proofs. The Crucifixion occurred in a time where history was recorded, but not in the way that proves anything. The Ascension was even more obscure. You get the sense that Christianity, if not for some courageous few at the beginning, could have died out way before Constantine capitalized on the movement.

But what can Christianity provide that other faith systems, like Atheism or Hinduism,  cannot? And why has it survived like it has, and furthermore, flourished? I've  previously argued that Rene Girard's ideas of how Christianity serves as the terminal myth, the culmination of early human civilization providing the ultimate Scapegoat, Christ on the Cross, is part of the answer.

But Christianity provides even more, uniquely. It is not the end of suffering, but it helps us hope there is one, if, as the recently deceased Diogenes Allen writes in Theology for a Troubled Believer,  the cross means that "Christ endures the Father's complete absence", and that "this is to endure the effect of evil; for evil destroys communion, and the full effect of evil is to destroy all communion". Here, we begin to see it, how Christianity confronts a much more visceral part of the human being than our capacity to compute and critically think.  Or, as the brilliant Simone Weil puts it in The Need for Roots, "the fact that a human being possesses an eternal destiny imposes only one obligation: respect". Interestingly, these are very anti-Darwinian ideals, or, at the very least, very non-instinctual responses. Whatever they are, these principals were borne out of Calvary, and for the converted Christian, steer their ships. And it is these ideals that have largely given Christianity, in its purest and most upright form, it's identity.

But, I'm convinced these ideals,  despite their unique poignancy, do not explain the success of Christianity. Nor does simply the veracity of Christianity, since that can be and is easily disputed. Although a communal movement through and through, Christianity is also deeply personal. And, for me, this is where the answer is. This is where Christianity really sets itself apart from every other philosophy. Precisely, because it is not simply a philosophy, but, as I've argued before, a testable hypothesis.

Recently, Phillip Seymour Hoffmann passed away. My favorite Hoffmann flick was Owning Mahowny. Based on a true story, Hoffmann plays a bank employee who embezzles money to finance his increasingly out-of-control gambling problem. After getting caught, Hoffmann is eventually let off relatively easy and is speaking with presumably a court-appointed counselor, when he is asked on a scale of 1-100, what was gambling to him, and, what was the next greatest feeling of joy he felt in his life. His answer: gambling:100. The rest: 20.

Weil lists "order" as the first essential need of the human. Scientists in particular are tempted to a subconscious level of worship of the universe by its breathtaking (well, and breath-producing) order. There are ten trillion things going on in the universe, yet everything somehow coalesces on infinite levels and somehow just "works" to create a macrostable reality -- and even more amazingly, one we can perceive (or at least perceive that we perceive). Weil goes on: responsibility, hierarchy, equality, honor, punishment. Freedom. etc.

Hoffmann's character was deeply deficient because he mistook his needs for his desires. Always fleeting, these are always red herrings. And they end up one way (jail, depression, an anxiety-ridden waltz through life) or another (death) a disaster.

The Convert's answer is one to human need. And, as part of the whole picture of Theism, doesn't serve as a "crutch" for people as some would contend, but much more like a "walking stick", that guides them out of the cave of anxious animal life, to a voyage where humans were always meant to go.

And with understanding of that conversion, she can answer a slightly different question posed to Hoffmann's character -- one that serves as the only real test of God, and as such, the positive answer as the only real proof of God that I know of.

What is the question and answer?

What is Jesus to you on a scale of 1-100?  Answer: 100. The next best thing? 20.

Uh-oh. If it wasn't such an insult to him, I would say I might be channeling my inner-Anselm.



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