Malik23 wrote:Similarly, Covenant is his own creator and his own despiser. He can choose which way to go, and by his actions save or damn the world (just as we can save or damn our own planet). Waiting for angels or god to save us from ourselves is just like hoping that Lore can defeat Lord Foul. It can't. Only wild magic (our unrestrained passions) can defeat it. If we restrain our passions with an Oath of Peace or other-worldly morality, then we will not be equipped to face Despite, because it arises within us. If we think of reality as a battle between an external Satan and an external God, then we'll be powerless against Despite because we'll fail to recognize it within ourselves. It's a personal, internal battle. The only despite you can master is your own--and you can only do it if you don't limit your passions and if you don't hide from the truth: both of which are affects of religious morality and the Oath of Peace.
I found your post quite intriguing, but for reasons you may not have considered.
The Book of Romans speaks directly about a personal, internal battle. The Apostle Paul is seen berating himself for making mistakes and that it seems like even though he knows what right is, he still makes wrong choices. Christianity is about faith. If we “KNEW” God existed we’d shape up our lives very well. We can all behave quite nicely at work, for instance. But Revelation talks about a time when people will “KNOW” God exists and they’ll still choose to rebel against Him & join Satan in the final war. That war doesn’t last very long by the way.
What I’m saying is that I see answers like “the devil made me do it” to be 99% nonsense. Just like I see that a lot of “God told me what to do” to be nonsense. Not because God doesn’t interact with us, but rather that most people aren’t aware of how that works and so they make stuff up. Satan also interacts with us; it’s just that it is in ways that people aren’t even aware about. Regardless, I believe that Christians make rational moral choices about how to act, just like non-Christians. But maybe you’re missing something about the lore of this world, just maybe.
Consider that weakened Christians have power and that for the sake of the argument that it is very diluted, because of a kind of oath of peace in Christianity, and mostly because the miracle-like powerful lore of the early Church has been forgotten. And not merely forgotten, but completely out of step with how we live our lives and no longer comprehendible. I saw a movie that stated how people felt about the end of the world in the 14th century. The statement was, “Back then people felt the end of the world was the ultimate day off, not the ultimate off day.”
So let’s say that Christians are weak in their lore. Despite the sensational news about high profile cases, I’m quite certain that Christians commit less grievous sins than non-Christians. In our prison systems, if you would take a poll of how many Christians vs. non-Christians raped, killed, etc., then I’m quite sure that you would find there to be a huge difference. It’s not simply a guilt sensation that steers someone away from robbing a liquor store. Christians want to be a good example, they want to act well for their heavenly Father. Not because they need to, because heaven is a gift not something people are required to work at. They accept it. That’s it. That’s all. I think that interacting with an external God for our internal struggles gives us strength.
I think that the issue isn’t that the lore is weak. I think the real issue is that the lore is real. People have sensations in the spirit that are hard to explain. Missionaries have experiences with near starvation & right when they feel they’re at their wits end, a food drop comes in, or a check from someone that hadn’t written in a long time. And although coincidental on the outside, in a Christian’s life these coincidences start building up to impossible numbers of “coincidences”. A Christian might pray for an answer to a problem and an idea comes to mind. Was it planted? Or perhaps a person calls on the telephone immediately after the prayer and states the answer without being prompted. These things happen constantly to a Christian who believes in Jesus as the Son of God. There is real magic for Christians.
And the funny thing about your comparison to the Thomas Covenant books is that those people generally didn’t feel powerful. The general population could do miraculous things, but it wasn’t as if everyone was lining up to watch. It was common.
Also, understand that society and public education are constantly telling us that religion is false and while people write books and have opinions about why God doesn’t exist you have to wonder why so many people do believe. I have an interesting thought that most people who are evil don’t believe themselves to be evil. Perhaps the Urviles and Cavewights think they’re doing the right thing by standing on the side of who seems most likely to win. Maybe in our own way, a lot of non-believers don’t want to believe because they aren’t willing to look at the beauty of the Land or of those that practice the oath of peace. Maybe to the servants of the illearth stone it is sort of like taking a stand on abortion as a woman’s right to choose. Maybe that’s warped thinking and they just don’t know it because they can’t see the use of practicing arts of power that don’t appear very powerful by comparison because they aren’t destructive.
Anyway, food for thought.
