Logical Coherence

Lately I have been thinking about the problem of morality and belief. Morality is a crucial link in the chain of belief, and in fact, has been invoked as the reason for God's existence more than any other. Dostoyevski, in The Brothers Karamazov, argues that if there is no God, all things are permitted.

All things are permitted. For some time I was unsatisfied with this as an argument for God because it seemed a bit thin. Yes it would be terrible if there were no morality, but we could muddle through with some kind of social contract. But this underestimates the meaning of "all things are permitted." Morality doesn't simply tell us not to kill our neighbors and eat them for food. It is the very coherence of human thought.

Here is what I mean. Morality is tightly bound to truth. After all, everyone agrees that we should all be seeking the truth. "Should" is the operative verb here. If there is no such thing as the moral "should," then knowledge of truth becomes at best a pretty incidental property of nature, something like color or shape. Taken another way, if I believe a lie and there is no moral dimension to truth, believing a lie is just as good as believing the truth, provided the truth will not hurt me (i.e., a bullet is coming my way).

This is not an easy problem to get around. In fact, most of the arguments against belief talk about the immorality of religion -- an incoherence if there ever was one, since something cannot be immoral if there is not a standard of goodness to apply it to.

Without morality logic loses much of its coherence. Truth becomes another property of matter just like any other, one that can be ignored just as we can choose to overlook the greenness of trees or the size of an ant. Truth is no longer a vital pursuit. Our desire to unlock the secrets of the universe become vanity exercises, and our desire to live a contradiction-free life is entirely meaningless.

The statement that belief in God is absurd is empty of meaning without morality. Only because the word God carries weight can the word absurd carry any.

I am now up to devotion 114.

The Matter of Complexity

It is a favorite tactic of religious critics, and especially critics of Catholicism, to ridicule one religious rite or another as proof that religion is bunk. Because Catholics cross themselves with holy water before entering a church, for example, we must all be under the spell of shamans.

Suppose someone knew nothing about France, not even its existence. That person might ask me, "What is France?" I could respond by saying, "The French enjoy eating freshly baked bagettes." This response, while peculiar, is true enough, and quite characteristic of the French. Yet it hardly answers the question. The response seems senseless, but, if I then went all the way back to the beginning of French history, explained how French culture and society came about, after a few hours of explanation I could finally get around to showing why the French like bagettes, and why it is reasonable that they should.

The same could be said about the idiosyncratic practice of genuflection, or any other peculiar Catholic practice. The question is never the practice itself. It is the orgins of it that count.

May Day

I would be remiss if I ignored May 1st as a special day in my devotion. May, of course, has always been the month of Mary. To celebrate the month, I will try to say the rosary every single day, and in church on Sundays.

So far, I have been pretty consistent about my devotions, but I skip days from time to time. Let's go for 30 days straight. I think I am used to it now, so I should be able to pull this off.

Of note, an interesting symmetry: Today is May Day and I am up to 99 devotions. Today would be my hundredth.

Ave Maria.

Mortification

One thing my devotions have unexpectedly taught me is about the practice of mortification. Mortification literally refers to inflicting physical discomfort upon the self in the name of God. It is practiced in numerous religions.

I do not support the literal practice of mortification, but my daily prayers have shown me a more spiritual interpretation. I have been praying the rosary all year, having completed 92 of my 289 devotions. Needless to say, when I pray, my mind often wanders. To keep my mind on track I give myself mental cues -- for example, if I am meditating on the crucifixion, I will say the word "crucifix" out loud before each Hail Mary. This refocuses my mind on the task at hand. Other times I will kneel and then stand up. Or cross myself. Or perform some basic act that brings my mind back out of the ether.

This is what mortification is for. To bring the mind from far away back to the present. Physically injuring one's self or inflicting pain is certainly wrong, but a physical act, or even a mild discomfort (such as praying in the cold) keeps the mind focused. There is no separating the physical from the spiritual. Mortification, taken non-literally, makes this clear.

The End of Revelations

A very long time ago I promised myself I would read the entire Bible cover to cover. Why it took so long, I have no idea. I finished the Old Testament just before Hurricane Katrina, then lost my Bible in the storm. So I eventually bought a new one and started again. I finally set my sights on finishing the New Testament during Lent. And I did so on March 31, the day before Palm Sunday.

As for my rosary: I am up to number 81. 208 more to go.

Still Going

Last night I prayed my 61st rosary of this novena. Though I have not been writing about it, I have not given up.

The almost daily effort is starting to wear on me. I am not used to such spiritual demands. My hope is that this is simply a phase in my spiritual growth, and that I will overcome it with discipline.

Marian Devotions

I have been doing this novena for a month. Now I am up to rosary #29. Not having done this before, I am starting to feel the burden of saying the rosary every single day. This is someting I expected.

Many non-Catholics express skepticsm about devotions to Mary. They consider it a kind of idolotry. Catholics, however, do not worship Mary as a god. She is human, just like the rest of us, and no one denies it.

Interestingly, the same people who decry devotions have no problem with stopping to see Mt. Rushmore. They will enter the Lincoln Memorial or some equivalent monument with hushed reverence. Yet they are confident they do not confuse Abraham Lincoln with a god.

Mary is the Mother of Jesus. As such, she is first among all humans. Devotion to Mary is intended as emulation of Mary. Since she is human, it is possible to emulate her, and in so doing, to come closer to God. Mary should be thought of as the image of human perfection.

We pray to Mary because she is alive, just as all the dead are alive in God. When we pray to Mary, we ask her to pray for us. Mary does nothing on her own. She only asks on our behalf. Just as we may ask a friend to pray for us in a difficult time, we can ask Mary to pray for us. That is all Marian devotion is -- a more human way to approach God.