Temptation
Inside a Dove chocolate wrapper, it said: "Temptation is fun. Giving in is even better!" I realize that they meant innocuous temptations, like Dove chocolate pieces, but in general I have to disagree with that sentiment. To someone who is morbidly obese, those would not be innocuous at all. Likewise, anyone with any sort of addiction would be tempted by exposure to their "drug of choice," and it wouldn't be any fun at all. Giving in would be even worse.
So then I started thinking about other places where the word "temptation" comes up. The most obvious, of course, is in the "Lord's Prayer:" Lead us not into temptation. Now, I find this an odd line. Even interpreted as a straight forward request, there's an implication that the being to whom the prayer is addressed does sometimes deliberately lead people into temptation. Doesn't seem like a very wholesome activity for an absolutely good being, now, does it?
And I know what the so-called justification given will be: "But overcoming temptation makes you stronger/better/etc!" So what? If I give someone small doses of arsenic every day for several years, their resistance to arsenic gets stronger, too. Does that mean I'm justified in doling out arsenic to people? Then there's that slight risk factor of getting the dose wrong and out and out killing the person. Oh, but all the ones who survive will be stronger for it, right?!? The idea of any sort of "god" leading someone into temptation is appalling, and including that line in such a common prayer suggests that people have a rather low opinion of that god.
Then there's the stand-up comic version: "Lead me not into temptation, for I can find it easily enough myself!" This one implies a different meaning to the words. It's more "help me avoid temptation" rather than "lead me not." This interpretation is less problematic for a god's status. But most church-goers will recite the shorter version every week, and never once notice what it implies about the one to whom they send the prayer. It's a request for that being to stop a rather negative behavior.
Queue:
philosophy,
ranting,
words
2 comments:
It might be a translation problem, though I honestly doubt it.
I really have to get to reading Job, closely. What I know of that book brings up pretty much your question. What was God playing at?
Most people would say that doing something you don't want to do (or not doing something you do want to do) builds character. Overcoming temptation's a helpful skill in life (or would be, if I had more of it), but leading people into temptation does seem related to waterboarding.
I don't think it matters much if it's a translation problem because of how many people have this particular version down by rote. It's hard to imagine that a new/better translation would change the way people remember or recite it. That no one thinks to question it strikes me as very weird.
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