Perspective in Religions
In Genesis it tells the story of how Abraham is demanded by God to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering. The moral of the tale, as described in most Christian teachings is that one should have absolute faith and obedience to the will of God and that one will be blessed if one does. Faith is rewarded only if offered blindly with no regard to emotions or logic. To further enforce this lesson, God promises Abraham that because of his obedience “in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies” (Genesis 22:17).
In spite of the religious implications of his obedience and actions society now, and then, would be outraged by such a concept, that a father would kill his son in obedience to a god. Had he told his peers what he planned to do they would have been horrified. It is part of humanity, our culture and society that demands we protect our young, through them the species survives, and we have our only chance of gaining immortality. In his own society Abraham would have been looked askance for so blindly obeying a God who would ask such a sacrifice. Why else would he have left his own men apart? Not because he needed the privacy to worship his god, but because he knew they would have stopped him. In his decision to kill his son, he deviated from the social norm, allowing religion to lead him. In modern times when people do such things they are looked at like fools, those who allow their children to die because they are waiting for God to provide the cure instead of taking them to a hospital. Those who blindly follow religious leaders like they did in Jonestown, or even to another extreme, those who placed their faith in Charles Manson are not part of ‘normal’ society. They are ‘outside’ society and so too was Abraham. The only difference is that his story had a happy ending, with his son living and going on to father a nation and two influential religions. If God hadn’t stepped in, he would simply have been another religious ‘kook’ who listened to a voice in his head.
This same story told in a different perspective, say, with Zeus as the demanding deity and not a tale out of the Bible it would be an outrageous tale of divine manipulation. The Bible even uses the word ‘tempt’ when describing God’s command “And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold here I am.” (Genesis 22:1). God was tempting Abraham. If this weren’t a Biblical tale and Zeus demanded this same act of a mortal, the story would have an altogether different moral outcome and society would not be forced to accept it as a story of the virtues of faith. Zeus is portrayed as a capricious, arrogant and self-serving god, so the tale would be one of humans defying and surviving the whims of a petty god. However, the god in this tale is the God of both Judaism and Christianity; it is viewed in the light of his eternal Love and overlooked as manipulation on his part.
If one is supposed to consider both logic and emotion when coming to a proper ethical conclusion and decision, how can this story truly be a moral tale worth following? “The first thing to consider is whether the decision makes sense logically, i.e. in your head. This involves determining the validity of the decision based on how it relates to your principles, priorities, and preconceived notions of how people should act. The second thing to consider is how you feel about the decision emotionally, i.e. consult your heart.” (Kristopher Hansen). Neither of these aspects were used when Abraham decided to follow God’s will in sacrificing his son. Logically it made no sense to kill the child God had promised would make him ‘father of nations’. Second, emotionally how could he have felt it the right decision when it demanded the life of his child? If considering both logic and emotion were needed, how then did Abraham get validation for his actions? And to make this story even more confusing for those who wish to follow true morality, it offers blessings for those who are willing to denounce logic for blind faith. Really why is this story held up as a moral tale to shape generations and believers? Blind obedience is praised when in all other fields of thought and life one is taught to question and make decisions based not only on what feels morally right, but what is logically sound.
Resources:
- The Holy Bible, King James Version, the Book of Genesis
- Kristopher Hansen, Discussion Introduction