2
The test of truth:
fact or feeling?
TT he CI ac I< amas P rint
Wednesday, April 21, 1999
the various experiences which give
significance to our lives, be they
sexual love, moral impulse, or reli
gious observance. Psychology, bi
ology, and anthropology have all
enabled us to understand
our own natures in more
he
tar
intricate ways. But we
must be careful, lest in at
tempting to formulate our
life we reject that which
JOEL P. SHEMPERT
gives life meaning.
C.S. Lewis has
something to say about
external explanations of in
In last week’s column,
ternal phenomena. He de
I diverged from my usual
scribes seeing a sunbeam
modus operands, rather
shining in a dark toolshed,
than presenting a series
then stepping inside the
of arguments, I related
beam itself. “This is only a
an experience. I hoped
to share the power of that experi very simple example,” he says, “of
ence with others, and perhaps even the difference between looking at
to impact the lives of those who are and looking along.”
He goes on: “You get one experi
immune to my debate and argumen
ence of a thing when you look along
tation.
But while there is no denying the it and another when you look at it.
validity of my experience, it is diffi Which is the ‘true’ or ‘valid’ experi
cult to pin down its significance or ence? .. .it has been assumed with
meaning. After all, as I experienced out discussion that if you want the
the Crucified Christ in that small true account of religion you must
Lutheran church on Good Friday, go, not to religious people, but to
others had experiences as well. One anthropologists.. .it has even come
choirmate, for instance, commented to be taken for granted that the ex
that the crucifixion was “a metaphor ternal account of a thing somehow
for salvation through the forgive refutes or ‘debunks’ the account
given from the inside.”
ness of self.” His experi
Lewis concludes that nei
ence, equally deep and
ther the inside or outside
powerfill, differed greatly
account is infallible—and
from mine.
so therefore each case must
There are some who The
would say it makes no nourishment be examined on its own
merits. “It is perfectly
differehce—that each
easy,” he warns, “to go on
mystic* path is equally
all your life giving explana
valid, or equally invalid. from the
tions of religion, love, mo
And if the experience is
spring of
rality, honour, and the like,
the end and not the
without having been inside
means, they are right. the divine
any of them.”
Whatever drug, obtained cannot be
This is the balanced path
through chemistry or the
toward understanding our
ology, will offer solace in neglected.
experience. We must not
an otherwise bleak life is
follow blindly any road of
perfectly acceptable.
fered which prom ises com
But I believe it does
fort or happiness, but nei
make a difference. The
path we choose can lead to eternal ther can we afford to rule out all av
bliss or disaster, and can have a pro enues to a deeper existence. Nei
found effect on the way we live our ther the logician nor the mystic sees
the entire picture. We must engage
mortal lives as well.
G.K. Chesterton wrote that “there both sides of our psyche, the ana
is only one thing more impractical lytical and the poetic, to weigh all
than burning a man for his religion. options, to “test the spirits,” as Paul
And that is the habit of saying that said, to see “if they be of God.”
The experience of the wild love of
his religion does not matter.” The
metaphysical question is the most God is a wonderful thing. The nour
important dilemma a human being ishment of the soul from the spring of
will face in life, and thus must be the divine cannot be neglected. But
weighed carefully in our hearts and all things are not good. There is that
minds. We must, in the words of which kills the soul as well as that
Paul of Tarsus, “work out our faith which heals it. We must learn to
choose, to sift the false from the true. /
with fear and trembling.”
It is easy to offer explanations for show you a more excellent way.
Experience is so often the hallmark
of our human happiness, and yet so
few of us have a grasp of the place
experience has in our lives.
TI
AL
of AN
UNkNOWN Cod
Correct: i o n
In my opinion article on April 14,
1999,1 referred to Instructor Dean
Darris as “infamous.” I wish to with-
draw this statement, and apologize
to Dr. Darris.
-KarlKatzke
Associate Editor
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Dr. Spew and Adam Corona
Present...
Send Letters to:
spewandcorona@yahoo.com
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Dr. Spew and Adam Corona,
Present...
L ove WI hìne B ì
Afy girlfriend is going out with
some friends to a dance club for a
“girls ’ night out." It frustrates me
to think of her going and dancing
with other guys and getting hit on,
but I don’t know how to tell her
my concern without sounding con
trolling. What do I do?
—Mitch, 20
I ’m concerned about some friends
of mine who were recently en
gaged. I fear they aren ’t really in
love, and are headed for trouble.
How can I tell them?
—Jenny, 22
Adam: Get over it, brother. Find
some guy friends and hit a strip
bar. Ifshe is cool with that, cool. If
not, move on.
Spew: Hmm. Ask yourself:
What motivates me to be worried
or frustrated? Do you have a past
of possessive behavior? You’re
not married to her, and you cannot
place the demands of marriage on
her.
I can sympathize, though. In our
society men have no outlet for ex
pressing frustration in a relation
ship without coming off as a jerk
male chauvinist from the 50s. Be
gingerly with expressions of con
cern—don’t be possessive.
Adam: Yeah—I go with Spew on
that. But don’t be blind; if she
Spew: No matter how well-
intentioned you are, if you say
anything you will lose the friend
ship, at least during the relation
ship, which could last 60 years!
You’ve got to respect their right
to their own lives. Now if one of
them was abusive, that would be
something. But you’re talking
about being in love, which is not
your place to decide.
Adam: Yeah, mind your own
damn business. It’s people like
you that try to ruin something you
don’t have. You gossip to all your
friends—and if they do eventually
break up, you’ll do the “I told you
so” chant.
Spew: My, we seem to be un
commonly in agreement today.
>«
» *
•«AL/S3*
S ®
» ?!
I’m a gay man, and my bisexual
partner is moving in with his
straight ex-girlriend, whom he
claims is just platonic now. Is this
a bad sign?
—Brian, 19
You go first, Dr. Spew.
I’m afraid of what I’ll say.
Spew: Well, that doesn’t sound
healthy, regardless of sexual ori
entation. Those two obviously
have some history, and you’re
fooling yourself if you don’t think
there’s going to be some attrac
tion. And even if they never en
gage in anything sexual, they’re liv
ing together like a married couple.
They’re having an emotional affair.
Adam: Ireallydon’tcareifthetwo
dudes stick together—it’s just more
women for me. There’s something
in me though, that says if that girl
can win him back, more power to
her.
Adam:
‘
\ 14- t 1
-J
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Print Copyright 1999.
Just remember, Jenny: defining
love is hard enough -for two
people, without friends getting in
volved.
cheats, she gets the boot. Right to
the curb.
Angie Daschel
Karl Katzke
Shelbi Wescott
Mandi Linstrom
Robert Schoenberg
(x2576)
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