This is a 'discussion' being offered at a university that I used to attend.
The implication is that maybe, between birth and life, there is something else.
But, I read it differently:
*Is there more to life than money?
*Is there more to life than consumerism?
*Is there more to life than heterosexual marriage (portrayed here by the signs for man and the woman usually seen on bathroom doors)?
*Is there more to life than reproduction?
The series of events that our lives are supposed to follow, according to this Christian organization, are certainly not the paths many peoples lives take and seem to only account for middle class values and norms.
So, I would answer yes. There is 'more to life:' but not in the post-death or pre-birth sense. Rather, there are other alternative life paths that we can take, despite what we are sometimes told.
Really, there is more? Sadly, I'm not sure. Being a childless woman in her mid-forties, I've started to think that is very little life without an offspring.
ReplyDeleteBut that makes sense, doesn't it? Since our children is what we contribute to the human race, so if we don't have them, we are leaving no-thing behind.
Lorena, you don't only live on in your children. There are other family members, friends, people in our community. There is pressure to define ourselves by our offspring: but there are more ways to leave your mark on humanity. Your blog, even, affects others and will be part of your legacy.
ReplyDeleteInteresting,
ReplyDeleteWhen I was talking to my Christian nephew about having left the faith, I explained to him that I wasn't scared of death, that people live after in the lives of their children. I said, "I don't have children, but I have a blog, and that's my legacy to the human race."
He wanted to know the address of my blog, but I declined on the grounds that I wanted privacy to spill my guts about family.
This is a skewed idea of what is "the right path" for Christians. In no way does God command us to be married. Marriage is a gift. God leads people to do all things. Some to lead countries, some to become rock stars, some to own a mom-and-pop store, some to be pastors, some to be married, some to stay single, some to have kids, and some to adopt, or some to not to keep kids at all. No one can decide the path for another human. We must let God lead us. Only he sets the limits.
ReplyDeleteAlfredo, I appreciate the other perspective that you offer and that you are able to confirm that while some Christians may feel like that there is one prescription for everyone to lead a "good life," that other Christians acknowledge different options.
ReplyDelete