Thursday, June 4, 2009

What's Love Got To Do With It?!?!


Here’s the thing: human beings all grow up knowing what love is, and that it really does exist. Animals in the wild do not experience love, your housecat or dog cannot love the same way you can. They respond to kindness with affection, they are happy to see you because you feed them, and you can even teach them little tricks. But affection, contentment, and behavioral responses are not Love in the human sense. At first this seems counter-intuitive, but hold on -- clarification is coming.

Parents; would you not sacrifice anything for your children? Would you not put up with just about any abuse, donate your kidney, “throw yourself in front of that car” to save them? Of course you would. So here is the thing: where does this altruistic and unabashed love come from? Certainly everyone may not possess this (nor even every parent), but the fact that it exists demands an explanation. Where does it originate? It does not come from Nature; time and evolution play no role in developing such strange behaviors as love. Evolution and Nature can only explain self-preservation and survival of the fittest. I’m afraid it cannot come close to explaining love.

Love is not a by-product of teaching or a learned response. Argument: my children grow up loving and well adjusted because we have raised them in a loving and nurturing household. Both of these things may be true, but had they grown up with dreadful parents in an awful household, they are still aware of love, and in fact still SEEK after love just the same. These kids have the same need for it as you and I – they have “the void” that can only be filled by this love. So then, where does this need come from? It has no part with Darwin. They can have a roof over their heads, food in their stomachs, etc. But love is still different, it still stands alone. It is unique.

In fact love comes from God. There really is no other explanation. It is not a by-product of Natural Selection, its existence is not dependant on upbringing or learned behaviors, and it does not evolve over time. It is just there. It is this undefined existence of the greatest human achievement that gives away its Creator and grants testimony to God. At its highest-level love is an act of the will of course. Real love does not equate to butterflies in your stomach (remember your first date?), infatuation, or even chemistry.

It is, rather, the ability for one person to choose to accept hardship in the place of someone else. It is the same reason that God sent Jesus to die for us. Remember He did so willingly. Many times Pontius Pilate gave him the opportunity to speak up and save himself. He remained silent. When you and I choose in favor of someone else we do a similar thing. We live up to the imprint of the one who created us in the first place.

1 comment:

  1. with no due respect, you are an idiot. we have seen the same altruistic behavior in other animal species. the basis of youe thesis is completely contradicted by overwhelming evidence. even the title of you blog is a ridiculous oxymoron.

    here's a good quote for you: "The trouble with most folks is not their ignorance. It's that they know so much that ain't so." Thanks fo exemplifyuing this quote so well.

    Pray for me. It gives me great pleasure knowing that you are wasting your time on my behalf.

    ReplyDelete

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