‘You Always Get What You Deserve’: Another Blatant Bloody Lie?

Major religious groups (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Last week, I wrote a post titled, ‘Work Hard and You’ll Succeed: the Biggest Lie?’ Today, I want to explore, with you, another blatant lie.

We’re told, frequently and with much volume, that we get what we deserve. I think this is an attempt by some to encourage the first lie in the minds of those as yet unschooled in reality. It’s also, of course, a saying completely founded in the religious concepts that underpin the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Their sacred texts explicitly tell followers that their rewards will follow from their actions.

But is it true? Do we, or indeed anyone else, get what we deserve?

Does the innocent child deserve to starve to death by an accident of geographical location? Does the winner of millions on a lottery actually deserve this piece of great fortune? Does the drug baron deserve a life of luxury and ease at the expense of those who suffer and die through his activities? Does the Chairman of a business empire deserve the exorbitant income he awards himself?

There are millions more examples of people receiving things they don’t deserve. In fact, I’d say that more people get what they don’t deserve than get what they do. In fact, I can think of very few people I know who have actually been given what they deserved.

I hear those of a religious mind-set yelling that we get our real rewards in heaven, paradise, or whatever other presumed afterlife they believe in. But such destinations are pure speculation. There’s no way of knowing whether they even exist except by taking that final step to enter them. By then it’s too late to discover that all your effort, good, bad or indifferent, has, in fact, resulted in you reaching the same end as all living things on death: i.e. the recycling of your components. If there is an afterlife, and it’s something we can never know since no one has ever returned with a reliable report, then surely the creator of such a splendid reward system would want us to be certain?

There’s little point in any deity permitting us to have doubts about such things, since these are supposed to be the very motivations that make us do the bidding of that deity. Yet the tales that are sold by the various religions are so different and contradictory. Surely any deity worthy of the name would at least remove the elements of doubt and dispute and provide a means whereby we could actually experience such rich rewards? Nothing else makes sense.

Of course, I understand that many are now yelling at me that I have to have faith. I’m sorry, but faith in something for which there is no evidence, let alone proof, strikes me as little short of imbecility. Does anybody seriously believe in fairies, a flat Earth, that Mars is inhabited by little green men or any one of thousands of such tales? We’ve dismissed the myths of ancient times, the tales of Zeus and his clan, Odin and his cohorts, Ra and his comrades, as early attempts to explain what was then inexplicable. A similar fate is already undermining current deities as reason and rational thought supersede superstition and folklore.

It isn’t that I deny absolutely the possibility of religious dogma having a basis in truth; it’s that I see such division in interpretation and I don’t believe it can be proven. The very existence of God is a matter we, as humans, will probably never be able to determine one way or another. If such a power actually exists, it must, by its very nature, be so far outside our experience and knowledge as to be incomprehensible. Any attempt to define such a power must inevitably diminish any reality it might possess. So, I take the only sane and reasonable attitude possible: I can’t know, which is why I style myself agnostic.

I’d like to say, ‘religious considerations aside’ and give examples of my argument on that basis but, unfortunately, the world in which we live is so deeply imbued in religious foundation that it’s impossible to escape its influence.  

But I will set a challenge.

Can anyone, without citing religious concepts, please provide more examples of people actually getting what they deserve than those who most clearly do not deserve what they get? I’m open-minded enough to be converted to a different view, if I can be given evidence that ‘just deserts’ is something more than a meaningless lie disguised as truth by those with vested interest in maintaining the status quo. Go ahead; change my mind.

The Debate Begins: Are You Up For It?

Image via Wikipedia

Allow me to introduce myself: Theo: I believe in honesty, truth, reason and equality. I'm rational, passionate, caring, neutral and considerative as well, I hope, as considerate. That's really all you need know about me.

Hi there, I'm Dave. Opinion's the only thing that counts on the web. Mine's as valid as anyone's. I don't really care about anything enough to get involved but I like to put my point of view out there. I'm not consistent and sometimes I fight for the other side just for the hell of it; know what I mean? For me, this debating lark's just that: a lark. So, listen up, join in and have a go at both, either or neither of us.

Today, by way of introduction to the idea, we're going to discuss the question:

Is Honesty Absolute or Can it be Measured in Degrees?

Dave: Easy. You're either honest or you're not. No discussion.

Theo: Not quite the spirit of the idea, Dave. But I understand why you might say that. The problem, I think, is that 'honesty' covers such a wide range, encompassing so much within its definition.

Dave: You'll get used to this with Theo. He's a great bloke but he loves his long words. If you mean there's a lot of stuff called honesty, why not just say so, Theo?

Theo: I thought I just did. But let's stick to the topic at hand, shall we? For instance, is stealing something you'd include under the umbrella title?

Dave: I guess so, but let's not include it here. That's got to make a topic all on its own, surely?

Theo: Excellent. So, we'll consider the idea of honesty as a quality, a way of approaching life, shall we?

Dave: Sure.

Theo: Then I'll ask, is honesty the best policy? Which, I suppose, is where we should have started.

Dave: Good thought, Theo. Best policy? Well, depends how you view life in general doesn't it? I mean, if you're honest, you're going to have to pass up on all those chances fate chucks at your feet, aren't you?

Theo: Give us an example, Dave.

Dave: Okay. You're walking down the street and you come across a small value note lying there. D'you pocket it or leave it, spend it or take it to the cops? If you're absolutely honest, you'd have to take it to the cops, wouldn't you?

Theo: Absolute honesty would demand that action, yes. But, let's consider the consequences. By taking this small note; we'll say a fiver if you're British or a $10 bill if you're from the States. The rest of you will, unfortunately, have to do the conversion to your own currency, if you don't mind. So, you have this small amount of currency and you take it to the police. They take your details and you fill in a form and sometime in the future (after 30 days in UK), you get the call to say it's not been claimed and it's therefore yours, legally.

Dave: Sounds okay to me. But I'd not bother to report something as small as a fiver.

Theo: You probably employ common sense in this decision, Dave. I know you're not a man who takes frivolous decisions. The question expands into the discussion and consideration of consequences. In reporting this small matter, you've used some of your own valuable time, caused the duty officer at the police station to use time he might otherwise have spent more usefully in preventing crime, and probably used fuel in the journeys. The latter, of course, means that you've added to the general pollution of the planet, risked lives by driving further miles, and put more mileage on the clock of your car, thus reducing its value and bringing the time for the service nearer.

So, was this act of honesty actually worth it?

Dave: Like I said, I wouldn't bother for just a fiver. And looks like you've decided you wouldn't, either.

Theo: So, would you do it for a tenner?

Dave: No.

Theo: Twenty?

Dave: Probably not. There's loads of them around.

Theo: Fifty?

Dave: Now you're talking. Yeah, I'd go to the bother for a fifty.

Theo: And your reasons?

Dave: Well, for a start, I've never had a fifty myself and I don't think many people have. Fifty's a lot to lose. You'd notice it, wouldn't you? The person who lost it might think it's worth bothering the cops to see if some honest person's reported it. So, yeah. Fifty's the starting point for me to record it. Anything from there up and I'd take it to the cops.

Theo: And you'd do this because you think it's the morally right thing to do, not because you think you might be in danger of being accused of theft if you failed to report it?

Dave: I don't think most people think like that. It's not mine, the cops won't be wasting their time, because someone's likely to report it lost. So, it just makes sense to give it in. If no one claims it, you're fifty to the good and you can spend it with a clear conscience, can't you?

Theo: And you've been honest, into the bargain. Do you think it was dishonest not to return the smaller notes?

Dave: Not exactly dishonest. It's about priorities and amounts, isn't it? I mean, we decided it wouldn't be worth if to anyone for under a fifty. So, it's just common sense, really.

Theo: So, not a question of honesty, but one of expediency, then?

Dave: If you say so. Are we done with this one?

Theo: In the way that I think we can say that honesty, in the sense it's used in everyday matters, isn't an absolute, but an attitude that encompasses such qualities as degree, common sense and personal priorities. Thank you, Dave. I look forward to our next debate.

Dave: Yeah, right. And you lot out there reading this, let's have your thoughts, eh? Have your say. That's what this is about after all.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Fable/truth

Fable/truth – antonyms.

Fable: noun - a fictional narrative or statement; a myth or legend; a fiction devised to deceive; a ridiculous or dishonest story; idle talk; something falsely claimed to exist, or not existing outside legend; a short story with animals as characters conveying a moral; someone or something that has become proverbial.

Truth: noun - faithfulness, loyalty, constancy; trust, confidence; belief, a creed; disposition to speak or act truly or sincerely; truthfulness, sincerity; fact, facts; the matter or circumstance as it really exists; the real thing, as opposed to a representation or imitation; a Religious belief or doctrine held to be true or orthodox; orthodoxy; conduct in accord with a divine standard; spirituality of life and behaviour; what is true or real; reality; a true statement; something held or accepted as true; a fixed or established principle; conformity with fact; genuineness; authenticity; accuracy of representation in art or literature; lifelike quality; in Architecture, without pretence or imitation; conformity with a standard, pattern, or rule; accuracy, precision, correctness.

'Most of the stories and reports concerning religious entities are fables; that these myths and legends have long been mistaken for truths is a matter for great concern amongst those who understand the value of honesty.'

'The behaviour and values of the vast majority of politicians, in particular the leaders in that field, demonstrate that they have no understanding of the meaning of truth. Like so many journalists, they mistake opinion for fact and proceed as though their particular beliefs about social matters equal truths, when, in most cases they represent only their own narrow and often distorted views of reality.'

2/12/1697 - St Paul's Cathedral was opened in London
2/12/1755 - The second Eddystone Lighthouse was destroyed by fire.

Pic:  Barmouth beach, Dorset.