Accountability

I think I’ve finally found a topic that’s less popular than the blog I did on Submission a while ago: Accountability.

It seems to me that society today suffers from a fear of accountability. I believe that not wanting to be held accountable drives a lot of bad behaviour and erroneous belief. This is more than the natural human tendency to “get away” with things.

I believe it is this denial of accountability that is at the base of most atheistic beliefs and behaviour. It drives an ever-increasing scale of excuse-making and blaming and has escalated into an attitude of public mockery without any substance of reason (I’m reminded of Richard Dawkin’s invective call to his followers (with regard to Christians) to “mock them, ridicule them, in public … with contempt”).

As much as we don’t like accountability, we need it. Our justice system cannot function without it. Indeed, some believe that they need to personally hold others accountable when the justice system is perceived to have failed. This accounts for the “protests” after the Michael Brown grand jury decision that somehow end up with stealing and damaging the property of people that had nothing to do with the shooting.

Whether we like it or not, we are accountable. We are accountable to parents, teachers, siblings, governments, anyone who has authority…and ultimately, God. Psalm 10:13 says: Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, "You will not call to account"? Did you catch that? It is wickedness to actively deny or fight accountability, to believe that God will not hold us accountable.

We convince ourselves that God doesn’t exist, because once He doesn’t, there is no one ultimately to hold us accountable. We can bluff, plead, lie, evade, argue, “get a good lawyer to get us off” when the party keeping us accountable is a human or a human organisation. We can’t do that with God, He doesn’t play by our rules. We can’t do that with our heart, or conscience either, because that part is the bit of God we have in us and isn’t fooled either. And, we face death, and any thought/belief of an afterlife means an encounter with God and being held accountable.

That’s where Brittany Maynard’s quest for a dignified death under her own terms fails. She got through all of the accountability barriers, except for God. That’s where officer Darren Wilson and Bill Cosby will be held accountable, if not in this life.

How do you feel about accountability? Is there something right now that you’ve gotten away with that the higher court of conscience is not fooled by? It might be wise to go to the highest court first and get right with Him, and then set about allowing accountability to set us free from the secrets that bind us.

Deceived by the Heart

Jeremiah 17:9 - The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?

I thought of this verse today when reading about the grand jury decision on the death of Michael Brown.  I read the testimony of officer Darren Wilson, and have seen the protests, both when Michael died, and now, after the decision not to prosecute officer Wilson.

The Michael Brown case is news because Michael was black and officer Wilson is white.  Reading officer Wilson’s testimony, there are elements that would tend to explain and even justify what he did (the grand jury saw this, as well), but, the one question that officer Wilson can’t answer with any certainty is: would the outcome have been the same if Michael Brown was white? 

Not to compare the two, but the accusations of rape against Bill Cosby are also in the news.  I couldn’t help but notice that most of the women that have come forward fit a certain pattern at the time of the alleged assault: late teens, and white.  Given what we have heard so far, what conclusion can we draw about Bill Cosby:  that he, a black man, sought out white teenaged girls to assault, that he was an “equal opportunity” predator, or that he is an innocent man that is a victim of false accusations?  Bill can provide an answer (at least to himself) that differentiates the first two from the last, but discerning between the first two (if he is guilty) would be much more difficult.

Racism is but one aspect of a wicked heart, and look what devastation it can cause.  And, if we examined our actions (especially our sinful ones), what other destructive motives would we find?  I believe this is what the Holy Spirit, through Jeremiah, was getting at. And, He gives us the answer in the very next verse:

Jeremiah 17:10 - I Jehovah search the heart, I try the reins, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.

Brittany, and Hope

I noted the passing of Brittany Maynard the other day.  Brittany is the lady that chose to end her life at 29, due to a diagnosis of brain cancer. She made headlines because of her choice, and the world tracked her as she made it through her bucket list on the way to a planned ending on November 1^st.

Brittany generated a lot of opinions on her choice, from euthanasia proponents to right-to-lifers, from atheists to religious.  But, all have to agree that she had the choice, and, since none of us have walked in her shoes, opinions largely only promote your own point of view. 

I, like most people, felt a great sadness when reading her story. What saddened me the most about her choice is that it indicated a loss of hope. 

Hope can come in more than one flavour.  In Brittany's case, the most immediate hope would be for a cure, maybe a long shot, but stranger things have happened.  Jim Kelly, former quarterback of the Buffalo Bills, has undergone an epic battle with the big C, and he was recently pronounced cancer-free.  This may not last, but I guarantee Jim’s pretty darn happy about it, and glad to be alive. 

The deeper hope troubled me more. Brittany’s choice indicates that she had no hope of something better after this life. This hope requires faith, and puts restrictions on our choices.

I’ve not faced what Brittany faced, but I know that any situation in life can be easier to face when you have that hope that stems from faith. On one level, it helps you to cope when you have that something in the future to look forward to.  And, as you progress through life and you reach each of those things you were looking forward, that one last thing to look forward is that your life will go on after you die.  This requires faith.  I hope Brittany had this, I can’t imagine how she faced that moment without it.

I’ve heard the terms “death with dignity” and “death on your own terms” in conjunction with Brittany’s death.  I don’t believe that death is, or can be, dignified.  I’ve heard of too many people that endure indignity (chemotherapy, hardship, humiliation, pain and torture) just to stay alive.  And, as far as death on your own terms, well, your birth wasn’t, so why would you expect that your death will be?

I’m glad Brittany got to do her “bucket list” before she died.  But, the hand that filled the bucket is now gone, and, like a bucket imprint of sand on the beach, it slowly washes away.  The world has moved on to another story, and the people that Brittany loved and that loved her are the only ones that remember.

Here’s what lasts:

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1)