Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Mormon Cultural Expectations
Below I paste a facebook conversation I recently had. Included is a list of Mormon cultural expectations/ideas I identified. I'll admit my list is rough and not all the expectations/ideas I posit are strongly evidenced trends- it was more of a starting point/gist/constellation of items that helped convey my response to Nicole.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
The Male Brain
I just finished reading Louann Brizendine's The Male Brain (2010)! Though I include gleaned insights on other posts, I detail most of what I learned below. Brizendine's The Female Brain is on my top five list of recommended reads- and this sibling volume maintained the reputation.
Caution: some of the content in this post is sexually explicit. Also, most of my notes fall between generalizations and overgeneralizations, inclusive.
The Baby Brain
> Male infants are less interested than female infants in eye contact and watching faces.
> Male infants are more interested in moving objects than female infants, which is at least partly due (not surprisingly) to some genetic material on the Y chromosome.
> Male infants have a year of "infantile pregnancy" where their brains are marinating in the same levels of testosterone they'll experience as adults. From year 1 to 11 they have a "juvenile pause" where they're relieved of testosterone exposure.
> By seven months, baby boys can tell mommy is angry by her face. By 12 months they've learned to ignore her expressions. Their female counterparts heed warnings on their mothers' faces. The same disparity applies to fathers' verbal warnings- the dads must verbally warn the boys twice as often as the girls.
> By 27 months, boys will go behind their parents' backs more often than girls to take risks, break rules, and grab off-limits objects.
> Little boy brains get a reward center hit from penis stimulation- and many little boys fail to resist playing and grabbing even when threatened.
>Boys reject girl toys, while girls will play with boys' toys. Rhesus monkeys do about the same thing, as do girls exposed to high testosterone in the womb.
> Boys spend 65% of free time in competitive games compared to 35% for girls. Girls are 20 times as likely to take turns when playing.
> Preschool boys are six times as likely to turn a domestic object into equipment or a weapon than girls.
THE TEEN BRAIN
> 20 fold increase of testosterone from 9 to 15
> Young boys think and explain with body movements and gestures more than young girls
> Boys cause 90% of the distractions in the classroom, 70% of the D's and F's, and account for 80% of high school dropouts
> Testosterone resets the brain's clock cells in the suprachiasmatic nuculeus, causing him to go to sleep and wake up an hour later than his female counterparts
> Teen boy brains need more intense shocking or scary stimuli to activate than adults
> Vasopressin, which teen boys get slammed with along with testosterone, causes them to perceive neutral faces as hostile toward them
> Higher testosterone levels are correlated with angier faces, more aggressive behavior, impatience, irritability, talking less about people, talking more about objects and games, and a suppressed sensitivity to white noise.
> During puberty, boys' rostral cingulate zone, the brain's barometer for social approval, recalibrates to motivate "fitting in" behaviors and seeking approval of peers over parents.
> Teen brains get a pre-game high right before participating or watching sports, characterized by elevated levels of dopamine, testosterone, vasopressin, and cortisol. Losing releases less testosterone than winning.
> By sixteen or seventeen, most boys desperately seek autonomy from their parents, usually accuse their parents of being behind the times, and seek separation/independence.
> Teen boys' risky behavior increases markedly in the presence of peers, with and without drugs or alcohol. The combination of 1) his amygdala's two-fold stimulation when he's with his peers and 2) his inhibiting system's (prefrontal cortex) failure to develop until early twenties is thought responsible.
> Teen boys begin to be repulsed not only by their mothers' proximity, but by her smell.
> From puberty to about 25, boys masturbate 1-3 times/day compared to less than one/day of girls
THE MATING BRAIN
> Male brains are selected for honing in on fertile females. Hourglass figures (large breasts, small waist, flat stomach, full hips) say she's young, healthy, and not pregnant.
> Flirting behavior are conserved across cultures, and thus likely brain-based (I knew this already. Thanks flirting symposium!). Examples include reciprocating posture, proximity, smiles, head tilts, and slight raising of eyebrows.
> A girl's smell and high-pitched voice may make her more sexually attractive. Low-pitch voice is less attractive, and the smell subconsciously communicates genetic dissimilarity, contributing to more attractiveness with greater dissimilarity.
> Smooching communicates info about genetic similarity as well. Also, the bioactive testosterone in the man's saliva may activate the female brain's sexual arousal center.
> When sexually attracted, a man wants to have sex three times faster than a woman, who's more patient. (I know, hide the surprise)
> Generally, a show of dominance and strength by a guy turns a girl on.
> Promiscuity vs. monogamy in voles depends on which of two vasopressin receptor alleles he has. Men also have this gene- and Swedish men with the "monogamy version" were twice as likely to leave bachelorhood behind and commit to one woman for life.
> Three out of four men are willing to lie or modify the truth to persuade women to have sex with them. They exaggerate wealth, status, and social/business connections.
> The male brain on sex: the ventral tegmental area rapidly manufactures dopamine, which mixes with testosterone and vasopressin to form an addictive, high-octane fuel comparable to being high on cocaine.
> The autopilot lust center of the male brain directs them to notice and visually take in details of attractive females, even when the man's in love with another.
> Fear of loss or rejection can intensify feelings of love by igniting the amygdala's fear-of-rejection center and the hypothalamus's mating area.
The Brain Below the Belt
> Woman want on average 1-2 sexual partners/lifetime; men a whopping 14.
> It takes the male brain one-fifth of a second to classify a new woman as hot or not. This appearance-based verdict is made even before conscious thought processes engage.
> Okay, careful, a few penis details: autopilot erections often happen without a single command from the brain- the unconscious signals come from his spinal cord and brain. The penis, testicles, brain, and spinal cord all harbor testosterone receptors. If testosterone is present, erotic thoughts or images are enough to signal an erection.
> Men are more sexually adventurous than women.
> Orgasm requires turning off the danger/alert center (amygdayla) and the worrying center (anterior cingulate cortex, or ACC). This process is more difficult for women than for men.
> Foreplay to men is the three minutes before orgasm, while for women it's the preceding 24 hours.
> After sex, oxytocin and dopamine make the girl want to cuddle and talk, while men more often want to sleep.
The Daddy Brain
> Distress after learning you're going to be a father usually peaks at about 5 weeks after discovering the fact.
> Men worldwide expereince a "sympathetic pregnancy," gain weight, and experience decrease in testosterone and increase in prolactin, especially in the three weeks preceding birth. The dads can also hear and emotionally respond better to a crying baby than non-dads. Hormone levels return to normal by the time the baby can walk.
> Skin to skin and eye contact with the baby causes both dad and mom to enter a romantic love phase with the child. Also, within a seventh of a second, the parental-instinct area of the brain is activated.
> Men, like women, have a strong tending instict based in the insula, ACC, and amygdala. Daily hands-on contact promotes synchrony, or parent-child understanding.
> Men interact more with the baby when mom's away or not watching.
> Moms are gatekeepers who determine how much baby time Dad gets, irrespective of Dad's belief about how involved he should be in child care. Interestingly, moms who let Dad have more baby time are more likely to stay married.
> Daddy's play is more physical, creative, unpredictable, and stimulating than Mom's. Rougher dads produce more self-confident kids.
> Dads like to tease their kids, and sons prefer it more than daughters. Kids with teasing fathers can better detect deceit, and sons can better build close male connections later in life.
> Cross-culturally, dads feel duty bound to discipline their kids, especially their sons. Generally, kids in these families get better grades and go farther in school, the sons have fewer behavior problems, and the daughters fewer emotional problems.
> Dads feel closest to their daughters and sons when helping them.
> Insecure dads won't let their sons beat them at any game even when the son is very young.
> High parental care correlates to less cortisol as a college-age adult.
Manhood: the Emotional Lives of Men
> I know you won't believe it, but the brain circuitry for emotional processing is different in men and women. Both genders have a temporal-parietal junction system (TPJ) and a mirror-neuron system (MNS). The TPJ separates "self" and "other" emotions and searches the brain for solutions. The MNS allows you to feel the emotion of another (emotional empathy). Guess which genders use which disproportionately. :)
> Women look at faces more to get an MNS response, and men resort more quickly to fixing-it-fast. When the male's face stops imitating the emotion of the woman (he's left the MNS), she feels he doesn't care - whereas the guy switched to TPJ and is trying to solve the problem.
> Men turn off or disguise their facial expressions to suppress showing their emotions. Females, on the other hand, exaggerate an observed emotion in another. These realities are correlated to estrogen/oxytocin for women and testosterone/vasopressin for men. Switch the hormones and you switch the MNS/TPJ ratio.
> Men's anger suppression center, the septum, is smaller than in women. Though women feel anger about as many minutes per day, men are 20 times as likely to get physically aggressive.
> Men and women remember facts equally well, but women remember details of emotional events better
and longer. Recalling events brings the emotion back for women much more than men.
> Some men get a high from being mucho angry.
> Sometimes, anger can make people more rational.
> High testosterone men are more likely to react dramatically to being challenged, which reaction can be triggered by glares, accusation, or yelling.
> Angry men get noticed more by both men and women.
> Couples who argue have a better chance of staying together.
> Mens' tendency to violence is dialed down by a stable work heirarchy and a stable marriage.
> Mens' brains are wired to seek status and rank.
> People prefer to feel potentially useful emotions, even when unpleasant. (e.g. anger)
The Mature Male Brain (no, that's not an oxymoron)
(Mature = andropause and beyond, circa 55 and up)
> As men age, testosterone and vasopressin levels drop and estrogen levels rise. Their brains become more like the mature female brain, including enhanced capacity for reading subtle facial expression.
> Less testosterone means a greater impact from oxytocin, leading to more patience, tolerance, cuddling, and less jockeying for position.
> Lonely people die sooner than same-age non-lonely pairs, and can be as detrimental to your health as
smoking.
> Loneliness for men leads to decreased social flexibility and engrained habits, the disturbing of which leads to annoyance.
> Married men outlive single men by 1.7 years.
> Andropause takes place for men between 50 and 65, and includes a one-half to two-thirds drop in testicle-produced testosterone compared to levels in their 20's.
> Even into old age, men rank sex as the major benefit of marriage.
> Warm touching between partners, such as hand-holding and massage, improves relationship satisfaction, lower stress levels, higher oxytocin levels and, for men, lower blood pressure.
> Long-married couples are at risk for the woman criticizing the man, which prevents both from receiving the love and caring they crave.
> More mature brains are better at forgiving and forgetting.
> Grandfather brains care about supporting the success and survival of the next generation, though at first they accept responsibility for grandchildren only out of obligation.
Caution: some of the content in this post is sexually explicit. Also, most of my notes fall between generalizations and overgeneralizations, inclusive.
The Baby Brain
> Male infants are less interested than female infants in eye contact and watching faces.
> Male infants are more interested in moving objects than female infants, which is at least partly due (not surprisingly) to some genetic material on the Y chromosome.
> Male infants have a year of "infantile pregnancy" where their brains are marinating in the same levels of testosterone they'll experience as adults. From year 1 to 11 they have a "juvenile pause" where they're relieved of testosterone exposure.
> By seven months, baby boys can tell mommy is angry by her face. By 12 months they've learned to ignore her expressions. Their female counterparts heed warnings on their mothers' faces. The same disparity applies to fathers' verbal warnings- the dads must verbally warn the boys twice as often as the girls.
> By 27 months, boys will go behind their parents' backs more often than girls to take risks, break rules, and grab off-limits objects.
> Little boy brains get a reward center hit from penis stimulation- and many little boys fail to resist playing and grabbing even when threatened.
>Boys reject girl toys, while girls will play with boys' toys. Rhesus monkeys do about the same thing, as do girls exposed to high testosterone in the womb.
> Boys spend 65% of free time in competitive games compared to 35% for girls. Girls are 20 times as likely to take turns when playing.
> Preschool boys are six times as likely to turn a domestic object into equipment or a weapon than girls.
THE TEEN BRAIN
> 20 fold increase of testosterone from 9 to 15
> Young boys think and explain with body movements and gestures more than young girls
> Boys cause 90% of the distractions in the classroom, 70% of the D's and F's, and account for 80% of high school dropouts
> Testosterone resets the brain's clock cells in the suprachiasmatic nuculeus, causing him to go to sleep and wake up an hour later than his female counterparts
> Teen boy brains need more intense shocking or scary stimuli to activate than adults
> Vasopressin, which teen boys get slammed with along with testosterone, causes them to perceive neutral faces as hostile toward them
> Higher testosterone levels are correlated with angier faces, more aggressive behavior, impatience, irritability, talking less about people, talking more about objects and games, and a suppressed sensitivity to white noise.
> During puberty, boys' rostral cingulate zone, the brain's barometer for social approval, recalibrates to motivate "fitting in" behaviors and seeking approval of peers over parents.
> Teen brains get a pre-game high right before participating or watching sports, characterized by elevated levels of dopamine, testosterone, vasopressin, and cortisol. Losing releases less testosterone than winning.
> By sixteen or seventeen, most boys desperately seek autonomy from their parents, usually accuse their parents of being behind the times, and seek separation/independence.
> Teen boys' risky behavior increases markedly in the presence of peers, with and without drugs or alcohol. The combination of 1) his amygdala's two-fold stimulation when he's with his peers and 2) his inhibiting system's (prefrontal cortex) failure to develop until early twenties is thought responsible.
> Teen boys begin to be repulsed not only by their mothers' proximity, but by her smell.
> From puberty to about 25, boys masturbate 1-3 times/day compared to less than one/day of girls
THE MATING BRAIN
> Male brains are selected for honing in on fertile females. Hourglass figures (large breasts, small waist, flat stomach, full hips) say she's young, healthy, and not pregnant.
> Flirting behavior are conserved across cultures, and thus likely brain-based (I knew this already. Thanks flirting symposium!). Examples include reciprocating posture, proximity, smiles, head tilts, and slight raising of eyebrows.
> A girl's smell and high-pitched voice may make her more sexually attractive. Low-pitch voice is less attractive, and the smell subconsciously communicates genetic dissimilarity, contributing to more attractiveness with greater dissimilarity.
> Smooching communicates info about genetic similarity as well. Also, the bioactive testosterone in the man's saliva may activate the female brain's sexual arousal center.
> When sexually attracted, a man wants to have sex three times faster than a woman, who's more patient. (I know, hide the surprise)
> Generally, a show of dominance and strength by a guy turns a girl on.
> Promiscuity vs. monogamy in voles depends on which of two vasopressin receptor alleles he has. Men also have this gene- and Swedish men with the "monogamy version" were twice as likely to leave bachelorhood behind and commit to one woman for life.
> Three out of four men are willing to lie or modify the truth to persuade women to have sex with them. They exaggerate wealth, status, and social/business connections.
> The male brain on sex: the ventral tegmental area rapidly manufactures dopamine, which mixes with testosterone and vasopressin to form an addictive, high-octane fuel comparable to being high on cocaine.
> The autopilot lust center of the male brain directs them to notice and visually take in details of attractive females, even when the man's in love with another.
> Fear of loss or rejection can intensify feelings of love by igniting the amygdala's fear-of-rejection center and the hypothalamus's mating area.
The Brain Below the Belt
> Woman want on average 1-2 sexual partners/lifetime; men a whopping 14.
> It takes the male brain one-fifth of a second to classify a new woman as hot or not. This appearance-based verdict is made even before conscious thought processes engage.
> Okay, careful, a few penis details: autopilot erections often happen without a single command from the brain- the unconscious signals come from his spinal cord and brain. The penis, testicles, brain, and spinal cord all harbor testosterone receptors. If testosterone is present, erotic thoughts or images are enough to signal an erection.
> Men are more sexually adventurous than women.
> Orgasm requires turning off the danger/alert center (amygdayla) and the worrying center (anterior cingulate cortex, or ACC). This process is more difficult for women than for men.
> Foreplay to men is the three minutes before orgasm, while for women it's the preceding 24 hours.
> After sex, oxytocin and dopamine make the girl want to cuddle and talk, while men more often want to sleep.
The Daddy Brain
> Distress after learning you're going to be a father usually peaks at about 5 weeks after discovering the fact.
> Men worldwide expereince a "sympathetic pregnancy," gain weight, and experience decrease in testosterone and increase in prolactin, especially in the three weeks preceding birth. The dads can also hear and emotionally respond better to a crying baby than non-dads. Hormone levels return to normal by the time the baby can walk.
> Skin to skin and eye contact with the baby causes both dad and mom to enter a romantic love phase with the child. Also, within a seventh of a second, the parental-instinct area of the brain is activated.
> Men, like women, have a strong tending instict based in the insula, ACC, and amygdala. Daily hands-on contact promotes synchrony, or parent-child understanding.
> Men interact more with the baby when mom's away or not watching.
> Moms are gatekeepers who determine how much baby time Dad gets, irrespective of Dad's belief about how involved he should be in child care. Interestingly, moms who let Dad have more baby time are more likely to stay married.
> Daddy's play is more physical, creative, unpredictable, and stimulating than Mom's. Rougher dads produce more self-confident kids.
> Dads like to tease their kids, and sons prefer it more than daughters. Kids with teasing fathers can better detect deceit, and sons can better build close male connections later in life.
> Cross-culturally, dads feel duty bound to discipline their kids, especially their sons. Generally, kids in these families get better grades and go farther in school, the sons have fewer behavior problems, and the daughters fewer emotional problems.
> Dads feel closest to their daughters and sons when helping them.
> Insecure dads won't let their sons beat them at any game even when the son is very young.
> High parental care correlates to less cortisol as a college-age adult.
Manhood: the Emotional Lives of Men
> I know you won't believe it, but the brain circuitry for emotional processing is different in men and women. Both genders have a temporal-parietal junction system (TPJ) and a mirror-neuron system (MNS). The TPJ separates "self" and "other" emotions and searches the brain for solutions. The MNS allows you to feel the emotion of another (emotional empathy). Guess which genders use which disproportionately. :)
> Women look at faces more to get an MNS response, and men resort more quickly to fixing-it-fast. When the male's face stops imitating the emotion of the woman (he's left the MNS), she feels he doesn't care - whereas the guy switched to TPJ and is trying to solve the problem.
> Men turn off or disguise their facial expressions to suppress showing their emotions. Females, on the other hand, exaggerate an observed emotion in another. These realities are correlated to estrogen/oxytocin for women and testosterone/vasopressin for men. Switch the hormones and you switch the MNS/TPJ ratio.
> Men's anger suppression center, the septum, is smaller than in women. Though women feel anger about as many minutes per day, men are 20 times as likely to get physically aggressive.
> Men and women remember facts equally well, but women remember details of emotional events better
and longer. Recalling events brings the emotion back for women much more than men.
> Some men get a high from being mucho angry.
> Sometimes, anger can make people more rational.
> High testosterone men are more likely to react dramatically to being challenged, which reaction can be triggered by glares, accusation, or yelling.
> Angry men get noticed more by both men and women.
> Couples who argue have a better chance of staying together.
> Mens' tendency to violence is dialed down by a stable work heirarchy and a stable marriage.
> Mens' brains are wired to seek status and rank.
> People prefer to feel potentially useful emotions, even when unpleasant. (e.g. anger)
The Mature Male Brain (no, that's not an oxymoron)
(Mature = andropause and beyond, circa 55 and up)
> As men age, testosterone and vasopressin levels drop and estrogen levels rise. Their brains become more like the mature female brain, including enhanced capacity for reading subtle facial expression.
> Less testosterone means a greater impact from oxytocin, leading to more patience, tolerance, cuddling, and less jockeying for position.
> Lonely people die sooner than same-age non-lonely pairs, and can be as detrimental to your health as
smoking.
> Loneliness for men leads to decreased social flexibility and engrained habits, the disturbing of which leads to annoyance.
> Married men outlive single men by 1.7 years.
> Andropause takes place for men between 50 and 65, and includes a one-half to two-thirds drop in testicle-produced testosterone compared to levels in their 20's.
> Even into old age, men rank sex as the major benefit of marriage.
> Warm touching between partners, such as hand-holding and massage, improves relationship satisfaction, lower stress levels, higher oxytocin levels and, for men, lower blood pressure.
> Long-married couples are at risk for the woman criticizing the man, which prevents both from receiving the love and caring they crave.
> More mature brains are better at forgiving and forgetting.
> Grandfather brains care about supporting the success and survival of the next generation, though at first they accept responsibility for grandchildren only out of obligation.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Forgive One Another Your Trespasses
Matt. 6: 14-15
14 For if ye aforgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye aforgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
This post answers the question, "Why must I forgive others their trespasses in order to secure God's forgiveness of my trespasses?"
One answer could be merely because God says so. I don't know that this answer is wrong. However, it may be wrong or, at the least, incomplete. The answer I give involves the resolution of a fundamental tension in the mechanism underlying application of the atonement. We are taught that Christ is "standing betwixt them and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon ahimself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and bsatisfied the demands of justice" and that " God himself aatoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of bmercy, to appease the demands of cjustice, that God might be a dperfect, just God, and a emerciful God also." Thus it seems that Christ's suffering pays the price for our sins. This principle is neither new nor earth shattering.
However, though these scriptures show how the price was paid, there remains another demand of justice. Justice requires not only that the price be paid, but that it be paid by the transgressor!
I have seen two candidate work-arounds that purport to resolve this tension. Though neither may prove the case, both are related to the requirement that the atonement be infinite: "not a bsacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an cinfinite and deternal esacrifice."
1) At-one-ment is the first work-around. The idea that you and Christ become one, such that the punishment justice requires that you experience can go to Christ since the two of you are now one. Much as it's just to flog a thief's back for the crimes of his hand, because the thief is a single entity- so becoming one with Christ allows Him to be wounded for our transgressions, thus fully satisfying justice. The sacrifice must be infinite because either A) were there any end to the two of you being one, justice would still require a narrowly tailored punishment to the more culpable member, or B) only an infinite sacrifice could bind a mortal and an immortal such as you and Christ.
2) The second work around is the idea of basically getting all of creation to "look the other way." First, let's look at the relevant stakeholders when you sin. Who is harmed, and who can forgive those harms? God, ourselves, the earth, and each other come to mind as harmed entities. Also, every intelligence which has a sense of justice will have that sense offended if the sinner is not justly punished. Let's take each stakeholder class in turn.
-God: He can forgive of his own volition the harm against Him. It seems He usually does so.
-Ourselves/each other: We, like God, can forgive or refrain from forgiving, harms against ourselves. This includes self-inflicted and externally-inflicted harms. More on this category below.
- Earth: I'll lump the earth in with all non-sinning, justice-capable intelligences, which I now address. Presume every creation of God has intelligence. Those creations which have a sense of justice, which sense of justice would be offended if God did not punish sinners for their sins, must also have a sense of mercy (why these senses must be paired I have yet to establish- for the moment presume if a creation has the one, it also has the other). Well then, perhaps God persuades all these intelligences to fire their mercy neurons (remember, justice and mercy are here depicted as senses) to the exclusion or at least overpowering of their justice neurons. Perhaps their compassion at viewing the immeasurably torturous atonement (presuming they have a compassion sense, which isn't asking much presuming the senses of justice and mercy already) moves them to refrain from demanding justice. Only a being as great as Christ suffering to the extent He did would be sufficient to cause all of these innocent intelligences to be so moved (hence the requirement of infinite sacrifice). Under this work-around, the requirement of forgiveness makes the most sense. You must forgive others their trespasses against you, like these intelligences voluntarily "forgave" an offended sense of justice and, because of God's sacrifice, embraced mercy, allowing you to forever escape punishment. By a similar principle you must be willing to forgive for the Atonement to work in your case.
But what if you refuse to forgive another's trespasses, but instead insist that justice extract the uttermost farthing from him or her? Ironically, it is you that is punished for the greater sin: "34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
I'm not sure how the second work-around accounts for that comeuppance. Sorry to leave you with an unanswered question.
In conclusion, there may be a deeper, Atonement-rooted explanation for the requirement that we must forgive in order to be forgiven. That explanation might be found in the second work-around I've articulated here, though it might not derive from either work-around.
14 For if ye aforgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye aforgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
This post answers the question, "Why must I forgive others their trespasses in order to secure God's forgiveness of my trespasses?"
One answer could be merely because God says so. I don't know that this answer is wrong. However, it may be wrong or, at the least, incomplete. The answer I give involves the resolution of a fundamental tension in the mechanism underlying application of the atonement. We are taught that Christ is "standing betwixt them and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon ahimself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and bsatisfied the demands of justice" and that " God himself aatoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of bmercy, to appease the demands of cjustice, that God might be a dperfect, just God, and a emerciful God also." Thus it seems that Christ's suffering pays the price for our sins. This principle is neither new nor earth shattering.
However, though these scriptures show how the price was paid, there remains another demand of justice. Justice requires not only that the price be paid, but that it be paid by the transgressor!
11 Now there is not any man that can sacrifice his own blood which will atone for the sins of another. Now, if a man murdereth, behold will our law, which is ajust, take the life of his brother? I say unto you, Nay.
Justice requires that those who generate costs or harms should pay for them. Nemo punitur pro alieno delicto "no one is punished for the crime of another." Thus, though Christ paid the price, He did not the transgression, and thus justice is not yet fully satisfied. Justice requires that the sinner pay for his own sins. Even a willing scapegoat does not fully satisfy justice. What then is the mechanism that enables the miracle of the Atonement?I have seen two candidate work-arounds that purport to resolve this tension. Though neither may prove the case, both are related to the requirement that the atonement be infinite: "not a bsacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an cinfinite and deternal esacrifice."
1) At-one-ment is the first work-around. The idea that you and Christ become one, such that the punishment justice requires that you experience can go to Christ since the two of you are now one. Much as it's just to flog a thief's back for the crimes of his hand, because the thief is a single entity- so becoming one with Christ allows Him to be wounded for our transgressions, thus fully satisfying justice. The sacrifice must be infinite because either A) were there any end to the two of you being one, justice would still require a narrowly tailored punishment to the more culpable member, or B) only an infinite sacrifice could bind a mortal and an immortal such as you and Christ.
2) The second work around is the idea of basically getting all of creation to "look the other way." First, let's look at the relevant stakeholders when you sin. Who is harmed, and who can forgive those harms? God, ourselves, the earth, and each other come to mind as harmed entities. Also, every intelligence which has a sense of justice will have that sense offended if the sinner is not justly punished. Let's take each stakeholder class in turn.
-God: He can forgive of his own volition the harm against Him. It seems He usually does so.
-Ourselves/each other: We, like God, can forgive or refrain from forgiving, harms against ourselves. This includes self-inflicted and externally-inflicted harms. More on this category below.
- Earth: I'll lump the earth in with all non-sinning, justice-capable intelligences, which I now address. Presume every creation of God has intelligence. Those creations which have a sense of justice, which sense of justice would be offended if God did not punish sinners for their sins, must also have a sense of mercy (why these senses must be paired I have yet to establish- for the moment presume if a creation has the one, it also has the other). Well then, perhaps God persuades all these intelligences to fire their mercy neurons (remember, justice and mercy are here depicted as senses) to the exclusion or at least overpowering of their justice neurons. Perhaps their compassion at viewing the immeasurably torturous atonement (presuming they have a compassion sense, which isn't asking much presuming the senses of justice and mercy already) moves them to refrain from demanding justice. Only a being as great as Christ suffering to the extent He did would be sufficient to cause all of these innocent intelligences to be so moved (hence the requirement of infinite sacrifice). Under this work-around, the requirement of forgiveness makes the most sense. You must forgive others their trespasses against you, like these intelligences voluntarily "forgave" an offended sense of justice and, because of God's sacrifice, embraced mercy, allowing you to forever escape punishment. By a similar principle you must be willing to forgive for the Atonement to work in your case.
But what if you refuse to forgive another's trespasses, but instead insist that justice extract the uttermost farthing from him or her? Ironically, it is you that is punished for the greater sin: "34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts aforgive not every one his brother their trespasses."
In conclusion, there may be a deeper, Atonement-rooted explanation for the requirement that we must forgive in order to be forgiven. That explanation might be found in the second work-around I've articulated here, though it might not derive from either work-around.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Surrender and Developing Disposition
On my way down to Phoenix, I listed to Robert Millet's book on CD, Grace Works. I wish I had the book so I could look up some quotes. What struck me were two things:
1) that to successfully put on the character of Christ, I need to yield and submit and surrender. In our culture a male surrendering is usually not considered admirable- rather, independent master of a difficult skill or directing his own destiny is more approved. However, I must "yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit," surrender to Christ, submit to His laws, receive His atonement, and give my burdens to Him. None of these actions denote mastery or control, but rather its relinquishment.
2) It is by submitting and yielding that I can have my nature changed so that I have "no more disposition to do evil." I often focus overmuch on the behavioral aspect of gospel living- and while I believe it is better to perform in compliance with God's command with an unwilling or resentful or apathetic heart than it is to breach those same commandments in violation of one's commitment to keep them, I also believe it is superior to want to keep them as well, and to obey out of that desire/disposition. The sticky part is that I don't control my disposition with the completeness and immediacy as I do my behavior. I can alter my conduct 180 degrees nearly instantly- my disposition/nature is not so malleable. (sidenote: intermediate in malleability between conduct and disposition is habit). Thus, to change my nature requires other, or at least more, than my executive control. It likely requires patience, since the altering process is not as instant as behavioral change. It also requires submission (picture offering my heart below at here's my heart) to God, who by some means can reach in and change my nature.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
1) that to successfully put on the character of Christ, I need to yield and submit and surrender. In our culture a male surrendering is usually not considered admirable- rather, independent master of a difficult skill or directing his own destiny is more approved. However, I must "yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit," surrender to Christ, submit to His laws, receive His atonement, and give my burdens to Him. None of these actions denote mastery or control, but rather its relinquishment.
2) It is by submitting and yielding that I can have my nature changed so that I have "no more disposition to do evil." I often focus overmuch on the behavioral aspect of gospel living- and while I believe it is better to perform in compliance with God's command with an unwilling or resentful or apathetic heart than it is to breach those same commandments in violation of one's commitment to keep them, I also believe it is superior to want to keep them as well, and to obey out of that desire/disposition. The sticky part is that I don't control my disposition with the completeness and immediacy as I do my behavior. I can alter my conduct 180 degrees nearly instantly- my disposition/nature is not so malleable. (sidenote: intermediate in malleability between conduct and disposition is habit). Thus, to change my nature requires other, or at least more, than my executive control. It likely requires patience, since the altering process is not as instant as behavioral change. It also requires submission (picture offering my heart below at here's my heart) to God, who by some means can reach in and change my nature.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
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