Friday, September 16, 2005

Inconsequential Responsibility?

Riddle me this, Batman....

If something bad happens and I'm responsible for it - are there any consequences that I must live with as a result of my action or inaction? Is there accountability? Or, is just saying "I'm responsible" enough?

I'm just asking. I've got more on this later, but for now, let's allow the sauce to simmer and you feel free to chime in.

This is not a political question (although I cannot ignore the current context). It's a theological one. What do you think?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I have let this one sit and slosh around and I think I have some thoughts...

You pay for what you do. Karma is all around us - even the prophets put all sorts of natural happenings on God. Look what happened in Judah. Solomon took it upon himself to tax the Israelites like crazy and let his fellow Judahites off pretty easy. When Solomon died and his son took the throne, he was charged with balancing things. (I can’t really remember his name, Rehavam?) He didn't balance things, and taxed the Israelites even heavier. The prophet came to his house and told him that he should make amends or his kingdom would be cut in half and he would be killed. You know the rest of the story...

Did God kill him? Yes and No. Did God send the waves of the Red Sea crashing down on the Egyptians right after Moses led his people across? Yes and No. Was it karma? Could Pharaoh have avoided such a disaster? God is wisdom. He is in everything; right down to that wisdom He gives us to make the decisions that give each of us responsibility. I think we all find times when we pay for what we do by balancing our karmic debt. “I feel bad for what I did, so I’ll go make up with that person.” But when we don't it comes back to bite us. Have you seen, “My Name is Earl?” on tv…

Saying "I'm responsible" is a tremendous pressure relief on karma, but if it isn't matched with a change of being, it is just words. Johnny, I know you posed the question not in a political sense, but it just seems easy enough… I don’t feel good at all about W taking responsibility. It seems ceremonial, at best. Almost a slap in the face to a lot of families that will have to move on without family members lost in the aftermath of Katrina. Like he says he is responsible so I will continue to put my faith in his decisions. If W continues to put people in office because they are well-connected despite experience, he will pay the price. And, consequently, so will we. Again. There has to be a change of being in order for one to really be able to accept responsibility for an action or lack thereof.