Like "Judith" by A Perfect Circle, this is another song that I feel I have something to say about. Once again the lyrics are in bold and my comments are not bold.
"Same Direction" By Hoobastank
Whenever I step outside, somebody claims to see the light.
It seems to me that all of us have lost our patience.
'Cause everyone thinks they're right, and nobody thinks that there just might
be more than one road to our final destination.
Now, I agree, many or even all religions claim to have the way, the truth and the light. This is what makes it so difficult to decipher what is true and what is fallacy. However, truth is not relative. To even have the concept of truth means that such a thing exists. So we have two options here. Either no religions are right or one religion is right and the others that contradict are wrong. There may be some truth or goodness in each religion, but I beleive there is one true religion and one true God. I beleive this for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, what has been revealed to me in my heart and in my life through personal experience and unexplainable events. I know God exists because of the ways he spoken to me and the things he has done in my life that can only be explained through him. Secondly, unlike other religions there is a large amount of evidence for a) a creator, b) the existance of Jesus Christ and c) The divinity of Jesus Christ. Now, if Chrisianity is indeed true, that means that all other religions that contradict it are infact false. Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the Light." For some references to the evidence of Christianity and Christ I recommend the following books:
The Case for Christ, The Case for a Creator and The Case for Faith all by Lee Strobel
More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
Might I add, all three of these men were at one time Atheists who turned to God through logic and evidence. Yes, I may sound like just another person saying I have the truth, but I have reasons for saying so. I would encourage others to explore the evidence for themselves. The answers may suprise them.
But I'm not ever going to know if I'm right or wrong
It is true, that no one can be 100% sure if they are right or wrong until they die and see what is on the other side. This is where faith comes in. I beleive it was Pascal that said to an atheist, "If I'm wrong, I lose nothing. If you're wrong, you lose everything." Essentially, just because you beleive there is no way to know absolute truth or know if you indeed have the truth is not an excuse to not find it! I mean, that's just malarky. It's an excuse. If there was truth out there, wouldn't you want to find it? Wouldn't you think it was the most important thing you could know? Especially if your fate depended on it. At the very least you know that one religion claims if you do not profess it there are consequences, wouldn't you at least want to see if those claims are warranted and not just another tactic at earning adherents?
'cause we're all going in the same direction.
No, I'm afraid we are not all going in the same direction. Some of us are heading off to truth and some to fallacy. Some of us are heading to eternal life or to death. The only way we can all be heading in the same direction is if no religions are true and life ends in nothingness. I'm not willing to bet this is the case. It's too risky to do so. Besides, if that is all there is, what have I lost through having religion here on earth? Psychologists agree that religiousity acts as a buffer against adverse effects of the world.
And I'm not sure which way to go because all along
we've been going in the same direction.
Again, we are not all going in the same direction. A lot of people don't know where they are going, but I urge them to figure it out.
I'm tired of playing games, of looking for someone else to blame
for all the holes in answers that are clearly showing,
for something to fill the space. Was all of the time I spent a waste,
'Cause so many choices point the same way I was going?
I agree, let's stop playing games. This is your life. Your life. It's the most important thing you have. When I was younger I saw many "holes" in Christianity. I still remember the year I went to Camp Burton, a christian camp and was determined to undermine them, and refute their claims and expose them. I attacked Kyle Plett. I attacked him with accusations. I questioned the validity of Christianity, and ever claim I made, every attack I gave he refuted. I left that conversation feeling confused. That was a turning point for me. Slowly I began to see these "holes" were not holes at all. Once again, when you look at the evidence the holes dissapear.
(Chorus)
So why does there only have to be one correct philosophy?
Because there is truth. Truth exists, and all religions cannot be equally valid or true. They contradict each other. The very idea is preposterous. This leaves us with the conundrum of figuring out which one is correct. This does not mean sticking for the one that we like or feels comfortable, but the one that is correct, whether it be comfortable or not. "If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end. If you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth - only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end, despair." - C.S. Lewis "Mere Christianity"
I don't want to go and follow you just to end up like one of them.
I fought against being "one of them" too. Ironically, it was seeing people at camp so in love with God and feeling something I could not experience that prompted me to figure out the truth for myself, and I did and now I have what they had. I thought Christians were bigots, thought they were uneducated, thought they were boring. Now I am a Christian and I am not a bigot, I am not uneducated and I am not boring. Becoming a Christian does not mean surrendering who you are. You will change, God will change you, but the end result will be better than you ever expected. If I had to pick who I used to be and who I am now, I would definitley pick now. I am "one of them" I guess, but it's really not as bas as I imagined. At all.
And why are you always telling me what you want me to beleive?
Christians do not do this to be arrogant. We do not do it to be rude or overbearing. We do not intend to be intolerant. Here's is the thing: we beleive your life is on the line. We beleive that if you do not find the truth and you meet God you cannot be pardoned. You must accept the pardon that has been given to you. This pardon is for the sinful nature we all possess. All have sinned, Christians included, and we all are in a debt that cannot be repaid by good works. Your efforts at being a good person are worthless. We are all deserving of hell. Everyone. The only way we can be saved is if someone pays our debt. Jesus did this, he paid our debt. It's not important how it worked, but that it worked. However, we must accept the pardon that is waiting for each and every one of us. We do this by professing that Jesus Christ is our personal savior and beginning a relationship with God. Christians spread the gospel, evangalize, what have you because we love you. If you saw a person drowning would you not be inclined to at least try and save them? So it is with us, we love you. Please know, even if in the end you don't believe Christianity, please understand that our intentions are of good merit. We love you, and we want you to be safe and to know God. We want others to know the true happiness and unconditional love we know. This is why. It is out of love.
I'd like to think that I can go my own way and meet you in the end.
Go my own way and meet you in the end.
Again, if there is truth, then you cannot go against that truth. We cannot make up our own ways to solve math problems. We will still get the wrong answers. If a man does not beleive in gravity and walks off a bridge, he still falls and dies because gravity's existance is not affected by his beleif or disbelief in it. The truth is that there is a law and a circumstance in this world that we cannot escape. Ignoring it will not make it go away, we are still subject to it. I encourage people to take their own spiritual journeys. It is important that we search for God in the way that will lead to our own faith and not someone else's, but it is more important that we come to the correct conclusion. We should all keep striving to make sure beyond a reasonable doubt that we are correct. You cannot go your own way. You must have God. He can not be cut out of the equation.
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