Freedom for Chaos, Freedom for Order

According to that Great Fund of Assimilated Knowledge (a.k.a. Wikipedia) “Generally art is made with the intention of stimulating thoughts and emotions” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art). Very interesting. For this is also (we are quite sure) the intention of those who contribute to this august column. Pondering eternity is, after all generally helpful for spiritual development. Which makes one wonder if this article is also a work of art. One would like to think so but others might detect the faint stench of pretentiousness.

In any case, we turn to another (perceived) art form: pornography. Those watching this week’s edition of Q & A would have heard many views on this subject. For those who didn’t, the transcript is here: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s3218450.htm#questions. As most of the panel were writers, someone asked if authors had a responsibility to, “…contribute to the health and moral fabric of our society”. The answer given by Howard Jacobson (winner of the Man Booker prize 2010) was most interesting.

“I don’t actually believe in the health of society,” said Mr Jacobson. “The idea of our being healthy beings would only work if we believed in God- and I don’t know how many of us do anymore- that we were built in a particular way and we fell away from his high idea from (sic) us.” In other words, authors can’t contribute to the moral fabric of society because no one can really pin down what ‘morality’ is all about. Unless one is a God-believer of course. And we all know how unfashionable that is these days. Mr Jacobson is saying that the world is in a mess and admits that only those who subscribe to a view of God could have some sort of concept of an ordered society. For those set free from this superstitious idea of the Divine Being however, there is now freedom for chaos.

The Bible however teaches that God created order in the universe (Genesis 1). The ‘mess’ we see around us today is the result of rebellion against God but He will one day return to restore order (Revelation 21:1). And it is quite probable it won’t be in October (Matthew 24:36).