Too much of a good thing

So, I get frustrated with Evangelical certainty as much as the next person (see post below. No, not the old person, the other one). BUT, I think there's a danger in uncertainty: when it comes to making moral choices, uncertainty about right and wrong can be the siamese twin of consumer choice.

To illustrate, here's a hot tip: next time you want to do something you think is wrong, don't bother trying to argue that it's right, just be uncertain that it's wrong! You'll soon be committing adultery / watching a whole series of lost back to back / making balloon animals and baptising them in tomato soup, with the best of them.

Or, if you can't wait to try it out, just use your imagination: How would asking these questions affect your judgement? (you can guess the scenarios)

- Does one more chocolate really make any difference?

- Is it all that bad to pull a sikkie?

- Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'? ("No Eve - don't do it!)

None of these questions provide a cogent argument for the 'wrong' behaviours being right - but as humans so often all we need is the question to give ourselves permission to act.

Being uncertain can be a smokescreen to let us do things we really think are wrong without feeling guilty. Where do you draw the line between too certain and not certain enough? I'll let you know when I'm less uncertain about it.