Do the ends justify the means? If the means are not genuine, honest, respectful and true, then no. Never. Any attempt to take shortcuts to accelerate the desired end will not produce a genuine end. In the grand scheme of the universe Time is irrelevant. No beginning and no end, so the only thing that matters is the purity of your intentions. This philosophy can be applied to anything worth acquiring in this life.
I had a discussion with my friend Joe once about the crusades and about fear tactics in scaring people into following Christ (fire and brimstone techniqes of many sorts). Joe's defense of some of these events in history was "The ends justify the means", It is a notable accomplishment to claim that you have done the Lord's work in bringing people to the truth, however I believe accelleration of the process through fear creates an unsustainable foundation for genuine acceptance of Christ's gift of forgiveness and Love.
Haste makes waste. Another cliche', more true than "The Ends justfy the means".
There is however great effort required to get to the "end". Great patience is a skill that is rarely found in this world. Patience is necessary but so is boldness and adventure (risk?). We are in a condition where we are allowed to fail and be forgiven to try the right approach, learning from our mistakes. What is the end we seek? Anything worth keeping at the end of our earthly lives. Obviously acquisition of things, luxuries are not subject to this model. Efforts to be comfortable and have cool stuff are not wrong. Being unethical in one's efforts for "success" surely taints ones ability to enjoy acquired luxuries. The end we seek in the bigger picture is a greater understanding of the reality around us. It is confusing. Most in this world believe that Love will win in the End, but circumstances we all see and experience in this World show us that it is not yet written. Taking time out of the equation as a limiting factor allows us to take the anxiety out of the tasks at hand, and forgiveness provided by Christ's atonement for our sin allows us even more release from anxiety.
It becomes apparent that each minute action we take has far reaching effects (the many worlds Star Trek theory comes to mind and is fun to let the imagination run wild). Time limitations should not be a source of stress. Our interactions with our fellow humans are what keep us challenged. Why do some of us rebel and others follow blindly? We make up a fabric of reality (as threads in an amazing tapestry) where we all play a role, but we can't see the whole picture from our current position. However, we (the royal we) like to imagine it and we want our image to come out like we predict (this has lead people to try to influence the process to make it come out the way he/she wants it to (religion often misguides in an effort to self perpetuate it's own philosophy). This world is amazing on many levels from biological and chemical discovery to philosophical challenges to the great vastness of the universe. The many paterns we see in nature seem to be more than coincidence. the structure of an atom with protons, nutrons and electrons orbiting, to the structure of the solar system with planets orbiting a star; and the transport systems of our biological systems (circulatory). The amazing discoveries we have made in genes and dna structures even further the wonder of reality. I believe the human genome project and the discoveries being made in understanding dna are the greatest discoveries of the 21st century. The order of things is fantastic! I believe that as we discover more about the DNA sequences and how they work we are seeing the equivalent of God's fingerprint.
TV shows and movies push and challenge the intellect of the common minded such as myself to see bigger possibilities. The TV show Lost, is a great representation of the sort of predicament we find ourselves in in this world. I am excited to watch the upcoming show Touch as the premier was very cool and explores the effects we all have on each other and how it could even be quantifiable. The fact that we continue to learn and produce more mathematical shit is amazing. I am encourraged by the fact that we as a human race are continuing to grow and evolve and adapt at many levels. There is an eb and flow to our societies as a whole. We have the opportunity to learn from the mistakes made in the past and try again. This applies to the smallest microcosm to massive endevours. Balance is essential, though extremes have their place in testing the waters on the fringe. What a wierd blog.
