One of the contemporaries of Jesus Christ (AD 0 – 30 on earth) named John wrote an open letter to Christians towards the end of the first century AD. In it he stated: Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—(1) the desires of the flesh and (2) the desires of the eyes and (3) pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
John recorded what he had come to see as true at the end of his long life. He saw the outcome of Eve’s thinking and action. All three of Eve’s reasons were, in reality, her desires for her own good: (1) “to eat” (including “to experience”); (2) “to own” (including “to be seen to have”); (3) “to get ahead” (including “to be the one who decides everything, including what’s right and wrong”).
(1) and (2) desires are well illustrated in the European migrant crisis. Migrants are OK as long as my desires “to eat” and “to own” (basically “to enjoy”) are not compromised. If they are, the migrants shouldn’t be allowed to enter.
VW’s (3) desire “to get ahead” – in particular in the US market for diesel cars – seems to have included a decision that it was “right” (VW’s decision) to fool emission tests. The consequences will never be known because it includes more, and more serious, cases of asthma in US cities.
Picture a world referendum. All people everywhere are asked to vote that their desires may be over-ridden by a higher authority. Will you vote “yes” or “no”? I’m not daft – you will vote “no” not because (you will claim) you want to retain your desire autonomy but because you can’t be sure what desires will in turn motivate this “higher authority”. For whatever reason the answer is “No” – even for potential migrants, none of whom desire any authority to say “no” to their desire to reside in Europe. |