Preston Grissom

Dr. Redick

Uncle Andrew’s Bias

            We all are subject to bias and prejudice.  I would venture to say that although tangible growth is possible in getting outside one’s subjectivity, the main goal of objective learning is to understand one’s biases.  For instance, I am a twenty-one year old, white, American male with certain cultural biases.  This does not mean I cannot sympathize or even understand someone outside of my cultural bounds, it just means it will take much more work and grace to get there. 

            In The Magician’s Nephew, there is an intriguing scene where the children and all of Narnia are bowing to the majesty of Aslan.  They are all walking and conversing but there is a reverence in the air for the King.  All are under this spell of sorts except for Uncle Andrew.  Uncle Andrew sees Aslan as only a cat.  This is not because Aslan is merely a cat or that everyone is confused of his majesty.  Uncle Andrew is blind because he has construed his world with certain barriers and anything outside of those barriers cannot be accounted for and therefore must not exist.  Unfortunately I think all people think this way to some extent or another.  In my own personal bias I see it occurring time and time again with the discussions of God or some universal creative and contemplative being.

            The most common objection the existence of an omniscient and loving God is the idea of suffering.  The typical objection goes as follows: “If God is all-powerful and loving than evil and suffering would not exist.”  What this objection fails to do is to look at its own bias.  What that person is truly saying is “I do not think that a loving God who is all-powerful would allow bad things to happen, therefore, if bad things do happen he must not exist.”  The problem is that they have placed a god in their own parameters.  Saying, “if God does not exist the way I think he would exist, then a loving and omniscient god does not exist at all.”  The problem with this theory is that God may actually exist and be all knowing and all-powerful, yet act in a way that the restricted being cannot understand.  In a way one who holds with view and therefore refuses to be open to the idea of an omniscient and loving God, is failing to meet their own biases.  There are plenty of reasons to not believe in a god, the idea of suffering and evil is not one of them.