The Lorax (Natural Might Be Bad)

This past weekend, my wife and I took our four children to watch Dr. Zeus', The Lorax in London. I'm not exactly sure why, but for some reason, I find myself thinking about it. It isn't that the story line is new, or that we haven't already beaten to death the themes of young love, the evil profit driven white businessman or the need to plant trees . So it isn't like many of the themes are anything new. Is anything really new?

That being said, there are some elements of the film that raise some questions. I encourage you to read Dr. Zeus' book for yourself. The Once-ler has made a living out of clear cutting Truffula Trees. It's too bad he hadn't taken a lesson from the selective cutting practices that we currently follow here in Southwestern Ontario. In the film adaptation, the Once-ler sings a song saying, "I'm just doing what comes naturally. Is that so bad?"

Think about that for a moment. He's just doing what comes naturally. Is it so bad? From the story's perspective, the rhetorical answer is an undeniable, "Yes!". From the viewer's perspective, yes it is wrong to cut down absolutely every tree in sight. How do you feel about that? Doesn't that challenge much of the thinking of our day? How well does the principle stand?

If it's natural, it's okay.

The film goes to great lengths to say that it isn't okay. Just because we're wired to do something, doesn't mean it's right. Just because we're programmed to accumulate wealth at the expense of others, doesn't make it acceptable. Unfortunately, we're generally fine with that mentality, because we've been indoctrinated to adopt a survival of the fittest mentality.

There are many aspects of the film that I really can't get behind, but I don't want to rain on its parade. On this issue however, I think I agree. Just because something comes naturally, doesn't mean it's acceptable. I often hear, "I was born this way" as a kind of defense for whatever the person wants to do. I rarely take anyone to task when they say it to me, but if you want to know what really goes on in my mind, I'll fill you in. We're told quite clearly through Jesus, "unless you are born again, you can never see the Kingdom of God." John 3:3 So when someone tells me they were born a certain way, in my mind I'm thinking, "Gee. That's kind of too bad."

I know that the world makes every effort to convince us that we're just animals. I for one just don't see it that way. Hate me. I can take it. I believe firmly that we were made in God's image and He had so much more intended for us. If you ever read the book of Jude, he speaks on a people much like the Once-ler saying, "they' will do anything for money". Jude 11 He mentions other things that these types are characterized for including sexual perversion, defiant to authority and self absorbed. It must be quite natural for them, because he describes them like animals who do whatever their instincts tell them to do. vs. 10

I'm going against a lot of accepted Christianity here. When conservative Christian types hear the phrase, "Born that way", they tend to respond saying, "No. It's not natural. It's a choice". I think deceit, greed and immorality are quite natural. Why else would we have to be born again?

Maybe in some respects, the evolutionists are quite right. Maybe we really are no better than animals. It certainly would explain a lot of what we see in the world. It would explain the sex trade. It would explain Kony. A lot of disgusting things are in fact very human. Where are you in that? What would Jude say about you? How horrible it would be if he were to say that our behavior is natural for us. Perhaps he would say the same thing he said about the people in his letter. "They live by natural instinct because they do not have God's Spirit living in them." Jude 19

Are there things you do out of instinct? Are there things that we justify by saying, 'That's just the way I am'? Maybe it really isn't a valid defense after all. I know I ask a lot of questions when I write. I also know that you rarely answer them. So I'll leave you with perhaps one of the bigger questions of life.

If there is absolutely no disconnect between our instincts and our actions, what's really going on inside of us?