Common People’s Battles: Trust
In the Bible, God instructs Abraham to sacrifice his only son as praise to the Lord. Abraham, not thinking twice, hikes up the mountain the next day with his son and a knife in his pocket. Upon reaching the alter, Abraham lays down his son and almost takes a stab at him. However, an angel from the heavens interrupted the ceremony, telling the man that the sacrifice was unnecessary. Afterward, God realizes his wrongdoing and apologizes to the father.
I think this incident resembles many that occur in or culture today. A lot of times, one will fail to realize how much power they have over certain individuals. Whether the power had came from friendship, family relations, or respect, it still can be used in the wrong way. Often people will ask “if your friend told you to jump off a cliff, would you do it?” Unfortunately several people reply yes, because they feel that they can trust another.
I believe that, especially in our modern culture today, people have become incredibly trusting within small time periods. Now some will argue that this “quick” trust is a benefit, but I disagree. One reason for the disagreement is that often the person that breaks the trust bond doesn’t realize their mistake until it is too late. In some instances this breach in trust can lead to something as serious as death or a broken relationship, which I think is a greater loss than to not have the possible “quick” trust.
I see your point when you say that quick trust is a negative aspect of human nature, but I have to point out that without any form of trust, humans would still be in the dark ages. It is because of trust that humans and our civilization in this world can occur. While the quick trust may not be reliable, it is only one domino. I one were to take the time to place more dominoes, the trust would go much farther. When this trust lengthens, people begin to interact and trust more, which leads to the combination of the human mind. This is also the origin of the phrase: Two heads are better than one. While I do agree that maybe a word or two may not have much use in a relationship with one person, it is also true that those words may evolve into an unbreakable bond and an invaluable asset to the human race, on whatever scale.
I think too that Abraham was a little too quick to almost sacrifice his son, but think about what God has done and can do to mankind if he do
I think you have a lot of great points here. Trust is something that can be used and misused and it’s an interesting thing to think about either way.
When you say that out modern culture builds trust in very short amounts of time, you are definitely correct. I think that computers and the internet create trust much faster than it would normally appear. I know for a fact that there are a lot of people who will say things online, or even through something as archaic as a card or letter, that they would never say to a person, because expressing one’s true feelings is often treated as taboo. The internet, however, is thought of as a safe place to say what you mean. When people feel free in expressing emotions to each other, trust will soon follow. Therefore, you are more certainly correct.
Nice job on this piece! You have some really good ideas.
(continued) es not obey him. It would not be terribly out of God’s nature in the Bible to do onto Abraham something terrible thats hurts either him or the people around him. So whats one life to the entirety of mankind? Also, I think you fail to realize that power can be easily mistaken for love. If all of my loved ones jumped off a cliff, I most certainly would too, because why is life worth living without those you cherish around you? That is my take on the matter. Good job on the IRJ though.