"We love the illusion of distance from death. When we see a car wreck, we assume they must have been driving recklessly ... We distance ourselves by assuming bad things happen to other people because of some inferiority."
~ Ray Ortlund, 4.dec.11
I watched "J. Edgar" last weekend, and was struck by the sketch presented of the man who shaped our country's federal police force. The film draws heavily upon the discrepancy between the man and the myth, between his person and his image, which wouldn't be very curious at all except that he created his own image. The movie highlights the idea that he personally provided the misinformation on which his legend was built. Why? We all have a reason for what we do ...
I believe it's the same reason that he is shown using "uppers" in the movie. Here is the man who lived through Kennedy & King's death - and probably heard of both first. He lasted through eight presidencies. With all the misfortune he witnessed, how could he not have felt the imminence of his own, or at least felt the fragility of his life? I think the director (screenwriter? I am definitely not a hollywood expert) hits on a deep truth here: Hoover distanced himself from death in the same way we distance ourselves from tragic wrecks - by constantly reminding himself why he was superior to others. First, through facts: "I'm not a lecher, like King & Kennedy. I'm a stronger leader than Nixon." And then embellishment: "After all, I've made important arrests - personally." I think this same comparison - and delusion - drives me too. If I can convince myself that I am better or more fit than the people around me, then I must be farther from death. Micro-darwinian comparative advantage: survival of the fittest meets pure capitalism on the scale of our individual lives.
Jesus was the antitype of Hoover - and of us, I'd wager. Christ did not fear death, and felt that death imminently, from his birth when the magi brought myrrh (an embalming agent) to his rebuke of his disciples when Peter claimed Christ would not suffer and die. This is why survival of the fittest is such a dangerous thought - not because it threatens some creation narrative, but because it allows us to entertain a false reality, believing ourselves far more safe in our own abilities than we really are. It doesn't challenge God's ability to create - it denies his sovereignty over our current fate. It is not atheism - it is deism. Darwinism enables us to maintain an illusion of distance from death, while Christianity drives us to our cross. I fear my creation theology matters very little when my life is functional darwinism.
