When Society Plays God
Thomas More’s book Utopia illustrates the customs and practices of a faraway island through the voice of a character named Raphael Nonsenso. The book advocates state ownership of land and provides a detailed analysis of how the island’s society is run efficiently. Raphael covers the different aspects of the island’s society and discusses how they have formed their ideals and their customs and why they live the way they do. According to More’s writing the natives of Utopia lead fairly decent and positive lives in a healthy communal or communist society. Utopia society seems like an almost perfectly run nation, but the Utopians are actually extremely morally corrupt and Godless because they support a communist government. Utopia is a society that has succeeded with a communist system of government because they have divorced themselves from the morals of God.
Raphael Nonsenso, is a man More describes as “quite the scholar” and a man who wanted to see the world and during his travels he discovered the island of Utopia (More 16). Raphael begins to discuss matters of government and how the Utopian society differs from the government of the old worlds. Raphael believes that the justice system of England is flawed and that this flawed system forces their citizens to turn to crime to survive (More 27). Raphael believes that the system allows people to be raised in the worst possible way and they are corrupted so they turn to crime and so it is not their fault and they should not be expected to do anything else with their lives (More 27). According to More their system of law enforcement is actually violating justice and it does more harm than good and Raphael argues that capital punishment is wrong because God forbids us to take the life of another (More 28). However, this view of justice is shallow and negates the fact that humans have free will to choose their actions and they must be held accountable for their actions. The view Raphael holds advocates for a society that also violates God’s commandments which he claims to be against. Utopia believes that owning slaves is a proper thing and the Utopians also believe that physician assisted suicide for terminally ill patients is an honorable death (More 83). However, if one is truly a believer of Christ, suicide and the ownership of slaves can never be justifiable. Although they may help the nation run smoothly, God never intends for people to commit suicide and no one should ever “own” the life of another.
Raphael advocates a communist system of government and More informs Raphael that he does not believe people can have a reasonable standard of living in a communist system (More 45). According to Raphael, More takes that view of communist government simply because he can not imagine what the system would be like when it works (More 45). Although the communist system works for the island, it only succeeds because the people do not judge it with a religious view. They do not view the communist system as wrong because they have disregarded God and the natural laws of the universe. Instead of looking at the system and pointing out the moral errors, they look at the system and see the results and assume it is the best way to function as a society.
In each town on the island they have put in place a system that is efficient for the needs of society, however they take away the human nature of individuality from the island’s natives. Every town has adults, children, elderly couples and slaves living in the town together and they are set up in a way that produces the most effective results (More 50). While the system might be an effective one for the sake of agricultural, functioning and the good for the total population, it is a system that allows for unfair treatment of many of the island’s inhabitants, which is a society that has turned away from God. The only way to justify the owning of slaves is to ignore God’s commandments and the holy scriptures, which is exactly what the government of Utopia has done. Parliament has decided to play God and allow for the unfair treatment of human beings because it is convenient for them and makes their lives better. Utopia also believes that if one is a terminally ill patient they should agree to physician assisted suicide because they are no longer helping benefit society (More 83). This is a shallow view of human life and the purpose for living. While it may seem horrible to be dying due to an illness that is the fate that God as given certain people and it is their duty to remember that no matter how much they suffer in this life, the next will make it all worth it if they follow God in this life.
Utopia is a nation that is efficiently surviving off their communist system but the people living on the island are sacrificing part of their humanity to live there. By giving up one's individuality they essentially are giving up what makes them unique and the gift that God gave them. Governments cannot try to box a whole society of people together and force them to give up their identities in this life, without taking away their identities that Christ gave them when they were born. Each person was put on this planet for a specific reason because of God and often to find that reason it means being different then the rest of society and following God, not following a government playing God.
Raphael Nonsenso, is a man More describes as “quite the scholar” and a man who wanted to see the world and during his travels he discovered the island of Utopia (More 16). Raphael begins to discuss matters of government and how the Utopian society differs from the government of the old worlds. Raphael believes that the justice system of England is flawed and that this flawed system forces their citizens to turn to crime to survive (More 27). Raphael believes that the system allows people to be raised in the worst possible way and they are corrupted so they turn to crime and so it is not their fault and they should not be expected to do anything else with their lives (More 27). According to More their system of law enforcement is actually violating justice and it does more harm than good and Raphael argues that capital punishment is wrong because God forbids us to take the life of another (More 28). However, this view of justice is shallow and negates the fact that humans have free will to choose their actions and they must be held accountable for their actions. The view Raphael holds advocates for a society that also violates God’s commandments which he claims to be against. Utopia believes that owning slaves is a proper thing and the Utopians also believe that physician assisted suicide for terminally ill patients is an honorable death (More 83). However, if one is truly a believer of Christ, suicide and the ownership of slaves can never be justifiable. Although they may help the nation run smoothly, God never intends for people to commit suicide and no one should ever “own” the life of another.
Raphael advocates a communist system of government and More informs Raphael that he does not believe people can have a reasonable standard of living in a communist system (More 45). According to Raphael, More takes that view of communist government simply because he can not imagine what the system would be like when it works (More 45). Although the communist system works for the island, it only succeeds because the people do not judge it with a religious view. They do not view the communist system as wrong because they have disregarded God and the natural laws of the universe. Instead of looking at the system and pointing out the moral errors, they look at the system and see the results and assume it is the best way to function as a society.
In each town on the island they have put in place a system that is efficient for the needs of society, however they take away the human nature of individuality from the island’s natives. Every town has adults, children, elderly couples and slaves living in the town together and they are set up in a way that produces the most effective results (More 50). While the system might be an effective one for the sake of agricultural, functioning and the good for the total population, it is a system that allows for unfair treatment of many of the island’s inhabitants, which is a society that has turned away from God. The only way to justify the owning of slaves is to ignore God’s commandments and the holy scriptures, which is exactly what the government of Utopia has done. Parliament has decided to play God and allow for the unfair treatment of human beings because it is convenient for them and makes their lives better. Utopia also believes that if one is a terminally ill patient they should agree to physician assisted suicide because they are no longer helping benefit society (More 83). This is a shallow view of human life and the purpose for living. While it may seem horrible to be dying due to an illness that is the fate that God as given certain people and it is their duty to remember that no matter how much they suffer in this life, the next will make it all worth it if they follow God in this life.
Utopia is a nation that is efficiently surviving off their communist system but the people living on the island are sacrificing part of their humanity to live there. By giving up one's individuality they essentially are giving up what makes them unique and the gift that God gave them. Governments cannot try to box a whole society of people together and force them to give up their identities in this life, without taking away their identities that Christ gave them when they were born. Each person was put on this planet for a specific reason because of God and often to find that reason it means being different then the rest of society and following God, not following a government playing God.
Hey Rachel, this is Peyton Osborn! Thank you for your essay and good job! You had a very interesting topic and your essay contained several intriguing points. I found your assertion that their communistic society had destroyed the uniqueness of their individuality particularly interesting. I liked that point because it brings up the question of the value of individuality and the dangers of a completely communal mindset. In seventh grade, I read a book by Lois Lowry called The Giver about a similar utopian (lowercase “u”) society. In that society, everyone dressed the same, they were placed into jobs based on their aptitude, they all mutually honored each other and their leaders, they were separated into government-organized households from the moment they were born, and they were all seemingly happy. However, as the book progresses, it is discovered their society as a whole had elected to pursue a utopian style of citizenry and life with the result that it did not stop at the stage that More’s Utopia is described as, but continued to progress even further toward the goal of total community. This progression led to an utter loss of privacy and the willful stripping away of each person’s individuality. Eventually the reader learns that every meaningful experience of the human life—joy, grief, love, weeping, fear, the feeling of the sun on the skin, the rush of a sled ride, the pang of loss—has been removed. Even the pain from a stubbed toe is suppressed and beat down with drugs. It is eventually revealed that the people are unable even to see color. The main character, Jonah, comes to the conclusion that their existence and happiness is not true bliss, but numbness and ignorance. Your essay’s assertion reminded me of that book and it begs us all to ask the question, “Is a ‘perfect’ society worth the cost of individual identity and genuine human experience?” Thanks again for your essay, it sparked off a nice train of thought. Great job and I hope you have a great day! :)
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
Peyton Osborn
Hello Rachel, Edward here. As I started reading I was also startled; your thesis was very direct and loud (in a sense.) It got my attention. And your arguments were perfectly valid and fairly convincing. The uniformity of Utopia is disturbing in a way, and terrifying if taken to the extreme, because it detracts from the experience of life: i.e., when you've seen one you've seen 'em all.
ReplyDeleteHowever, while your argument is valid, I'm not quite sure about one of your premises. I am specifically referring to this statement: "However, if one is truly a believer of Christ, suicide and the ownership of slaves can never be justifiable." Is that really true? I know, that sounds like an awful question. But remember what happened in class when we ran the poll for slavery at Faulkner? And when we brought up the Mosaic law as an argument for it? In Ephesians 6:5 and Colossians 3:22, Paul exhorts slaves to serve their masters faithfully, not try to start a revolution. I know, the texts are subject to interpretation. But why would Paul tell slaves to serve their masters if being owned was inherently wrong? Something to think about...
I know why we believe slavery is wrong. I've read four slave narratives and two Soviet deserters' accounts, one of whom served in the secret police. I know that kind of power corrupts. But given the discussions we've had in class and the resources I have mentioned, I don't think that using the Utopians' slavery as an argument against their morality. It seemed fairly reasonable to me. That is, of course, in theory. But that's another subject for another essay (mine. :) Thanks for reading,
J. Edward Jewell