Chapter 4: Purpose Driven - Made to Last Forever

Warren says this life is nothing more than preparation for eternity. He further states that "If your time on earth were all there is to your life, I would suggest you start living it up immediately. You could forget being good an ethical, and you wouldn't have to worry about any consequences of your actions."

I am glad people like Rick Warren think they have big brother watching them. Otherwise, they apparently would partake in evil behavior with delight. I ask you, is it true morality to act good only under threat of punishment or reward from an authority figure? Warren's paradigm of morality has nothing to do with the suffering or joy of his brethren here on earth, only with his own suffering or joy in the afterlife. Seems very self-centered and shallow to me.

Furthermore, Warren is very willing to take Pascal's Wager and suppose that living for an afterlife at the expense of real life is best. If you're wrong, you may have wasted much of your life obsessed with an afterlife that doesn't exist. (Usually this is worded as having lost nothing, but I disagree vehemently.) If you're right, then you get to be with god for eternity. I liken this to playing the lottery for a minuscule chance of winning, and giving up something that is wonderful and certain because you have it in your hands right now. Warren portrays the here-and-now as meaningless. It's as if he's saying we only earn income so it can be used to play the lottery, not so that we can support ourselves and our families, and do good things with it that make us happy. Sorry Warren, I guess I'm more conservative than you with what I have, because I appreciate the value of it. I don't play the lottery, because throwing away my life (or money) for an unlikely and irrational chance at winning a jackpot seems very foolish to me.

Series Index