Hello all young adult, those about to be an adult. Those that have been. Everyone even.
What is it about us that makes us want to rebel?
What is it about that when someone says don't do it we want to do it. When someone says do it we don't want to do it?
Why do we want to do those things which they tell us not to do?
Is it to do with wisdom? Ie; smart people learn from other peoples mistakes, fools learn from their own.
Do you know what I'm on about? How can you answer this in a biblical way?
Have you ever read the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? Basically, Huck Finn is this little kid with an abusive dad who tried to steal all Huck's money. Huck Finn goes to a strict Christian school, and, like most kids, he hates it. Through the story it's shown that Huck Finn's community are staunchly religious and Huck, as an inquisitive and imaginative boy, finds this tedious and oppressive. Part of the way through the story, Huck comes upon a runaway slave called Jim, who's tried to escape from a horrible slaver named Mrs Watson. Huck, knowing that it is both legally and morally frowned upon in is culture for him to help the escaped slave, chooses to help Jim nonetheless, because deep down he knows it's the right thing to do.
That's a good example of why rebellion against the law, and the current moral norms, isn't always a bad thing. Huck defied the teachings of his school, his church, his community and the law, in order to help Jim, and I'm sure there wouldn't be many people on this thread who would disagree, morally, with Huck's decision. To be honest, I'd like to think that all of us, you and I included, imagine that we'd
also help Jim if we were in Huck's shoes.
But this is where it gets interesting: if not from the church, his parents, the law, or his culture, then where did Huck's morality come from? Well, I think it comes from something a lot simpler than rules and regulations. Huck sees the pain and anguish on Jim's face, and Huck listens to Jim's story and Huck knows it isn't right: Huck wouldn't like it to happen to him. And that's where Huck's decision comes from. Huck didn't need to be taught what was right: it was already part of him, just the same as it's already part of us. And when we think purely, empathetically, when we put ourselves in other people's shoes, we can make the right decisions despite, and even without, the rules of a religion or law or a broken social moral code.
So the way I see it, not all instructions are to be followed and not all authorities are to be respected.
