{"id":80388,"date":"2020-09-24T14:59:03","date_gmt":"2020-09-24T11:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=80388"},"modified":"2020-09-24T14:59:03","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T11:59:03","slug":"the-ethic-of-the-wicked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-ethic-of-the-wicked\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ethic of the Wicked"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"80388","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"577","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"\u00a0God isn\u2019t watching, so why not?\r\n\r\n","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Several times in the Book of Psalms we are witness to a kind of dialogue between the righteous and the wicked, offering insight into the latter\u2019s thought process. In our chapter, too, we get to hear the rationalization behind his disobedience to God. He thinks: \u201cGod is not mindful, He hides His face, He never looks\u201d (11). We have a threefold justification: God keeps no accounting of people\u2019s deeds; even if he did, He chooses to ignore it; and He is detached from our world and pays us no heed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In discussions about ethics, this approach is called transactional, meaning that one\u2019s actions are dictated solely by the anticipation of their consequences for the doer. No overriding or transcendent ideal or objective is considered, only whether one will profit or lose thereby. Our evildoer has weighed the possibilities and concluded that there is no downside to his actions. They will either be unnoticed, overlooked, or ignored.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indeed, a closer look at the threefold excuse reveals a gradual sophistication. His first claim, \u201cGod is not mindful,\u201d is primitive. Could God who enacted the laws of nature truly be blind to the deeds of men? His second argument, \u201cHe hides His face,\u201d is theological. Its flip side is the response of the righteous who rationalizes the success of the wicked by arguing that God has looked aside only momentarily but will, ultimately, exact His due. The third argument, \u201cHe never looks,\u201d is philosophical. God never keeps track of human affairs; all that transpires is either fate or coincidence and the evildoer has chosen to be master of his own fate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How does the righteous respond in our psalm? By countering the evildoer\u2019s self-serving rationalization with his own truths: \u201cO break the power of the wicked and evil man, so that when You look for his wickedness You will find it no more. The Lord is king for ever and ever; the nations will perish from His land. You will listen to the entreaty of the lowly, O Lord, You will make their hearts firm; You will incline Your ear\u201d (15-17).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":80390,"id":80390,"title":"ps10-seeing eye","filename":"ps10-seeing-eye.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps10-seeing-eye.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-ethic-of-the-wicked\/ps10-seeing-eye\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps10-seeing-eye","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":80388,"date":"2020-09-24 11:58:43","modified":"2021-05-04 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