Fritzl & Obama

"I knew that I was hurting her. It was like an addiction...
"I knew the whole time that what I was doing was not right... but... it became completely matter-of-fact for me that I had a second life, which I led in the cellar of my house." (Josef Fritzl)

Apart from the shocking details of cases like the Fritzl case, these cases simply add an extra nail to the lid on the coffin of the ‘Obama worldview’ that man is essentially “good at heart” and “able to change in his own strength”.

Fritzl is not a monster - although his actions have certainly turned him into one ‘practically speaking’. This may seem like a contradictory and/or nonsensical statement so let me explain. Fritzl is not a monster ‘in the sense that he is perceived’ in the popular media. Hard as it might be to accept, he is actually no different “in nature” to anyone else, he is only different in practice.

The issue here is the human heart. Believers in philosophical naturalism (ie. atheists) have no reason to believe in a human heart or soul in any ‘metaphysical’ sense so they must hope for a better future based on man’s (potential) ability to change through working towards better social structures (cue classic Obama speech). The words of Fritzl are not the words of a madman - his clear, rational statements to date make it impossible to write him off as a lunatic; it is clear from his words that this behaviour was something he struggled with... although spectacularly unsuccessfully.

The question here is what makes more sense when we are confronted with the reality of someone like Fritzl? To say that he is essentially good at heart (a nonsensical statement if made by a philosophical naturalism anyway) but led astray by circumstances/dna/upbringing/experiences? Or simply to agree with Jesus of Nazareth when he says to us, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” (John 8:34)?

Jesus’ point is that sin is something in our hearts from which we cannot escape once it has entered in. Our immoral actions are simply the evidence for this state of heart. Since there is nobody (apart from Jesus) who has ever even ‘claimed’ - let alone accomplished - a life free of sin, this would put us all into this category of being slaves of sin. We demonstrate that Jesus’ statement applies to us even with the slightest moral failing (and we all know that our own, personal moral failings are not ‘slight’ in any way - but that, dear reader, I leave for you to judge...).

Immoral desires in our lives reflect the natural state of our hearts.

What this means is that you, Obama, a new-born baby and I are only separated from Fritzl by a matter of degree. Our hearts are no less enslaved to sin than his - they are the same; it is only our respective acts which differ. The potential to be a Fritzl resides within us all.

Someone who has begun to comprehend the horror of the reality of this situation - which is the very human condition itself - has also begun to understand their need of grace. And this is what makes the Christian message stand apart from every other system, social, political or religious. For the stuff of Christ is the stuff of grace. No other message offers both redemption and change as a free gift.

We may never be like Fritzl in this life, or even close... but if we do not recognise the common plight we share with him, that we are similarly enslaved to immoral desires, then we are just as lost as he is...