Salt Water

One day I imagined being asked some question along the lines of “What do you think about [x controversial issue]? Is it wrong?”

This response came to mind:

Imagine people stranded in a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean. They haven't had food or water for days. Who knows the torment, emotional anguish, and trauma they experienced leading up to their present predicament? They have no freshwater but are surrounded by an ocean of saltwater. This saltwater will satisfy them short-term, but it will kill them. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” Proverbs 14:12 ESV

I don't blame someone in the middle of the ocean for yielding to the near-irresistible temptation to drink the saltwater. They may have given up hope of rescue. Once I saw a TV documentary of this same situation. After days or even weeks stranded in a lifeboat, one guy finally started drinking seawater, found it satisfying, and with evangelistic fervor started encouraging the others in the lifeboat to drink it as well. I don't doubt his good intentions.

But another lady in the boat, the one who had the most hope of rescue and influence throughout their traumatizing voyage, firmly encouraged the others not to drink the saltwater. Sadly, the man who drank the saltwater, gradually losing his mind, did not survive. The lady and one other man were eventually rescued, living to retell their tale.

In normal life, we could substitute the term “saltwater” as an analogy for other substances or behaviors including heroin, cocaine, pornography, adultery, or any behavior of looking for love in ways that are common, culturally encouraged, or popular, but that frequently result in early death and overall relational misery. Where do various autoimmune diseases, communication disorders, relational dysfunctions, and addictions come from? Depending on the situation, could it be past trauma, abuse, or even fight-or-flight responses in the womb in response to spoken words, strife, and/or parental thoughts that released a hormonal imbalance to the developing fetus? Without the loving intervention of counteracting words and attitudes, could such culminate into congenital self-hatred, self-rejection, anxiety, and other negative emotions that lead to autoimmune diseases, physiologically unhealthy lifestyles, or addictions as that child grows up? Is that a consideration?

This principle about drinking saltwater can apply not only on the individual level, but also can ripple into the realm of politics. The man on the lifeboat who drank saltwater had good intentions. By suggesting that saltwater was life-giving and satisfying to the others in the lifeboat, he was doing so from a well-meaning, and even compassionate heart that wanted to help people. It satisfied him in the short-term, so he concluded that the others would benefit from drinking it too. But as was said before, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” Proverbs 14:12 ESV

As the television documentary of this lost-at-sea account explained, drinking salt-water after being stranded in the ocean after such a time is like sealing one's death sentence. It went on to explain how the chemicals in seawater had a deceptively numbing but deadly effect upon the body and brain after the body has been completely depleted from pure water. Consequently, after the man began drinking the seawater, it explained why he started to lose his mind. This may have even led him to attack the others in the lifeboat at one point, requiring him to be restrained. One morning very soon afterwards, he was gone, having slipped himself into the ocean, never to be seen again.

As for politics, many will think that a certain law or legislation will be compassionate, giving freedom, liberty, and benefit for society or a group of people. Sometimes, however, the enactment of the legislation has an effect similar to that of offering free saltwater to those stranded in the middle of the ocean. By incentivizing the wrong or unhealthy behaviors, chemicals, handouts, etc. to those in need, it hurts them in the long term. Not only does it hurt them long-term by providing the wrong solution that doesn't deal with the root cause of their problem, but society as a whole suffers as well. Just like the man tempted the others to drink the saltwater, became deceived, lost his mind, and even attacked the others in the boat, the same may occur throughout society when people believe in counterfeit “saltwater” as their solution rather than the real, pure, life-giving solution.

This begs the question, what is the “life-giving solution” we need for our societal and individual problems and lives?

For continued discussion, I recommend the post “The Ultimate Solution to Gun Violence” or "Unforgiveness → :(".