*sighs*

[conuly]

So, I was reading a decent article about how God isn't Santa, and how you can't just ask God for what you want because God gives you what you need, and how it's wrong to just accept reactionary interpretations of the Bible instead of reading it for yourself, and how, yes, giving to the poor is more important than hating gay people.

But I couldn't finish it. One stupid little line, and I can't read the rest of the thing because it's so *wrong*.

He doesn't talk about what you want, perhaps because he recognized there is no end to wants. In fact, Psalm 23:1 instructs, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."

Gah!

Anybody with a bit of knowledge should recognize that word "want" as the same one in the proverb "waste not, want not". It doesn't mean "to desire", it means "to need". The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not need. Which is, of course, related to desiring.

Think how often people say "I need" when what they really mean is "I desire". I need a new car, I need to put my journal in my AIM profile, it's urgent. That's no doubt why want meant two things. They're not as different as we'd like them to be.

Comments

[adiva_calandia]

Ick! That's a terrible misquote! *sigh* Interesting point, on how need seems to be taking the place of want. Perhaps this author is trying to get the meanings switched? ;) Sounds like a pretty good article otherwise, though. I read a nice one recently on how the commercialisation (sp?) of Christmas isn't such a bad thing.

What makes me laugh about that psalm (The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want/He leadeth me. . .) is that anyone who goes to the movies on a reasonably regular basis is likely to have heard it, whether or not they're religious. Hollywood needs to find some new psalms. :)