Grace over Karma

I've seen the term "karma" come up a couple of times lately and it strikes me that karma really is a basic human belief. I've always thought of it as only a Hindu or Buddhist thing. But in reading Jonathan Haidt's recent article, What Tea Partiers Really Want: The passion behind the populist insurgency is less about liberty than a particularly American idea of Karma (WSJ), it dawned on me that he was right. Except that I don't think it's just the Tea Party that believes so strongly in karma. I think Republicans, Democrats and Libertarians are just as likely to subscribe morally to a karmic system of belief. Different groups simply come at it from different angles. Conservatives tend to want justice to be enforced - which is the latter half of karma. Liberals tend to want mercy to be given - which is the former half of karma. These are gross generalizations, but I think it's fair to summarize it this way -- Conservatives believe that if we live wrong then we should be punished. Liberals believe that if we live mercifully then we should be rewarded. Both subscribe to a system of karma, they just focus on different sides of the same coin.

This morning I came across some excerpts of an interview with Bono from the book Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas. He mentions karma also, and in much the same way. (And the fact that he's across the pond means that this isn't just an American way of thinking.) Here's an excerpt from the excerpt:

Bono: Yes, I think that's normal. It's a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between Grace and Karma.

Assayas: I haven't heard you talk about that.Bono: I really believe we've moved out of the realm of Karma into one of Grace.Assayas: Well, that doesn't make it clearer for me.

Bono: You see, at the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics; in physical laws every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It's clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I'm absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that "as you reap, so you will sow" stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff.

Assayas: I'd be interested to hear that.

Bono: That's between me and God. But I'd be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I'd be in deep s---. It doesn't excuse my mistakes, but I'm holding out for Grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend on my own religiosity.

Assayas: The Son of God who takes away the sins of the world. I wish I could believe in that.

Bono: But I love the idea of the Sacrificial Lamb. I love the idea that God says: Look, you cretins, there are certain results to the way we are, to selfishness, and there's a mortality as part of your very sinful nature, and, let's face it, you're not living a very good life, are you? There are consequences to actions. The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That's the point. It should keep us humbled . It's not our own good works that get us through the gates of heaven.

I think Bono's got it right. Karma is at the heart of all religion, probably because it's at the heart of our understanding of how the world should work. It seems to be something ingrained in us from birth (in the same way that sin and selfishness is ingrained in us from birth). If we are wronged then we want justice. (Of course, when we are the ones doing wrong, then we either choose to ignore it or we see it and hope for mercy. What the other guy did is always worse than what we've done ourselves, right?)

Karma is a harsh mistress. I know very few people who would come back as Brahman or cows. I know a lot of people who would come back as maggots or monkeys or dogs. If left to karma, I think we have no hope of improvement. If history has taught us one thing it's that humans suck. We screw up with a regularity that would impress any GI doc. If karma is our lot, then we really have no hope. Humanity hasn't improved morally. We are no less likely to enslave or murder our fellow man today than we were 5000 years ago. And we have better technology to do it with. It is estimated that there are more slaves in the world today than in all other previous time periods combined. And it goes without saying that WMD beat swords and arrows hands down.

Karma says that you will be rewarded according to what you have done. But grace turns that on its head. Grace runs in the exact opposite direction. It says that you will be rewarded despite what you have done. It doesn't turn a blind eye to my sin. It looks it full in the face, calls it what it is, and then it meets the requirement of karma through the sacrifice of another. The result of my bad karma falls squarely upon the shoulders of one who graciously gives me his good karma in return. That's grace.