But I don't need to tell you that temptation has nothing to do with religion, or faith either (since religion and faith are two very different things). It does have to do with value systems.
Any child faced with a plate of cookies 30 minutes before supper knows what temptation is. The snooze button on our alarm clocks (phones) are one of the more benign temptations that the tech world offers. Think about an open, straight, clear highway and a car that can go 140 miles an hour. We know about temptation whether we know anything about the Divine or not.
Temptation implies choice overlaid with value. Each choice holds a competing value. One choice means satisfying oneself one way; the second choice means satisfying oneself in a completely different way. One choice is about self; the other choice is about community.
Eat the cookies and enjoy the sweets. Don't eat the cookies and enjoy the knowledge of your mother's approval.
Hit the snooze button and enjoy another 10 minutes of sleep. Don't hit the snooze and have some space to start your day, and be on time for work.
Hit the gas peddle and enjoy the exhilaration of a fast car. Drive the speed limit - or close to it - and follow traffic laws while keeping the road safe for others.
In choosing the action, you defer to one value or the other and what kind of pleasure you desire. On one hand, you can choose that which gives immediate pleasure without regard for the future or other people. On the other hand, there is that choice which serves the greater good in the long term.
See? Nothing about God or faith or religion in any of that. It is an atheist's guide to temptation. We all wrestle with it and I would expect that most people fall one way or the other on any given day. Some days I eat the cookies; some days I wait until after dinner.
So how did temptation become a religious dilemma? That's a great question. Stay tuned.
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