“You better not be praying in there!” House admonishes Lee (Mos Def), looming into the locked in patient’s face. In the scenes in which Lee and House are on the beach in Lee’s “happy place,” Lee admits that he doesn’t really know how to define his faith. However, by the end of the episode, he breathes, “God sent you,” causing House to grimace.
This is not new territory. In Season 4, “97 Seconds,” House jams a knife into an electrical socket to kill himself for a minute so he can see if there’s anything on the other side. He wants to know, so he can tell his patient that the paralyzed patient shouldn’t be so quick to want this life to end: House tells Wilson that there is nothing on the other side.
There is even an episode called “House vs. God,” in Season 2, during which Chase keeps track of House’s victories versus God’s miracles when it comes to a young teenage boy who thinks he’s a faith healer.
It’s not enough for House himself to be an atheist. He actively tries to browbeat faith out of his patients, including a nun in Season 1’s “Damned If You Do.” House claims that his position is just because he thinks faith is stupid. He thinks people don’t appreciate this life and the fact that this is all there if they have faith that something better is out there. However, I think there is a lot more to House’s stance than simply wanting people to be all they can be in this life.
I think the clues to why House is so afraid of God lie in the episode “Son of a Coma Guy” in Season 3. The one thing that galls House more than people’s faith is when House is wrong. In fact, his team and Wilson can’t help but gleefully point out all of House’s mistakes, not that there are very many. House tells the vegetative state patient, Gabe, played by John Laroquette, that he became a doctor because he had met a Japanese janitor when he was a kid. The janitor was also a doctor, but he didn’t dress well and he didn’t care what anyone else thought. He didn’t have to: He was so good that he was right, so people had to listen to him.
This is important because when Gabe asks House what to say as his last words to his son Kyle, House tells him that he’d want his father to say, “You were right. You did the right thing.”
House’s curiosity and his puzzles make him tick. But I think at the heart of everything House does is trying to overcome his father’s disappointment in him, no matter what House did. If patients believe in God, they don’t have to listen to House. And that is completely unacceptable. Yet, however maddening it is, I can’t recall a single instance in which House managed to win against God. Can you?
Clacked by Jen Creer
on Apr 03, 2009 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
Well, you could say that this “god” character made all those patients sick and House is, more often than not, able to heal them; so he does win most of the time…
The utter arrogance of religious people in these situations, that they were ‘special’ enough to be somehow saved by their “god”, while hundreds or thousands of other people all around the world died that same day, is absolutely sickening to me…
It’s always funny to see religious people thanking “god” for the good things that happen, but never damning him for the bad things. (Always: ‘”god” saved me from that hurricane’, never: ‘this “god” sent the hurricane, damn him!’.) :)
Let’s just say, IF there exists a “god” (and that’s a very big ‘IF’, just like the pink unicorn under my bed MIGHT exist), then he must be an enormous d!ckhead, what with all the suffering, death & destruction in the world.
But that’s just MY opinion…
:-)
Wow I’ve been sitting over this post for over an hour now and I’m really having a hard time putting my thoughts into words.
House is rational.
I think that sums it up. If you accept that as a fact you can’t really come to the conclusions you made in your article Jen. At one time my comment was about two pages long but I don’t really see the point to make this a diatribe to explain why a rational person would neither believe in god nor fear something he, as a rational person, can’t accept as something that exists in the first place.
I’m pretty much in the position House is in. If I understand the character correctly, he doesn’t have a problem with God but rather his emotions. You know. Daddy issues. Cuddy.
House isn’t afraid of God. He can explain that there’s no god so he can’t be afraid of that.
What could be afraid of is being afraid if you understand what I mean.
If you look at the episode from my angle, you’ll find this reaction towards emotions in his dealing with the shrink. Talking about his emotions to him is a sign of weakness because this would mean he accepted that has emotions in the first place – a 100% rational person can’t have emotions. Think of Data from Star Trek Enterprise.
Hope I could get my point across :-)
Word thiefs stole two “he”. Please at them where they belong ;-)
Add. Man what’s wrong with me *sigh*
^^What he said.^^ ;-)
You have put it better than I ever could…
Thanks, Sebastian. That definitely makes sense. I think I like to make House perhaps more complicated than he is. He is certainly rational (and I am not– which is probably why I came to the conclusions I did!).
Thanks everyone for their thoughtful comments! Very interesting reading! Christian, so impressed that you are thinking in German and writing in English!
God is not the author of evil. If you want to put the matter to rest in your mind, spend a few minutes each day reading the new testament. Jesus went to the cross for us, please discover what that means. We don’t always know why we suffer, but the absolute truth is that God is Good.
Peace be unto you, this Easter Season!
1. Concentrating on the new testament & leaving out the old testament, in order to show what a nice chap this “god” is, is just cherry-picking…
2. Don’t get me started on the bible, that book has more holes in it than a sieve…
3. Re:God & evil: “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?” – Epicurus
4. Re:God: “The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike.” – Delos B. McKown
5. Re:Why can’t House stand it when his patients credit “god” with saving/healing them?: How would you feel, if you had studied medicine for many years & worked your @ss off every day to help people, and at the end of the day a mythical creature would get the credit, thereby belittling your efforts & hard work?
6. Peaceful Easter Season to you too (scratch that, ‘peaceful life’ to you ), but I hope you know that Christians are worshipping a pagan festival, just like they do at Christmas?
:-)
Not meaning to cherry pick, you would get so much from the Old Testament as well. I just meant in the interest of your time, the words of Christ might change your heart, that’s all.
My thinking is very different then yours, I guess. Re: 5 – I would say, that all good things come from God. In the case of the person who is born with the attributes that lead to becoming an amazing physician, all that comes from God as well.
Re #6 This is what Easter means to me: I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen
Well, reading your comments, I can only guess, but I think we come from totally different backgrounds… I grew up in a very enlightened environment as a child, without any religious indoctrination. There wasn’t any pressure to believe or not believe, I was encouraged to think for myself & it was up to me to make my mind up. I was presented with the stories of christianity in school, but, finally, at the age of 9 or 10, after 3 years of religion lessons in school, it was clear to me, that this was just another fairy tale. So I decided that, after Santa Claus $ the Easter Bunny, I would also let go of this “god” character…
So just through employing reason & thought on religion, I became a nonbeliever quite naturally at a young age and never felt as if I was missing anything.
When I got older, I started to wonder why so many intelligent adults were believing these stories, so I decided to read the whole bible, in order to see if there was anything in it that could hint at a reason. So, from 16-18 (on and off), I read the the whole book… And it just didn’t make sense: there are so many huge holes, contradictions & overall problems, that it is simply mindboggling how anyone can take this book seriously, I’m sorry. This experience just made me a stronger nonbeliever.
But enough about my story… ;)
Re:All good things come from “god”: Ok, and what about the bad things, where do they come from, if not from “god”? And I thought he was omnipotent, why doesn’t he do anything against such bad things? In this matter, I refer you back to Epicurus:
“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”
What is it? Do you see the problem?
Normally, I just go with “nonbeliever”, but if I had to pigeonhole myself, I would peg me as a secular/rational humanist: all the love for humanity & aspiration for good in the world without the need for any irrational humbug to justify it.
Sorry for the long post! I hope this makes some sense, thinking in German & writing in English isn’t easy… ;-)
Goodnight & Good Luck! ;-)
The argument that God does not care or that God is fallable because he allows suffering is as old as the bible itself.
The problem with that argument is that it is made through the eyes and logic of our mortal, finite understanding. If the first christians wanted to impart that god is supposed to solve every earthly problem, why would they have Christ die a painful death on the cross when God could have stopped it all and manifested himself in all his glory? Then we would all be cookie-cutter people bending over backwards to please the “true” God. But guess what? Any evil would still lie within us, we would only attempt to surpress it, because each of us, as individuals, are a unique special essence. We all have our own inclinations of goodness or evil, talents etc. Anybody will put out the best foot when they know they are trumped. We all are born into sin….but God will forgive us all for that. It is how we live and treat others is what God is interested in. God must think “Let’s see what these people do under real pressure….let us see if they are worth saving”…. But the whole idea of God is free will. What do you do with free will? All the suffering in history is but a half blink of an eye in terms of infinity. I believe God wants to see what we do with the chips he has given us. The idea is for people to have that unrestricted choice….through faith or no. Nothing means anything without free will. The suffering of man is is our unfortunate bootcamp. God will take care of the fallout of suffering later….in a twinkling of an eye in the vast relationship of time.
And God is worshipped by many nations and many religions, he is just called a different name.
House is simply rational, as Sebastian said. Rational to a fault, and unhappy with situations (emotions) that cause him to be irrational.
From House’s perspective, people who believe in God (an active God who actually affects their lives) are being irrational in the same way as someone who believes that a cat predicted their death, or someone who believes that herbal tea will cure their cancer.
People who believe in a more abstract version of God (who doesn’t meddle much with life and who doesn’t require much of his followers) don’t bother House much. I suspect Wilson and Cuddy fall into this category and I know Chase does.
Also, you have to consider that House is a well-educated professional who works far more than most people to cure people. I know if I spent a week fixing someone’s computer and they said “I’m so happy that God fixed my computer” I’d be a bit bothered, and God gets House’s credit quite often.
I’m with the House is rational theory contingent.
Just moi….. I always see House as almost classic Asperger’s…. brilliant intellect, lacking in social intelligence.
*POST AUTHOR*
They’ve talked about House and Asperger’s on the show. Wilson insists that House doesn’t have it, but I tend to agree with you.
I have a son with Asperger’s (who is nothing like House, by the way), and just this morning I read an article suggesting that Asperger’s is caused by lack of cortisol. Interesting.
I’m coming to this party late, I know, but my comment doesn’t really have anything to do with the article. Rather, it has to do with the similarities between some people who believe in God and some who don’t. Most definitely not *all* of each group and not even a majority, just a tiny percentage, I think.
On the one side, you’ve got your outspoken religious types who will not hesitate to give you a fire and brimstone lecture on why you should believe in God. They have every sort of reason why those “heathens” should repent. They use every argument imaginable to explain why athiests are wrong. They are certain their point of view is correct and they are not very “religious” in their attitude towards those who don’t think as they do.
On the other side you’ve got your outspoken athiest types who will not hesitate to give you a nuts and bolts lecture on why you religious types are dealing in fantasy. They have every sort of reason why those zealots should change. They use every argument imaginable to explain why believing in God is wrong. They are certain their point of view is correct and they are not very kind or understanding in their attitude towards those who don’t think as they do.
Ignore the opposing positions and they’re not so different underneath. Each is convinced the other is wrong and each takes apparent glee in bashing the other’s beliefs.