“I wish I could learn to remember that it is unjust and dishonorable to put blame upon the human race for any of its acts. For it did not make itself, it did not make its nature, it is merely a machine, it is moved wholly by outside influences, it has no hand in creating the outside influences nor in choosing which of them it will welcome or reject, its performance is wholly automatic, it has no more mastership nor authority over its mind than it has over its stomach, which receives material from the outside and does as it pleases with it, indifferent to its proprietor’s suggestions, even, let alone his commands; wherefore, whatever, the machine does---so called crimes and infamies included---is the personal act of its Maker, and He, solely, is responsible.”[1]
Notice that Twain wasn’t foolish enough to think that the human race made itself. He knew that we had “no hand in creating.” He also believed that we have no more control over our mind than we have over the stomach. While it’s true that the stomach works independently of the will, we are the ones who choose the food that goes into the mouth and into the stomach.
We feed the mind. We choose thoughts that we enjoy chewing over, and if those thoughts transgress God’s Law, then we are morally accountable to the God who considers lust to be adultery (see Matthew 5:27-28). While some may swallow Twain’s foolish attempts to blame God for all human “acts,” it makes no sense when we think a little. Many a rapist or murderer has tried the “God made me do it” defense, and if it doesn’t work in a court of law, it’s not going to work on Judgment Day.
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