{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Dialog","title":"1.38 / Whatever you blame controls you","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1447,"description":"A friend of ours was talking with an atheist who said he could never believe in a God who allows slavery and all the other evil people do to each other. Our first question back: you've named the problems, so what are you doing to fix them?\nMy dad has always said, \"Whatever you blame controls you.\" That sounds bad. But a lot of people prefer to be controlled by what they can't control, because if it's not your fault, the fix is not your responsibility either.\nIn this episode, my co-host Nick Surface and I talk about blame, fault and responsibility: the problem of evil, what to do with a dark week, why blaming your parents or the economy leaves you waiting on circumstances you can't control, and where meaning comes from. Nick also tells the story of a defining moment in his 20s, when he decided not to hand off ownership of his life.\nDoes it matter whose fault it is?\nTo an extent. But the more time you spend finding blame, the more you end up on the side of \"I can't control this.\" Fault and responsibility always go hand in hand. As Nick puts it, even if it really was 100% your parents' fault, nothing changes until you take ownership.\nWhy would anyone choose to be powerless?\nBecause power comes with responsibility. Blame everything on what you couldn't control, and the only way things change is if circumstances change. Say \"it's my fault,\" and you also get to say \"it's my responsibility.\" That's where the fix starts.\nIf God is good, why is there so much evil?\nThe evil that atheist described is what people do to other people. The human heart is desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). The cause is not the solution. The solution is Jesus, who changes who you are from the inside out.\nHow do you find meaning and purpose?\nZig Ziglar said don't be a wandering generality, be a meaningful specific. Take on more responsibility and find someone to add value to.\nScripture\nJeremiah 17:9\nPeople and ideas\nJosh's dad: \"Whatever you blame controls you\"\nZig Ziglar: wandering generality or...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/7YsfA4gq5VzjhvmKvDET1pQqT0OM6yxv1laklKclR7g/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS83ZWZh/MTRmZDEzOWRjZGQz/Y2M2NThkNzYwOTJj/ODA4MC5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}