Chain Gang

The difference between doing a good thing because you must and doing a good thing because it is a good thing is the difference between a chain gang* building a much-needed road and a group of volunteers building it. The good gets accomplished, but one group was forced into it, while the other group did it willingly. Which one, do you suppose, felt good about his work? Which one enjoyed it? I will give you a hint: it wasn't the chain gang. In the same way, I feel much better about doing good things now than I did when I was a Christian. Then, I had to do it, because my God demanded it. Now, I do it only because my conscience suggests it. And I feel good about my work in the same way a group of volunteers looks at their efforts and feels accomplished, while the chain gang says "well, that's one more hard labor completed, on to the next one." Sure, there might be the rare member of a chain gang who, even though forced into his work, feels a sense of pride and accomplishment in it, just as there would be members of the volunteers who felt pressured into helping. But those are the exception, not the rule. I could even point out, that even though the chain gang performed a good task, they are neither praised nor rewarded for it, by anyone. They are doing it as penance for the crimes they committed, or even merely because their warden demanded that they should. I can not help but see the similarities to Christianity there, as well; just replace "crimes they committed" with "inherent sin nature" and "warden" with "God." The volunteers saw a need, and filled it, and reap not only the reward their own conscience gives them, but also the esteem of their peers. Now tell me, which would you rather be, chain gang or volunteer?

*For any who might not know what a chain gang is, it is a group of prison inmates who, instead of sitting in a cell, are forced to work while they serve their term. They used to be (and I don't know how much chain gangs actually exist anymore) chained together in some sense while they worked, hence the term "chain gang."