Re: On Morality: Christian v. Materialist

Russell Stewart (diamond@rt66.com)
Wed, 04 Jun 1997 10:55:37 -0600

At 07:42 PM 6/2/97 -0500, Russell Cannon wrote:
>
>There are really three points here: 1) that Christians can't really
>agree on "Christian" morals; 2) that some Christians considered "crimes
>against humanity" acceptable; and 3) the fact that Christians disagree
>on the standard and that they do not live up to their own standards
>anyway proves--or at least suggests--that the Christian moral system is
>not transcendent. In other words, points one and two imply that the
>system was created by men.
>
>(For the best--and simplest--argument against this view, please read
>book I of Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. You may not agree with it,
>but it does provide a compelling counterpoint to these ideas leaving
>them somewhat less than a slam dunk.)
>
>In refuting this argument, I will first deal with the second point which
>was to remind us that Christians have justified the killing of many
>different peoples en masse. In this premise, you are referring to the
>behavior of people who did not know or understand true Christian
>morality because it was forbidden them either by law or due to their own
>ignorance. Those people who were motivated to hate their
>neighbor--instead of loving them--or to kill their enemies--instead of
>praying for them--were not animating true Christian morality as it is
>taught in scripture.

Really? Then why did Jesus say "Think not that I am come to send peace: I
came not to send peace but a sword," or "But those mine enemies, which would
not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me,"
or "If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth... and men gather them into
the fire, and they are burned" (a quote that was particularly popular among
members of the Inquisition).

Or consider the following quote: "The Son of man [Jesus himself] shall send
forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that
offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of
fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 13:41-42)
How does one define "things that offend"? A Crusader in the 11th century
would define that as a Muslim living in Jerusalem. Some modern Christians
would define that as an atheist, or a homosexual, or an abortion doctor. And
a few have apparently taken it upon themselves to do the job of the
aforementioned
angels.

And what about slavery? Jesus said "And that servant [slave], which knew his
lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall
be beaten with many stripes." (Luke 12:47) Jesus apparently had no problem
with slavery -- or with the beating of disobedient slaves. Little wonder that
slaveholders, all the way up to Abraham Lincoln's day, believed that they were
being perfectly good Christians.

_____________________________________________________________
| Russell Stewart |
| http://www.rt66.com/diamond/ |
|_____________________________________________________________|
| Albuquerque, New Mexico | diamond@rt66.com |
|_____________________________|_______________________________|

2 + 2 = 5, for very large values of 2.