Indeed, it was in large part due to the actions of evangelical Christians that slavery was abolished in the West.
And, if I may as, do you even think abortion is a moral issue? I ask because you could have just as easily said, "Or is only poverty and social justice the only moral issues of our day?"
Why would concern for any one of these issues foreclose concern over the others?
Oh, your recently referenced Dr. Dobson has done more on this issue than most:
Following a trail blazed two centuries ago, the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) and Focus on the Family, two U.S. evangelical groups whose leaders have disagreed over other issues, are both supporting a campaign against bonded labor, human trafficking and military recruitment of children.
Abortion is a moral issue. I am not sure that the long arm of the criminal law is the best way to lower the abortion rate.
It seems to me that rather than dividing up the pie between pro-life and pro-choice, maybe there are three groups in Americal today.
1) People who believe that abortion is a very bad thing, and as such the best way to oppose it is to criminalize it.
2) People who believe that abortion is a bad thing, but who believe that criminalization might do so much collateral damage that other ways of decreasing it should be primary.
3) People who simply think abortion is perfectly OK, like getting rid of a blob of tissue.
I can understand positions 1 and 2, 3 baffles me completely. I'm pretty convinced that most Americans are either 1s or 2s.
With respect to slavery, I wonder if evangelicals are willing to boycott companies that use enslaved workers to make their products.
According to this poll, the majority of Americans believe this is a personal choice that the state should not interfere with. Only 8% subscribe to something like option 1 you mention.
Interestingly, it is mentioned that:
For the sample as a whole there is substantial variation by religion. Christians express the most liberal views: 65 percent favor leaving the decision to individuals while just 8 percent support criminal penalties.
It seems like your readers are getting off topic, but that's typical of any controversial subject. I agree with you're saying though. Slavery has existed far too long and will keep going as long as humans continue to exploit their fellow brothers and sisters out of laziness (think about it - why do the dirty work when I can make easy money off of others?), and as long as people remain ignorant about it. Because we've left the subject alone too long, human trafficking has grown out of proportion (even the idea of slavery has since expanded), and so in spite of the laws certain states have against it, it's very difficult to enforce such laws.
While topics such as abortion/contraceptive laws and gay marriage are just as important, I think that it's just easier to talk about and somewhat easier to "solve" than a complex (and often graphic) social situation with historical roots.
As you've brought it up, I suppose I'll pinch in my two cents. Personally, I think that states shouldn't need to get involved in the choice of the persons who has the child, simply because they have it, not some chaotically-organized group of people who live on the other side of the country. Now, I don't like the idea of abortion, let alone what happens to the people who go through it (the mother and father and even their families), but it should ultimately be the people who have the child to decide to keep it or not. Doctors, especially if they're employed in a religious based hospital, shouldn't be forced to do such procedures because it goes against what the hospital and what the person stands for; the hospitals shouldn't have to lose government funding either. That's just bad customer and public relations.
My views on gay marriage is easy: As long as you pay your taxes and don't commit federal crimes, I don't care what you do in the bedroom.
I'd like to mention a funny cartoon about this involving a lady talking to her friends. She says, "Gays aren't ruining the sanctity of marriage; it's the lady sleeping with my husband!".
5 comments:
Beam. Mote.
I'll make you a deal. You support a constitutional amendment reversing Roe v. Wade and I'll support a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery.
Oh. wait.
In any event, are you just now noticing this issue? Evangelicals have been concerned and acting about it for some time:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/04/02/slavery_campaign_closes_gaps_among_us_evangelicals/
Indeed, it was in large part due to the actions of evangelical Christians that slavery was abolished in the West.
And, if I may as, do you even think abortion is a moral issue? I ask because you could have just as easily said, "Or is only poverty and social justice the only moral issues of our day?"
Why would concern for any one of these issues foreclose concern over the others?
Oh, your recently referenced Dr. Dobson has done more on this issue than most:
Following a trail blazed two centuries ago, the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) and Focus on the Family, two U.S. evangelical groups whose leaders have disagreed over other issues, are both supporting a campaign against bonded labor, human trafficking and military recruitment of children.
Abortion is a moral issue. I am not sure that the long arm of the criminal law is the best way to lower the abortion rate.
It seems to me that rather than dividing up the pie between pro-life and pro-choice, maybe there are three groups in Americal today.
1) People who believe that abortion is a very bad thing, and as such the best way to oppose it is to criminalize it.
2) People who believe that abortion is a bad thing, but who believe that criminalization might do so much collateral damage that other ways of decreasing it should be primary.
3) People who simply think abortion is perfectly OK, like getting rid of a blob of tissue.
I can understand positions 1 and 2, 3 baffles me completely. I'm pretty convinced that most Americans are either 1s or 2s.
With respect to slavery, I wonder if evangelicals are willing to boycott companies that use enslaved workers to make their products.
Victor,
I don't know that the data supports you on this:
http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/btjusticehuman_rightsra/492.php?nid=&id=&pnt=492
According to this poll, the majority of Americans believe this is a personal choice that the state should not interfere with. Only 8% subscribe to something like option 1 you mention.
Interestingly, it is mentioned that:
For the sample as a whole there is substantial variation by religion. Christians express the most liberal views: 65 percent favor leaving the decision to individuals while just 8 percent support criminal penalties.
It seems like your readers are getting off topic, but that's typical of any controversial subject. I agree with you're saying though. Slavery has existed far too long and will keep going as long as humans continue to exploit their fellow brothers and sisters out of laziness (think about it - why do the dirty work when I can make easy money off of others?), and as long as people remain ignorant about it. Because we've left the subject alone too long, human trafficking has grown out of proportion (even the idea of slavery has since expanded), and so in spite of the laws certain states have against it, it's very difficult to enforce such laws.
While topics such as abortion/contraceptive laws and gay marriage are just as important, I think that it's just easier to talk about and somewhat easier to "solve" than a complex (and often graphic) social situation with historical roots.
As you've brought it up, I suppose I'll pinch in my two cents. Personally, I think that states shouldn't need to get involved in the choice of the persons who has the child, simply because they have it, not some chaotically-organized group of people who live on the other side of the country. Now, I don't like the idea of abortion, let alone what happens to the people who go through it (the mother and father and even their families), but it should ultimately be the people who have the child to decide to keep it or not. Doctors, especially if they're employed in a religious based hospital, shouldn't be forced to do such procedures because it goes against what the hospital and what the person stands for; the hospitals shouldn't have to lose government funding either. That's just bad customer and public relations.
My views on gay marriage is easy:
As long as you pay your taxes and don't commit federal crimes, I don't care what you do in the bedroom.
I'd like to mention a funny cartoon about this involving a lady talking to her friends. She says, "Gays aren't ruining the sanctity of marriage; it's the lady sleeping with my husband!".
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