An anonymous email exchange submitted by a visitor to this website
Does progress depend on accepting
Jesus Christ or rejecting the Bible?
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Assertion by an anonymous Christian:
Your hoped for "dream world" will never exist outside of Jesus Christ.
Response by an anonymous non-Christian:
I will go you one further: my hoped for "dream world" will never exist in full; it will only be approached more closely.
But we are gradually creeping closer with agonizingly slowness.
- A century and a half ago, the great moral question involved the ethics of human slavery. This was resolved in the direction of increased human freedom for African Americans and other enslaved people.
- Later in the 19th century a series of great moral and theological questions surfaced about women: whether they had souls; should they be allowed to vote, allowing women into professions, criminalizing partner rape, etc. This was settled in the direction of increased human freedom and equality for women.
- In the late 19th century, a theological debate arose about a very important health measure: the vacinnation of children. Some argued that it would save countless lives. Some theologians countered with the assertion that when God created humans, he expected a certain percentage of children to die in childhood. Vaccinating children would thwart God's will and thus was not to be permitted. Eventually, society chose life over death.
- In the mid 20th century, a great moral battle was fought over the abolishment of racial segregation. The remnants of this battle still exist but the matter is largely settled in the
direction of increased human freedom and equality for African Americans and other racial minorities.
- In the late 20th century, a great moral battle started over equal rights for gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. It is still going on but is being gradually being settled in the direction of increased freedom and equality for sexual
minorities. They are now guaranteed of visitation privileges with their partners in hospitals; they are protected from violent hate crimes; an employment non-discrimination act is being considered; an act that may allow them to openly serve in the military may be implemented in 2011; they can marry in Washinton DC and five states, enter civil unions in five states, and marry in about nine other countries.
- A new moral battle is just now starting over equal rights for transgender persons and transsexuals. If past indications are any indicator, this will also be settled in the direction of increased human freedom and equality for sexual minorities. They are now protected from violent hate crimes and an employment non-discrimination act is being considered;
An interesting factor is that each of these battles involved the culture abandoning traditional biblical interpreting and accepting a more secular, humanistic approach to ethics and morality.
It could be approximately expressed as a gradual rejection of the Bible's teachings, except for the matter of chilhood vaccinations; I don't think that they are mentioned in the Bible.
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