The Manhattan Declaration of 2009
Analysis of the preamble.
Divisions within Christianity.

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About the Manhattan Declaration:
A group of over 150 "Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical" Christian
leaders released their
Manhattan Declaration -- a call
for people to resist many changes to the culture. It advocates civil disobedience
if necessary. 1

Comments on the preamble:
The preamble lists many positive contributions of Christian over the past
two millennia. However, it did not mention the major role played by Christians in the
promotion of scientific research. From the Middle Ages and Renaissance, until the present time,
the Church actively funded and organized scientific research. This church activity may not
have been included in the declaration because of the widespread awareness of the Church's
treatment of early scientists. Examples are the long term torture and final
execution of Giordano Bruno and the threatened torture and long-term house
arrest of Galileo -- both by the Inquisition.
Also not mentioned in the preamble were massive oppression, mass murders, and
genocides from the past. Examples are:
 | The horrendous persecution of Jews by
Christians from 306 to
1945 CE -- the longest lasting mass crime against
humanity and one that that set the foundations for the Nazi Holocaust,
|
 | The "burning times" from about 1450 to 1792
when tens of thousands of persons who were perceived to be Satan worshipers or
other heretics were turned over to the state to be burned at the stake in Catholic countries of Western Europe.
They were hanged in Protestant countries.
|
 | The massive genocides of Native peoples in North America,
South America, Australia, and the Belgium Congo/Congo Free State. |
Also omitted were mass crimes against humanity in more recent years:

Divisions within Christianity over past centuries and now:
The preamble of the Manhattan Declaration states:
"Christians today are called to proclaim the Gospel of costly grace, to
protect the intrinsic dignity of the human person and to stand for the common
good. In being true to its own calling, the call to discipleship, the church
through service to others can make a profound contribution to the public good."
1
It is certainly true that conservative Christians
are capable of changing the culture by:
 | Appealing to the public conscience, |
 | Advocating laws that restrict freedom of choice
on sexual matters, and |
 | Depriving sexual minorities of equal treatment
and protection. |
However, Christians as a whole are profoundly
divided on what practices should be promoted. Whatever path is supported
by religious conservatives will probably be strongly opposed by
liberal/progressive Christians, and vice-versa.
The items included in the preamble are correct: Christians played a major role in every major
moral advance within the primarily Christian countries listed. However, Christians were not
unanimous in their support of moral advances. They were often fought tooth and nail by
fellow Christians. For example, the main groups
in North America, Europe, etc. that
 | Attempted to preserve slavery, |
 | Conducted various genocides of non-Christians and
fellow Christians, |
 | Attempted to continue restrictions on the rights of women,
|
 | Worked to prevent vaccination, |
 | Attempted to prevent
universal suffrage, |
 | Attempted to continue the ban and criminalization of
inter-racial marriages, |
 | Attempted to preserve racial segregation, |
 | Attempted and continue to try to limit the rights of
lesbians, gays, bisexuals,
transgender persons and transsexuals (GLBT), etc. |
were/are also Christian.
It is important to realize that in the present, as in the past, devout,
intelligent, thoughtful, prayerful, sincere Christians take opposing positions,
and support each with biblical passages. Further, both or all sides are
generally totally convinced that they have assessed the will of God through
prayer, and are acting as God's agents on Earth. This throws into doubt the
power of prayer to assess God's will. If prayer works, we shouldn't have groups
of Christians praying to God and receiving different messages in return. A pilot
study seems to confirm that one cannot reliably assess
the will of God through prayer. However, few Christians realize this.
Conflicts within Christianity continue today with conservative
fundamentalist, other evangelical, Roman Catholic,
Orthodox and Mormon
Christians attempting to:
Meanwhile,
other Christians have jointed with secularists in efforts to:
 | Reduce the
abortion rate by making childbirth a feasible option for more pregnant women and
to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies, |
 | Achieve
equal rights and protections for GLBTs, and |
 | Achieve marriage equality for persons of all sexual orientations by
legalizing same-sex marriage. |
Only the passage of time will reveal:
 | Which faction of Christianity is
currently on the
side of history for each of these conflicts, and
|
 | Which faction will be seen by future generations to have made a positive
contribution to humanity, and which will be viewed as having retarded progress. |
This is not an unusual situation. It is often
impossible to attain a consensus on most items that divide Christians until
decades, generations, and even centuries after conflict dies down. Some examples
are:
 | Human slavery: It is now a century and a half since
slavery was the main "hot" topic among
Christians in the U.S. At the time, various religious leaders promoted both the
pro-slavery and abolitionist causes. They often supported their beliefs by quoting biblical verses.
Today, with the perspective of history, human slavery is almost universally viewed as a horrendous evil.
|
 | Allowing women to vote: It has been
almost a century since, women were
first allowed to vote in the U.S. Religious leaders passionately argued on both
sides of the conflict. Today, the vast majority of Americans strongly favor
universal suffrage.
|
 | Interracial marriage: The U.S. Supreme
Court declared all of the 16 state miscegenation laws
unconstitutional in 1967. At the time 72% of American adults were opposed
to interracial marriage, and a near-majority favored criminalizing such
marriages. It was only in 1991 -- 24 years later -- that those opposed to
interracial marriage became a minority in the country. |
Today, equal rights for gays, lesbians, bisexuals,
transgender
persons and transsexuals (LGBT) -- including same-sex marriage -- is a hotly debated
topic:
 | Many conservative Christians use six
well known "clobber" passages in the Bible to argue against equal rights for
persons of all sexual orientations, and to argue against marriage equality.
|
 | Meanwhile. many liberal Christians, progressive Christians, secularists,
and religious liberals from other religions use biblical themes of justice and
equality to argue in favor of equal rights and marriage. |
It is anyone's guess what the future will hold, although
public opinion polls seem to indicate a gradual shift
towards equal rights and protections for sexual minorities, driven by young
adults and opposed by the elderly.


Reference used:
The following information source was used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlink is not necessarily still active today.
- "Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience," Text of the
Manhattan Declaration, 2009-NOV-20, at:
http://manhattandeclaration.org/ This is a PDF file.

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Copyright © 2009 by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance.
Originally written: 2009-NOV-22
Latest update: 2009-NOV-26
Author: B.A. Robinson

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