“”What we’re trying to do is keep the conversation alive,” Andrew Walker, an ethicist at a Southern Baptist seminary in Kentucky who wrote the resolution, told the New York Times.”
Ethicist. That’s a person who studies ethics. I took an ethics class in college. And I’ve studied ethics extensively in my lifetime, though I suppose that doesn’t make me an ‘ethicist.’
Is it ethical to undermine the established rights of another person? To look at them just living their lives and say; “Well, I don’t know, maybe we should upend their lives. Throw everything they care about out the window”
I’ve read the bible, you know. It’s chock-full of ethical principles. And some rules, which are not the same as ethical principles. We’re looking at culture and also the recorded teaching of people with something to say.
“I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,” said Jesus.
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” said Jesus.
And no, I’m not taking them out of context. Go back and read the whole chapter.
“Be in the world but not of the world,” said Jesus. I missed where this means “Engage in a campaign to force secular law to align with secondary Christian teachings.”
What do I mean by ‘secondary Christian teachings’?
You can read the bible any way you want, but if you want to call yourself a ‘Christian’ then you have to give greater attention to Jesus. Not Moses, not David, not Paul. Their teachings are secondary to those of Jesus.
And if you believe the whole bible is somehow non-contradictory and inerrant, you better be limber because you will need to do some real gymnastics.
You’re Southern Baptist and you don’t think gay marriage is right? Great! Don’t. Marry. Someone. Of. The. Same. Sex as you.
If you’re confusing the bible with the Declaration of Independence, think long and hard on the phrase; “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Honestly that’s NOT a ‘Christian principle.’
But it is an American one.
NOTES:
- If you’re wondering why an atheist has anything to say about the bible, it’s that ‘study of ethics’ thing. The bible is clearly part of humanity’s ethical story, though by no means the pinnacle of it.
georgewiman 