Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Graham
Sorry, but you miss the point that *nobody* is saying that *anyone* has the right to inflict harm on another person.
|
Actually I thought that the Doctor's point was that 'rape is wrong' is, when you get down to it, just an opinion, and, by extension, morals are just 'opinion', and therefore relative, and not absolute. I didn't detect any reference to your oft-quoted (and very laudible) saying, 'your right to swing your fist ends at the tip of my nose.'
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Graham
]You're probably already thinking of a reply that starts "but doesn't it harm the potential rapist by infringing on their freedoms" or some such, however the question then is which does the *most* harm and I doubt you'd find many people who would agree that the rapist would be more harmed than the victim.
|
I wasn't thinking that at all ... just for once I'm more interested in illustrating the Christian, Biblical view rather than attacking the secualr one.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Graham
I certainly don't accept that there is *any* "truth" in morals! Everyone can agree that Pi is equal to three, but that still doesn't make it true.
|
Well that much is obvious! But then everyone could agree that there is no God and morality is entirely a matter of personal opinion, yet without it being true. We're going to have to agree to differ on this point.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Graham
And others are entitled to stand up and object. Ask Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
|
Who was a committed Christian and, despite his fearsome reputation as a civil rights campaigner, apparently never made any public statement in favour of or against homosexual people.
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=293986
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Graham
The thing here is that if he *only* required that of Christians then I'd have no problems.
Unfortunately there are Christians out there who want *me* to behave as *they* think is correct, whether *I* want to or not.
They have the right to follow their religion, I don't tell them not to do so because I think it's nonsense and superstition. Why should they then try to inflict *their* opinions on me?
http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/drlaura.asp
Except that, once again, Christians are trying to tell the rest of us what we can or cannot do, even though *we* don't follow their beliefs.
And that, to me, is definitely *WRONG*. |
I've seen the letter posted on Snopes before. It is very funny but it completely fails to grasp the most basic principles of Biblical interpretation, which are due respect for context and identification of literary genre. I am not about to embark on a 1,500 word exposition on this point, suffice it to say that I'm not sitting here thinking 'good heavens! That's a good point, I was obviously wrong all this time!' (and nor am I considering smiting anyone, or slaughtering the family goat).
As for Christians campaigning for society to pick up on their moral outlook, well Christianity is an evangelistic religion. It is our duty to share with the world how we believe God wants the world to be. I make no apology for it. I make no apology for the fact that the abolition of child labour deprived factory owners of cheap labour and deprived families of badly needed income because I can see, as the Christians who campaigned for it believed, that it is for the long-term good of our society.
And yes, I would like you to live your life in a certain way even though you don't want to, because I believe that in the long term, it's for your eternal good. Of course, you can be assured that I will never force you to live the way I want you to except using the democratic means open to you, me and everyone else. At the end of the day this is a legal issue as much as it's a moral one and laws only change when society wants them to.
I know you are a committed liberal but as a Christian I believe that absolute freedom is a myth and true freedom only exists within the boundaries set by God. We are poles apart on this issue.