RE: The Watchmaker: my fav argument
March 9, 2021 at 2:57 pm
(This post was last modified: March 9, 2021 at 3:16 pm by John 6IX Breezy.)
(March 9, 2021 at 1:48 pm)Klorophyll Wrote: What vilinization ? Some elements of christianity really are vile. I am not trying to just spread anti christian polemics, but some texts in the Old Testament are simply undefendable, morally speaking. It's true that Islam didn't condemn slavery either, but at least Islamic sources don't have passages like this;
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?se...ersion=NIV
I see things differently and I'll use two basic models to illustrate: Kohlberg's stages of moral reasoning and Baumrind's parenting styles.
1. Christianity is a conversation; a dialogue between God and man. It is not authoritarian or permissive, it is authoritative (these are parenting styles). Evidence for open communication is sprinkled throughout Scripture. You have Abraham interceding for Lot and God agreeing; Moses interceding for Israel and God doing as Moses asked; you have Jonah running away because he wanted Nineveh to be destroyed and God explaining to him why mercy is warranted. Clearly, I'm allowed to disagree with God, challenge him, wrestle with him as Jacob did. Moses even asked to be blotted out of heaven if God punished Israel. So I think I'm in good company if I ever disagree with the Bible.
2. As for what I think about certain aspects of the Old Testament: I see a lot of similarity between God's interactions with humanity, and Kohlberg's stages of moral reasoning (these are developmental stages). Scripture progresses as if God is working with humanity, walking them through it. From pre-conventional moral reasoning in which reward and punishment are the primary justifications. Through post-conventional reasoning in which abstract things like justice and love are important. The shift is clear as you progress through the Bible, perhaps with the OT and NT marking the strongest shift. Clearly, I'm allowed to look back and feel that something is wrong or at the very least note how things have developed. Evidence for this comes from stories like John wanting to rain fire on people (like Elijah in the old testament), and Jesus rebuking him for it. I think there's more than statistical truth to Steven Pinker's "Better Angels of our Nature" in which he argues that violence is in decline.
