The history of Christianity is the history of moving goalposts. Behind the times, reluctantly, cautiously, begrudgingly, it must in order to lessen the monstrosities it has perpetuated and justified over the centuries, being dragged kicking and screaming, now into the 21st century.
Slavery, for instance. It took the Quakers in the 1700s to finally even question the practice. Nowadays, there would be very few Christians who would claim slavery is fine (either that or slavery is re-defined so that it wasn't so bad). Usually the tack is those people weren't "real" Christians. Or that Christians never claimed to be perfect. Always moving goalposts, always re-defining terms, anything but to say they were simply f*ing wrong. Anything but that.
Same with the origins of life, the position of the earth in relation to the sun, or that the earth is not flat. Of course, primitive peoples would not have known this anyway. Play semantic games about a god who is "beyond being"-- abstract, but at least no one seems to get hurt, right? But Christians threatened with violence those who didn't play along. And then add slavery, genocide, the treatment of women, homosexuality, animal sacrifice, etc. ... oh, all that goalpost moving gets awfully tiring.
Assuming that humanity survives into the next century, and Christianity with it, they will point back at Christians today as well and say "Oh, well, they weren't true Christians" like so much compost. And on it goes...
Slavery, for instance. It took the Quakers in the 1700s to finally even question the practice. Nowadays, there would be very few Christians who would claim slavery is fine (either that or slavery is re-defined so that it wasn't so bad). Usually the tack is those people weren't "real" Christians. Or that Christians never claimed to be perfect. Always moving goalposts, always re-defining terms, anything but to say they were simply f*ing wrong. Anything but that.
Same with the origins of life, the position of the earth in relation to the sun, or that the earth is not flat. Of course, primitive peoples would not have known this anyway. Play semantic games about a god who is "beyond being"-- abstract, but at least no one seems to get hurt, right? But Christians threatened with violence those who didn't play along. And then add slavery, genocide, the treatment of women, homosexuality, animal sacrifice, etc. ... oh, all that goalpost moving gets awfully tiring.
Assuming that humanity survives into the next century, and Christianity with it, they will point back at Christians today as well and say "Oh, well, they weren't true Christians" like so much compost. And on it goes...
“Society is not a disease, it is a disaster. What a stupid miracle that one can live in it.” ~ E.M. Cioran
