RE: What IS good, and how do we determine it?
June 21, 2015 at 9:51 pm
(This post was last modified: June 21, 2015 at 9:59 pm by Catholic_Lady.)
(June 21, 2015 at 9:24 pm)Parkers Tan Wrote:(June 21, 2015 at 8:34 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: If you think Jesus condoned slavery, then what do you make of His commandment to love everyone, even our enemies, to love our neighbor as ourselves, and to treat others how we want to be treated?
Seems to me your boy has some moral relativity happening inside his own heart there. Would you treat others in the manner of chattel? Does loving your neighbor entail forcing them to work from sunup to sundown without compensation outside of food and shelter, lacking the freedom to come and go as they please, even lacking the freedom to refuse your offer? Well, Jesus apparently thought that was a good deal, because as we've seen already, he counseled slaves to "chillax, brotha, love your master and obey him as you would me".
The answer to all those questions, of course, is no. Which is precisely why honestly believing that Jesus condoned slavery seems very strange to me.
When Jesus told us to turn the other cheek if we get slapped, do you think He meant it's moral to slap someone? When He told us to give someone our shirt if they steal our coat, do you think He meant it's moral to steal?
Perhaps I'm wrong here and forgive me if I am. But I feel as though you are being dishonest in this. I feel as though you are *wanting* to be able to say "Jesus condoned slavery." And so you are ignoring everything else He taught and just relying on one paragraph addressed where He doesn't order them to run away or fight back. I think that if you were being completely objective and completely honest, you would not be doing this. I don't understand why you would have a desire to do this. Again, forgive me if I'm wrong about you here, but please clarify.
(June 21, 2015 at 9:37 pm)Nope Wrote:(June 21, 2015 at 9:29 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: I'm sorry Becca, I don't want you to think I've been ignoring you.
Like I said before, making a list of every single inherently wrong act would take forever and I don't think I'd do it justice because of course there would be things I'd forget. Randy posted earlier about how the Church determines the morality of an act (which is also how I would determine it). It may be easier if you look at that rather than rely on any list I give you.
Nonethelees here are a few things, but would never consider it to be any sort of complete list of all the immoral acts.
Murder
Rape
Theft
Adultery
Slavery
Calumny
It is understandable why rape and slavery are part of your list but why theft? I could imagine situations in which stealing would be more moral than letting your children starve.
The act of stealing, in and of itself, is an inherently immoral action.
But if you steal because it is the only way you'll be able to save a person, your culpability will be greatly lessened, if not completely eliminated.
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly."
-walsh
-walsh
