News-Record.com

An interesting take on many things.

Personally, my view of the relationship between Christianity and slavery is instructive, in that there were strong opinions from Christian leaders on both sides of the debate in the 1850's and beyond. Both sides claimed th Bible supported them. Go figure.

The lesson I would take from these facts is that religion isn't as reliable a guide to moral thought as everyone seems to think.

Also, we have this business of arguing over whether something is lawful, and whether America is a "nation of laws." Personally, I would hope so, but we should always be mindful that this republic needs to be willing to change laws as societal changes require. Just because something is codified in "law" doesn't necessarily mean it should always be that way.

Finally, I just love this quote:

"When will liberal elitists stop trying to turn our world upside-down?"

I often wonder at just who is elitist in such debates. But it must be pointed out that unless someone is working to turn things upside-down, nothing will change, and that choice will lead inevitably to stagnation and death. Be grateful that there are people willing to question the status quo -- they're the driving force of history, man.

There is no doubt that Christianity was used to justify and support slavery in the South.

Even as recently as the 1960s (and probably later even), many white Christians did not accept the idea that blacks deserved equal status in society.

In his book, "Blood Done Sign My Name," Timothy B. Tyson describes the opposition his father (a minister) faced from his all-white congregation when he dared to invite N.C. A & T State College's black president, Dr. Samuel Proctor, to address church members on February 2, 1964.

A 60-year-old white woman finally interrupted an angry gathering of those demanding that Dr. Proctor's visit be canceled.

She shared some recent local news: a teenager had been involved in a bad crash near Chapel Hill and been given up for dead. A Pope Air Force Base airman stopped at the accident, went to the victim of the crash, noticed the boy's tongue stuck back in his throat, reached back to pull out the tongue, and then performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The airman saved the teenager's life and was well-thanked for it.

The woman then pointed out that the teenager had been white and the airman had been black.

She then pointedly asked her white listeners, had that been their own child, would they have preferred the black airman not use his black fingers or his black lips to save their child's life?

According to Tyson's testimony, that 60-year-old white woman singlehandedly did what his father had been unable to accomplish: convince his congregation to welcome Dr. Proctor into their church as a visitor and a speaker.

You'll have to read the book to hear the account of what Dr. Proctor told the congregation.

Christianity no doubt led some to realize how wrong our country was in its treatment of its darker-skinned inhabitants.

But Christianity also allowed others to hold on for dear life to beliefs that it seems would have been universally understood as completely contradictory to Christianity.

Don't fault Christianity.

But know and understand that human beings are fully capable of taking anything under the sun, including Christianity, and twisting it, manipulating it, and perverting it to suit their own purposes.

Well said Seymour.

Seymour,

That was one of the best posts I've seen.

"Christianity" and "Christian" are words you'll never find in the Bible. Praise the LORD!!!!

Christian justification of slavery is yet another example of how we impose human desires on God instead of accepting Gods desires upon ourselves. It is proof that even the Bible can be used for evil.

The bible is a large often criptic document where if you look through it with an agenda you can probably find something that will back up most any position which slaveowners certainly did. There are numerous references to slavery, particularly in the Old Testament. If they had looked through the book with the intent to decern Gods will in the matter of how to treat your fellow man, particularly in the teachings of Jesus, which after all is the true basis of Christianity, then they would have seen the evil that they were imposing upon the world.

Any of us can fall into the same trap. Even on this board I've seen hateful letters based on the writers Christian faith.

I personally wish that all commerce would stop on Sundays. People need a time of rest and reflection.

I realize that Sunday reflects my own prejudice but I think that there would be a great benefit to our society if we were forced to slow down collectively instead of feeling like we had to pack an ever increasing amount of activity into a finite amount of time.

Ooops,

I put this on the wrong thread. Should have been on the "Beer on Sunday" thread.

to truth,
in your post you stated "Christianity" and "Christian" are words you'll never find in the Bible. Praise the LORD!!!! i was curious to know if you have read the bible ? in Acts 11:26 you will find " And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. " the KJV, NKJV, NLT ans NASB all say the same thing. perhaps you just misspoke or maybe someone told you the bible never said that. we are encouraged in scripture " to study to shew thyselves approved ".

Yeah, truth.

And there I thought you had all those billboards and bumper stickers going for you!