tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370182032693696367.post2549301808203347536..comments2023-12-11T00:24:39.466-08:00Comments on Murdockinations: Church reverses decision to ban interacial relationshipsJZ Murdockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04366296091345604149noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370182032693696367.post-91095171913914001772011-12-21T07:30:38.998-08:002011-12-21T07:30:38.998-08:00Thanks for the comments, a thoughtful, solid argum...Thanks for the comments, a thoughtful, solid argument.JZ Murdockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10765706992952885128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370182032693696367.post-2686109738954793812011-12-21T03:12:08.909-08:002011-12-21T03:12:08.909-08:00A few points. Bibles and the rest are only contrad...A few points. Bibles and the rest are only contradictory if you take everything there as literally true, despite some of it fairly obviously being a kind of poetry or parable. Besides, an intelligent attitude to divine revelation would be that God's message is conveyed through human minds and voices, so is coloured by their perceptions and limitations. There are ideas in the later books of the Old Testament or in the New Yestament that couldn't have made sense to an ancient nomad. Consequently the concept of God develops through time. To recongnise that is not to deny the concept.<br /><br />It is a very selective analysis to say that churches have always been for prejudice - or the contradictory position that religious belief always follows the conventions of the time. Of course it's influenced by them - but there are many, many cases of religious movements challenging accepted things. Early Christianity undermined slavery by treating slaves as equals and in Britain, the Caribbean and the U.S., the anti-slavery movements were predominantly based on Christian religion. Sikhism in the Indian subcontinent rejected both caste and sexual inequality: that the latter now does appear among Sikhs shows the power of social convention to water down the challenging religious message, but the message is still there and can be and is quoted to challenge injustice. There are many other examples. Because religion is often powerful, of course rulers, from Roman emperors to Rupert Murdoch, often do their best to co-opt it; but today, many religious groups outside North America play a leading role in environmentalist movements that challenge the status quo.<br /><br />No, religions and churches are not just social clubs. At best, they're based on religious experience, and that's what your discussion doesn't engage with. Yes, there is much hypocrisy, as in politics and personal relations, but the concept of hypocrisy requires that there be something admirable and difficult the hypocrites are claiming to follow but not following.SibatheHathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04502557278669132803noreply@blogger.com