

The Distress of The Privileged - AndrewDucker
http://weeklysift.com/2012/09/10/the-distress-of-the-privileged/

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kstenerud
One thing the article misses is that a religion is so much more than mere
privilege.

In the Judaic religions, Yahweh/Allah/God/Jehovah does not lie. Every word he
utters is by definition true, and this means that his holy scriptures must
also be true. So, when something contradicts the word of a god that never
lies, how can it be seen as anything but an affront to that god?

The Judaic scriptures are very clear about their god's views on homosexuality
and marriage, so unless you manage to change those scriptures (fat chance),
any pressure your bring to bear on the adherents of that religion will cause a
backlash and counter-revolution.

In the end, the only thing that will work is to marginalize the more radical
groups to the point that they're no longer a powerful political entity (most
promisingly via population attrition from decent educations). They'll still
complain, but at least they'll be impotent.

"Privileged distress" is nothing compared to the full force of an organized
religion with an uncompromising god.

~~~
RyanMcGreal
And yet I regularly see Christians eating shrimp and wearing polycotton
blends. Go figure.

For some reason, even fundamentalist Christians are able to compartmentalize
some parts of the Bible (for example, they don't stone adulteresses in
Mississippi) while insisting loudly and continuously on the continued
enforcement of other selected parts.

This compartmentalization can also change over time, and thank goodness: as we
close the boxes we put around the Bible's advice on law and morality, our
society becomes progressively more humane and less barbaric and unjust.

Until quite recently, for example, slavery and racial segregation were openly
justified on Biblical grounds (go check it out: the Bible is extremely bullish
on slavery, even in the New Testament); yet today, not even the most ardent
American fundamentalist conservative would dare speak openly in support of
overturning the Thirteenth Amendment and reintroducing slavery.

Notwithstanding the counterswell of sporadic backslides into morally repugnant
Biblical morality - like "Stand Your Ground" laws that fundamentalist
Christians justify on Biblical arguments - the trend across industrialized
liberal democracies has been away from Stone Age morality and toward a
realization of Enlightenment values.

Even in America, the country is split between the more liberal, progressive
northern and coastal states and the retrograde South. It remains an open
question whether the two opposing strains can somehow converge on the
international norms of liberty, rationality and fairness. If not, one of two
outcomes seems likely: either the US will fracture into two jurisdictions, or
the anti-modern South will manage to drag the country into a new cultural dark
age.

~~~
inafield
If you're going to bring up slavery, you must also acknowledge that part of
the push to end slavery came from Christians who denounced slavery. This
started well before the Civil War and all of the economic implications of
stopping the Confederates from having an economy based on slavery.

~~~
RyanMcGreal
Yes, that's my point: Christians who compartmentalize their adherence to the
Bible are able to make progress in ethics and justice.

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norswap
An intelligent and sensible analysis of some tough situations that crop up
every day. We need more article like this.

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delinka
I know so many people that simply refuse to see an alternative point of view.
The only recourse I've personally ever had in a discussion with these people
is to simply remind them that other people have their lives to live the way
they see fit and then ask why is it anyone's business how they live it?

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yummyfajitas
_Cathy is suffering because people are saying bad things about him and
refusing to buy his sandwiches. Meanwhile, 29 states (including Self’s home
state of Louisiana) let employers fire gays for being gay._

I'm confused. In 50 states, people have the freedom not to buy what Cathy is
selling because they dislike him. In 29 states, people have the freedom not to
buy what Self is selling because they dislike him.

Who is oppressed here?

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cantastoria
Ah the ongoing Tumblr-fication of Hacker News.

Off topic no?

~~~
AndrewDucker
On topic: "anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity" (according to
the guidelines).

Also in the guidelines: "Please don't submit comments complaining that a
submission is inappropriate for the site."

