Triumphed over the hostility of your ancestors. Any other questions?
Posted on 12/12/2004 12:21:53 PM PST by mac_truck
Students at one of the area's largest Christian schools are reading a controversial booklet that critics say whitewashes Southern slavery with its view that slaves lived "a life of plenty, of simple pleasures." Leaders at Cary Christian School say they are not condoning slavery by using "Southern Slavery, As It Was," a booklet that attempts to provide a biblical justification for slavery and asserts that slaves weren't treated as badly as people think.
Principal Larry Stephenson said the school is only exposing students to different ideas, such as how the South justified slavery. He said the booklet is used because it is hard to find writings that are both sympathetic to the South and explore what the Bible says about slavery.
"You can have two different sides, a Northern perspective and a Southern perspective," he said.
'SOUTHERN SLAVERY, AS IT WAS' Here are some excerpts from the booklet:
* "To say the least, it is strange that the thing the Bible condemns (slave-trading) brings very little opprobrium upon the North, yet that which the Bible allows (slave-ownership) has brought down all manner of condemnation upon the South." (page 22)
* "As we have already mentioned, the 'peculiar institution' of slavery was not perfect or sinless, but the reality was a far cry from the horrific descriptions given to us in modern histories." (page 22)
* "Slavery as it existed in the South was not an adversarial relationship with pervasive racial animosity. Because of its dominantly patriarchal character, it was a relationship based upon mutual affection and confidence." (page 24)
* "Slave life was to them a life of plenty, of simple pleasures, of food, clothes, and good medical care." (page 25)
(Excerpt) Read more at newsobserver.com ...
This school is at least attempting to expose their students to a variety of sources and viewpoints from which they may form their own opinions. This is in keeping with the philosophy of a classical education, something our public schools (sadly) seem to have moved away from.
The DOI taught that we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights among those life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The disciples of Jesus of Nazareth and the founders of our country were simply men. Being men, they were fallible and subject to the practical matters of the day. But they were also wrong in not condemning slavery, just as politicians today are wrong in allowing full term babies to be murdered.
There are absolute truths. Owning another human being is wrong. Murdering the innocent is wrong. Always was, always will be.
Thank you. I will do it now. It makes me feel dirty.
Ok, let's extend the enlightenment further. Not only will abortion be considered evil in the future but also the use of the pill for birth control -because- it makes the uterus inhospitable for any embryos who do manage to be created (a tiny part of the pill's effectiveness). In effect, the pill helps abort what would be a perfectly good embryo.
I don't know you but I would be surprised if you have not been involved in this effect at some point in your life. Do you consider yourself "evil" right now? How about being "evil" for even allowing for the potential abortion?
You "see many/most slaveholders" the way you do because your ancestors owned slaves. And guess what? They were evil, too.
Gosh, you know my ancestors on my father's side fought it out with Indians in Texas while scraping out an existence. They invaded and took the land. There's so much evil in my background that I better go to a headshrinker to resolve it...
What did your ancestors do?
That sounds a lot like relativism to me. You need to investigate before deciding whether slavery was wrong or not?
Triumphed over the hostility of your ancestors. Any other questions?
ouch!
"The discussion of slavery strikes me as nearly always nothing more than a tool for attacking, hating and slandering the American South."
There is something...disproportionate...about it.
Let's say we all agree that slavery is wrong, no matter how well the slaves are treated.
Then let's make an arbitrary scale of 1 to 100 for how poorly the slaves were treated, with 100 being the worst imaginable.
You can assert that the slaves were mistreated at a level of 90, or treated well at a level of 10, without any impact whatsoever on the first premise that slavery is wrong, no matter how well the slaves are treated.
So why, whenever somebody points to some historical evidence that the slaves were not generally mistreated at a level of 90, is there a contingent that tries to misrepresent that as "justifying slavery?"
Why are these people driven into a frenzy by claims that slaves were treated pretty well here or there, when we've already agreed that slavery is wrong? What end is served by a refusal to acknowledge historical reality, other than demonizing the South?
Yeah, there were two more questions in my post which you forgot to answer. The ones where people in the future will look back and judge you and your actions today.
The Old Testament has 10 commandments, the New Testament has one. Those eleven commandments are absolutes.
Anything outside of the eleven commandments is opinion or moral judgement. Call it relativism, call it wishy-washy, but that is the basis upon which I conduct my affairs.
Is slavery addressed by any of God's commandments? No. Does that mean I approve of slavery? No.
"It makes me feel dirty."
I know what you mean.
I got an e-mail spam the other day that...well, not to give too much information, but I'm just really glad I got to it before one of the kids.
You have to offer some type of proof of what I'm doing today that is against the laws of God, against my fellow man, and what I'm doing that contradicts the edicts set out from the foundation of this nation.
Check. Mate in two.
Is slavery addressed by any of God's commandments?"
Ummmm....love your neighbor as yourself?
Feel free to answer the questions in #104 if you'd like.
Based on the golden rule, slavery would be wrong.
Which one?
I assume you're implying you've never had sex with a woman on the pill.
My personal one had 120. I just hit delete and dump all save 4-5.
I'm glad your kids didn't get to it.
Perhaps they want to shut down the discussion out of fear that some people may seek to revitalize the institute of slavery. That fear may limit their ability to put it in its right historical perspective.
Alternatively, they may be pushing for reparations.
I see three question marks in post #104.
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