General Discussions

[PaulP]

I don't disagree with where you are coming from, but this argument doesn't work.

Simply there are too many causes that people should be vocal about. If we were as front footed as you suggest, society would crumble because everyone would be protesting 24/7 for various causes...

Apathy does not equal opposition.

I think there is more than enough time to do your bit, even with the plethora of causes that exist in what is IMO a broken world. You don't have to give your life to a cause, but there are plenty of things to be done, even if they're only small.

Being apathetic to, for example the Manly jumper issue, is clearly not as bad as being blatantly hostile and violent to gays, but neither does it help. And I would argue sitting on the fence does more harm than good. Think of the Germans who turned a blind, apathetic eye to the plight of the Jews during WWII. You could perhaps understand their reluctance, given that any opposition would likely result in death. But those circumstances don't exist any longer, which is why I don't understand the resistance to the Pride jumper.

There's a lot of bad theology going around, and it does a lot of harm. The various rules, beliefs, do's and don'ts have some basis in practical reason. For example the various rules in Leviticus banning sex with your mother and other family members. These strike us weird and unnecessary. But in their time and place, they made sense. People lived a very hand to mouth existence, sometimes nomadic in small isolated communities. Travel and contact with others were limited. The temptation to fulfill one's sexual desires with whomever was available (typically family or close relative) was both strong and obvious. Hence the rules.

Similarly, we need to understand that these people lived at a time of short life span and high infant mortality. The leaders and elders of the communities understood that replenishing and increasing the population was of paramount importance. Hence, not only were girls sent off to marry a man as soon as they were able to conceive, but rules and beliefs were built around this need for more "bums on seats." It should come as little surprise that things that interfered with this were actively discouraged - things like divorce, abortion, contraception, homosexuality all reduced reproduction potential. These rules and beliefs were not just plucked out of thin air.

I support neither the wholesale rejection of the Bible, nor its wholesale endorsement. But we must understand the why and the time and place, and not just accept things lazily and blindly.