Atheism and the Good Life |
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Hi Greg,
Yes, Aristotle did argue about the nature of some people making them fit to be slaves. However, this comment reminds me of the Christian maxim about the speck in another's eye. Peter in his comment points to the Old Testament endorsement of slavery. Further, consider the verses Luke 12:47-48. In the New International translation, available at http://www.biblegateway.com, we see : 47 That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. Strange, to speak of treating a "servant" in this way, without criticising the fact that you feel inclined to beat the "servant" in the first place. Some feel that many references to "servant" in the bible should in fact be replaced with "slave". In fact, the Darby Translation has : 47 But that bondman who knew his own lord's will, and had not prepared [himself] nor done his will, shall be beaten with many [stripes]; 48 but he who knew [it] not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few. And to every one to whom much has been given, much shall be required from him; and to whom [men] have committed much, they will ask from him the more. And "bondman" does effectively mean "slave". Tell me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it, nowhere does Jesus rail against slavery as an institution in this world. He takes slavery for granted, using it as the basis for another point he is making. Now, yes along with some very intolerant statements (I can cite others), the Bible also contains positive messages. I acknowledge that. It is possible to draw a worthwhile personal moral synthesis from the Bible, but such a result is more through the efforts of the person doing the synthesis than the Bible itself. Just noting there are few positive passages in the Bible does not make it a positive document which is a valid moral foundation of itself. So, if you are to say Aristotle had his blind spot, so did Jesus. Jesus was a gifted individual who could see into the world around him and use metaphors which captured his audiences. His character does come through in the Bible. He said some useful things. But, like Aristotle, he was flawed and got some things wrong. With regard to your comment about Paul and his letter to the Galatian Church, I note that this is Paul - not Jesus - writing, and that this could be motivated by a desire to broaden the base for conversion by the Church rather than a radical statement about the equality of people, with many other actions by the Church showing intolerance. It seems strange that the claimed first appearance of such a sentiment, surrounded by such intolerant comment (including the endorsement of slavery) and behaviour would be held as significant. In any case, I only need find one other prior example of an equality that goes beyond religion or nationality in the Greco - Roman tradition. I anticipate Buddhism would yield this point readily, but the Greco-Roman tradition is what's under debate here. I'll see what research I can do and what my networks can come up with. Regards, John. (We ask that you please keep all comments to 200 words or less) |
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