Search results for query: *

How do you clearly distinguish between violent Muslim terrorists and their victims? Including infants? Tom

It's all very confusing. I was talking about the distinction between why the crime was committed and not how successful the criminal was at commiting the crime. It was attempting to destroy my country by assassinating a Congress critter for political ideological reasons. Much as I don't...

The difference between what? What I am saying is that an attack on my country is in a different category from an attack on individuals or groups. The January 6 attack on the Electoral College is in a different category from a BLM attack on the businesses and people in an urban area, like...

How you managed to draw this conclusion from: It was the rise in secular ethics that resulted in a huge amount the ongoing cultural shifts going on at the time. But I can't help but notice how, despite Emancipation, the level of virulent racism amongst Christians continued, and continues to...

It's the motivation. Similar to why I have such a different attitude towards the January 6 attack and other such violence. It's an attack on my country. Not just an individual. Throw the book at them. As much as I despise Lauren Boebert I would have a similar opinion. An assassination attempt...

Neither pood nor I said that nobody cared about slavery. Only that not many people cared enough to go to war over it. Rescuing the Union by allowing slavery, at least at one point. But Lincoln was mainly playing a political game, like politicians tend to do. Do you remember the explanation...

No. It just wasn't fought for the reasons the victors gave. Any more than the US invasion of Iraq was to rescue Iraqis from Baathist tyranny. That's just a reason that sounds better than "To get control of Iraqi oil reserves and a place to put military installations to attack Iran from." That...

One won't generally find me agreeing with you, but here I do. The slavery back when Scripture was being created was very different from the horrors committed here in the past. It was often, even usually, more like modern "wage slavery". People stuck doing things that they don't want to do...

I have no reason to believe that a majority of Americans, most of whom were Christian, actually cared very much. But pretending that abolition is biblical is utterly absurd. Tom

Rather like abortion and other issues, Once you have an firm opinion, you can squint and hold your Bible sideways until you find something that supports your opinion. Tom

Because their ethics improved. Secular ethics grew rapidly, even amongst Christians, because they are both better and more rational. Why did slavery remain such a big thing in the Euro-Christian world for so long, and was so hard to get rid of? Honestly, I think that the reason that the...

Trying to read the minds of long dead people isn't really very sensible. But if, in fact, great grandpa had an issue with slavery it didn't come from the Scriptures. Far more likely it was the result of people adopting Enlightenment values and secular ethics. That included Christians in...

Yeah, I often have that problem myself. I have a habit of referring to religion when I am really meaning trinitarian Christianity. It's just so dominant around here. Tom

I try to avoid having firm opinions about such events, because it's too hard to get clear information. But, boy, that's sure what it looks like. Lots of politics, not much justice. Tom

I think so too. I think that the Confederacy would have become much more like Mexico. Tom

It's not to me, anymore. Christian folks are quite willing to accept the most horrible ethics if the ethics are to their advantage and come from a Christian authority. Modern American Christians are theists Writ Large. Tom

What are you blaming the dead guy for? Exactly. I'm not seeing it. Tom

It will be interesting to see how many posters criticize you for using the word "genocide". Tom

The difference I have described is that non-theist people don't justify their attitudes and misbehavior with "God says..." I've never suggested that non-theist people are morally or ethically better than theists, although I think that they are (slightly). Only, that theists have a reason for...

How brave of you to say so. Tom