Friday, August 22, 2008
The Unexamined Moral High Ground
Fay has been a bad for me. Way too much time on the computer has led me to actually comment on blogs that I normally only read because I’m busy actually going out and doing things. Since everything has been cancelled for days…here I am!
One of my recent discoveries since moving to Florida is the belief among many Fundamentalist Christians that they automatically have the moral high ground. My good friend back in Chicago, who calls herself an evangelical Christian and rejects the descriptor ‘fundamentalist’, explained to me that FC’s are more interested in dominion and less in love. Just aren’t that many FC’s on the ground in Chicago either according to her so my exposure was limited to what I saw on TV. Being a Florida homeschooler has been an eye opening experience.
I’ve never been comfortable with the concept of total moral relativity. As my dad said, “You don’t want to be so open-minded that your brains fall out.” And, as I’ve aged and had children, I’ve become far more comfortable with saying, “Your position is wrong. It’s vile. And I don’t want it near my kids.”
Sooo…I was at a homeschool blog and commented and pointed out that I found her traditional FC position to be immoral. Later I thought about what happened the first time I said something similar to an FC in person and wondered if the blogger was having the same, “But I’m a Christian, how can I be immoral compared to you?” moment.
FC’s tend to be shocked when I say I find their position lacking in morality. And I think this is due, in part, to the lack of examination of their positions. FC’s assume the Bible is morally flawless and by following it they can do no wrong. That assumption itself is at BEST amoral because it means FC’s have decided to abandon any moral compass of their own. At worst? We end up with lovely events like the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Holocaust (Just following orders/Nazi ideals, sir!), and the Cultural Revolution. The unexamined moral high ground is a very dangerous place.
Following a poorly educated, dimwitted, charismatic man who prides himself on anti-intellectualism makes one less, not more.
One of my recent discoveries since moving to Florida is the belief among many Fundamentalist Christians that they automatically have the moral high ground. My good friend back in Chicago, who calls herself an evangelical Christian and rejects the descriptor ‘fundamentalist’, explained to me that FC’s are more interested in dominion and less in love. Just aren’t that many FC’s on the ground in Chicago either according to her so my exposure was limited to what I saw on TV. Being a Florida homeschooler has been an eye opening experience.
I’ve never been comfortable with the concept of total moral relativity. As my dad said, “You don’t want to be so open-minded that your brains fall out.” And, as I’ve aged and had children, I’ve become far more comfortable with saying, “Your position is wrong. It’s vile. And I don’t want it near my kids.”
Sooo…I was at a homeschool blog and commented and pointed out that I found her traditional FC position to be immoral. Later I thought about what happened the first time I said something similar to an FC in person and wondered if the blogger was having the same, “But I’m a Christian, how can I be immoral compared to you?” moment.
FC’s tend to be shocked when I say I find their position lacking in morality. And I think this is due, in part, to the lack of examination of their positions. FC’s assume the Bible is morally flawless and by following it they can do no wrong. That assumption itself is at BEST amoral because it means FC’s have decided to abandon any moral compass of their own. At worst? We end up with lovely events like the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Holocaust (Just following orders/Nazi ideals, sir!), and the Cultural Revolution. The unexamined moral high ground is a very dangerous place.
Following a poorly educated, dimwitted, charismatic man who prides himself on anti-intellectualism makes one less, not more.
