Dear visionaries,
Susanna has outed me. Was that nice? I ask you.
First things first: she says, “In my ‘simplistically relativist’ world some things are always wrong . . .”
I do not want to say that anything was wrong with your history courses, but something was seriously askew in your philosophy and ethics study. “Relativism” and “some things are always wrong” go together like whiskey and ice cream. If relativism, then nothing is always wrong. If some things are always wrong, BWS?
And, “cowardly” though I am, I will venture a few comments with regard to slave-ownership:
1. I believe that all men have a Master in heaven;
2. I believe that chattel slavery is the result of sin;
3. I believe that racially based slavery is sin;
4. I believe that Christ sets men free from sin, and thus from slavery in principle;
5. I believe that Christians are required to work diligently, honestly and humanely for the freedom of men, women, and children from every form of slavery;
6. I believe that slave-trading deserves the death penalty;
7. I believe that according to the New Testament, it is possible for Christians in slave-owning societies to own slaves under certain limited circumstances without sin, provided they remember points 1-6 above.
“Apologetics in the Void” are repostings from an on-going electronic discussion and debate I had some time ago with members of our local community, whose names I have changed. The list serve is called Vision 20/20, and hence the name “visionaries.” Reading just these posts probably feels like listening to one half of a phone conversation, but I don’t feel at liberty to publish what others have written. But I have been editing these posts (lightly) with intelligibility in mind.