Why is the Western World incapable of accepting other beliefs? And I don’t just mean beliefs of other cultures or countries. We have differences amongst ourselves, too.
A certain group of people more likely to be found in the US, fundamentalist right wing Christians, are often looked upon by the rest of the world as “crazy Christians” or some other general term for nut-jobs. But who is to say that what these people believe isn’t right?
For example, they believe that abortion is wrong. I’m making unfounded sweeping generalisations here, but I’d confidently say that a majority of the British public would disagree. Brits, and many on the left of the US political sphere, believe that people should have the right to choose. A common argument is, “what if a woman has been raped? She should surely have the option to abort her unborn child.” But our so-called “nutjob” friends stateside would counter-argue this. A study published by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life concluded, “70 percent of younger white evangelicals favor ‘making it more difficult for a woman to get an abortion”. Their general belief is that God has given this child to the earth and that it should be given the chance to live, wether or not mom has been the victim of a crime. Whatever your own views on the subject, I am 99% sure that you are firm on your position; either you believe that abortion is wrong, or is right, under the right circumstances. But my point today is that, evangelicals will never be able to accept the leftist “hippy” way of thinking on this subject. And likewise, I believe it is equally as hard for a pro-choice person to understand why right wingers are quite so against it.
This opens a massive, endless, and correct-answer-less discussion about morality. Having posed this question on Twitter (@dougmcmuffin) earlier, I got some interesting responses. I wanted to know why society seems to so quickly change what they believe is right and wrong. @mrwhitepaisley said “the concept of right and wrong is not a ‘natural’ thing at all but a construct that changes depending on culture and time.” I agreed with him, believing that what we think about homosexual rights in the United Kingdom varies massively from what the public and government in Uganda believes, as we recently saw in Scott Mill’s’ documentary, “The World’s Worst Place To Live”. What is considered morally wrong in each of these countries is like night and day. But perhaps that’s because Uganda is largely religious and Britain is a country with a growing number of Atheists (2004 YouGov poll suggests that 56% surveyed were not believers of any god); even the current Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg is proudly non-religious. So, I was wrong. It’s not just a Western problem. Most of the Ugandans featured in Mill’s’ documentary seemed to have a strict “no homo” policy, and the way that that community were discussed was entirely negative.
I’ve always thought that I’ve been lucky to grow up in Scotland. I’m not American, I don’t think like a stereotypical American, “America rulez,” nor am I in a poverty stricken country, or one that has extreme views on a particular group of people. I was born in a country in which women have the right to vote, abort children and in which gays have the right to marry (in all but name) and adopt, should they wish. Incredible. Or at least I think so. Ever wonder how many Ugandan ex-pats live in the Scotland? Yes, Me too. I’d imagine about as many as there are Scot’s living in Uganda. It’s not desirable for someone to totally remove themselves and relocate to another culture. It’s hard.
@cathgoesforawalk on Twitter added to the argument, saying, “What is ACCEPTED as right and wrong changes, what is actually right and wrong can still be a constant.” This is valid where we see the progression of attitudes to homosexuals in the UK, where it took from 1967 until 2001 for the consent age to be made equal to that of opposite sex relations. The Bible disagrees for sexual relations between two men (Leviticus 18:22), and so did the British Government, it seems, until 1967. So what is accepted within a culture does change, so is Cath right? Does what is actually right and wrong stay constant? Christians, who believe the word of God will tell you that, yes, that is the case. Non Christians will tell us that a greater understanding of a given subject will lead to a more moral decision being made. I would argue that homosexual rights, having gone through a tough several hundred year battle – are now equal and liberal, can only be seen as a positive thing; on the correct side of morality. Whereas most Christians are on the opposite corner, instead arguing that homosexuality has always been, and still is wrong. So who the heck is right?
Let’s consider mental illness.
Colonial Americans ,"believed to cure an individual it was necessary to undergo cathartic medical treatment, and to either catalyze crisis or expel crisis from the individual. Such medical procedures involved submerging patients in ice baths until they lost consciousness or executing a massive shock to the brain." Now, America is one of the leading countries in helping to diagnose, treat and integrate those afflicted with mental disabilities into the community. The same has happened in the United Kingdom. But Christians have always believed that people with mental illnesses have been equal. Adam and Eve have of course, passed their imperfections down through the generations, and mental impairments are considered as one of those imperfections. And God still loved Adam and Eve, even though they were partial to a nice juicy bit of fruit. So in this instance, the Christian constant argument holds steady.
It’s hard to pick sides. I know where I stand, and so do you. But imagine a world where we could fully accept someone else’s beliefs; not just understand them, because I think we are ultimately all capable of that (or at least pretending!)
This blog was never meant to answer a question, but rather POSE one. If you want to add to the discussion, then please get in touch via twitter (@dougmcmuffin), or indeed as a response down below.
All the countries used were examples to highlight the argument, and I don’t mean to offend. If I have, I’ve just proven my point. Also, forgive any factual errors, and interpretation of the Bible is still a matter of contention, even within the Christian community. Which I guess is ironic really.
A certain group of people more likely to be found in the US, fundamentalist right wing Christians, are often looked upon by the rest of the world as “crazy Christians” or some other general term for nut-jobs. But who is to say that what these people believe isn’t right?
For example, they believe that abortion is wrong. I’m making unfounded sweeping generalisations here, but I’d confidently say that a majority of the British public would disagree. Brits, and many on the left of the US political sphere, believe that people should have the right to choose. A common argument is, “what if a woman has been raped? She should surely have the option to abort her unborn child.” But our so-called “nutjob” friends stateside would counter-argue this. A study published by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life concluded, “70 percent of younger white evangelicals favor ‘making it more difficult for a woman to get an abortion”. Their general belief is that God has given this child to the earth and that it should be given the chance to live, wether or not mom has been the victim of a crime. Whatever your own views on the subject, I am 99% sure that you are firm on your position; either you believe that abortion is wrong, or is right, under the right circumstances. But my point today is that, evangelicals will never be able to accept the leftist “hippy” way of thinking on this subject. And likewise, I believe it is equally as hard for a pro-choice person to understand why right wingers are quite so against it.This opens a massive, endless, and correct-answer-less discussion about morality. Having posed this question on Twitter (@dougmcmuffin) earlier, I got some interesting responses. I wanted to know why society seems to so quickly change what they believe is right and wrong. @mrwhitepaisley said “the concept of right and wrong is not a ‘natural’ thing at all but a construct that changes depending on culture and time.” I agreed with him, believing that what we think about homosexual rights in the United Kingdom varies massively from what the public and government in Uganda believes, as we recently saw in Scott Mill’s’ documentary, “The World’s Worst Place To Live”. What is considered morally wrong in each of these countries is like night and day. But perhaps that’s because Uganda is largely religious and Britain is a country with a growing number of Atheists (2004 YouGov poll suggests that 56% surveyed were not believers of any god); even the current Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg is proudly non-religious. So, I was wrong. It’s not just a Western problem. Most of the Ugandans featured in Mill’s’ documentary seemed to have a strict “no homo” policy, and the way that that community were discussed was entirely negative.
I’ve always thought that I’ve been lucky to grow up in Scotland. I’m not American, I don’t think like a stereotypical American, “America rulez,” nor am I in a poverty stricken country, or one that has extreme views on a particular group of people. I was born in a country in which women have the right to vote, abort children and in which gays have the right to marry (in all but name) and adopt, should they wish. Incredible. Or at least I think so. Ever wonder how many Ugandan ex-pats live in the Scotland? Yes, Me too. I’d imagine about as many as there are Scot’s living in Uganda. It’s not desirable for someone to totally remove themselves and relocate to another culture. It’s hard.
@cathgoesforawalk on Twitter added to the argument, saying, “What is ACCEPTED as right and wrong changes, what is actually right and wrong can still be a constant.” This is valid where we see the progression of attitudes to homosexuals in the UK, where it took from 1967 until 2001 for the consent age to be made equal to that of opposite sex relations. The Bible disagrees for sexual relations between two men (Leviticus 18:22), and so did the British Government, it seems, until 1967. So what is accepted within a culture does change, so is Cath right? Does what is actually right and wrong stay constant? Christians, who believe the word of God will tell you that, yes, that is the case. Non Christians will tell us that a greater understanding of a given subject will lead to a more moral decision being made. I would argue that homosexual rights, having gone through a tough several hundred year battle – are now equal and liberal, can only be seen as a positive thing; on the correct side of morality. Whereas most Christians are on the opposite corner, instead arguing that homosexuality has always been, and still is wrong. So who the heck is right?
Let’s consider mental illness.
Colonial Americans ,"believed to cure an individual it was necessary to undergo cathartic medical treatment, and to either catalyze crisis or expel crisis from the individual. Such medical procedures involved submerging patients in ice baths until they lost consciousness or executing a massive shock to the brain." Now, America is one of the leading countries in helping to diagnose, treat and integrate those afflicted with mental disabilities into the community. The same has happened in the United Kingdom. But Christians have always believed that people with mental illnesses have been equal. Adam and Eve have of course, passed their imperfections down through the generations, and mental impairments are considered as one of those imperfections. And God still loved Adam and Eve, even though they were partial to a nice juicy bit of fruit. So in this instance, the Christian constant argument holds steady.It’s hard to pick sides. I know where I stand, and so do you. But imagine a world where we could fully accept someone else’s beliefs; not just understand them, because I think we are ultimately all capable of that (or at least pretending!)
This blog was never meant to answer a question, but rather POSE one. If you want to add to the discussion, then please get in touch via twitter (@dougmcmuffin), or indeed as a response down below.
All the countries used were examples to highlight the argument, and I don’t mean to offend. If I have, I’ve just proven my point. Also, forgive any factual errors, and interpretation of the Bible is still a matter of contention, even within the Christian community. Which I guess is ironic really.
