Are we making moral progress? 9-26-12
September 26, 2012
The other day in a Bible study group I help to lead, the reading of chapter 4 of Ephesians led us into a discussion of whether we think human beings have progressed any -- in terms of morals, ethics and sinlessness -- in the last 4,000 or so years.
Exhibit A for the side that believes we've made little or no progress was the murder story then being recounted in this well-written and well-researched series in The Kansas City Star, "Killer Love." Briefly, it's about a Baptist pastor from Independence, Mo., who had a 10-year affair with a woman in his church and who, eventually, murdered that woman's husband.
I know. It whiplashes your spirit, doesn't it. The affair, of course, was bad enough and a clear indication that the man was morally unfit for the gospel ministry.
But murder? Oh, and did I mention that the pastor -- before he was arrested -- also led the funeral service for the man he killed? (For some reason the insane image of Lee Harvey Osward presiding over JFK's funeral enters my cranium.)
Well, the answer to the question of human moral progress is not a simple yes or no. Is it not a good moral thing and evidence of progress that we abolished slavery? Is it not an immoral thing that modern slavery, often called human trafficking, is still with us?
Is it not a good moral thing that women in the U.S. increasingly are liberated from the bonds of oppression (including being forbidden from voting)? Is it not an immoral thing that women continue to be raped (please avoid Rep. Todd Akin's take on this) and that they continue to be exploited sexually in many ways?
But the "Killer Love" series, describing a pastor's murderous affair (the pastor, by the way, has the unlikely name of David Love), is a reminder of why, in Christianity, we have a doctrine called the Total Depravity of Humankind. The doctrine doesn't contend that humans are completely incapable of good works but it does suggest we are entangled in a web of sin from which we are unable to extricate ourselves without help.
I found particularly revealing a section in part 2 of the newspaper series that reported this about Love and his mistress, Teresa Stone:
As they sought to understand their love, David Love reminded Teresa Stone of the biblical King David, Israel’s warrior king who demonstrated that no man’s depravity was beyond God’s forgiveness.
He was not even above murder, the pastor observed. King David, for example, orchestrated the death of Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, so he could take her as his wife.
“And God still blessed him,” David told Teresa.
Oh, my. Talk about terrible theology. Well, it's what we might expect from someone who is, after all, human -- as are we all and, thus, equally capable of such twisted thinking.
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IS THIS A FAIR FIGHT?
Ladies and gentlemen, in this corner, Pope Benedict XVI, who says traditional male-female marriage must be defended. And in this corner, uh, well, Lady Gaga, who says same-sex marriage is a "must" and that what the pope thinks doesn't much matter. In the long run, I'm betting not on the one with the most power but the one with the cans as rollers in her hair. Go figure.
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P.S.: Dr. Nancy Claire Pittman, who teaches at Phillips Theological Seminary, will speak on "Revelation for the Rest of Us" at 7 p.m. Friday as part of a two-day "Faith Life Connections" event at Community Christian Church, 4601 Main, Kansas City. For reservations (including a $15 lunch Saturday) and details go to the website I've given you here or call the church at 816-561-6531.
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