Whether you don’t do something bad, or you do something good, is an important philosophical distinction to make.
The easiest example, the one used a year ago in a philosophy class, is the question of lying.
If you live by the rule “Tell The Truth” then when anyone asks you something, no matter what the consequences of their having information would be, you tell it to them. If one man ran away from another one, ducked into a building, and the guy behind him (bearing a weapon and a murderous expression) asked where he went, you’d be obliged to point out the building.
If you live by the rule “Tell No Lies” then when anyone asks you something, you can first consider whether their intentions are honorable, and whether their having a particular piece of information would be good or not. In the case above of the thug, you couldn’t say you didn’t know, it’d be a lie. But you could say you wouldn’t tell him, or you wouldn’t help him, or you didn’t believe he had good intentions. Even better, you could avoid putting yourself at risk by running away without pointing out the building.
I want to record this because I’ve thought it was quite clever and insightful ever since I first heard it. I’ve always thought that this dichotomy might have implications in policy too. I can’t think of any right now though. Comments are welcome.
I don’t know if “Tell the Truth” means that you are required to comment. I’m not a huge fan of the “lie by omission” stance. If this were true than things like surprise parties would become “sinful” (whatever that means).
About my post: I should be clear that I am a student of the Reformation so the predestination (I like to call it Providence)point you made is spot on. I know this causes a lot of problems for people, especially when they look at the reign of Hitler and others. I’m not saying I know WHY rulers are put in power and do the things they do, but I don’t believe they are outside the power of God. This is the problem that a lot of Christians make. They point at things like the Holocaust and try to give a reason why God would do that. I’m sure you remember the slew of fundamentalists saying Hurricane Katrina was because of the sin of New Orleans. I’m not one of those. I’m a bit like you, I have no idea WHY things happen and don’t claim to. I just assume that no matter what happens its within the power of God. This is a point I take by faith and I don’t expect everyone to come to the same conclusion that I do. I think you’ll find that I am much nicer to non-Christians than I am to Christians.
Thanks for point out that this position could make people think that they need to support the status quo. In some ways, I think that is what the verse is saying. However, in America we have a document that tells us what the status quo is… the Constitution. Thats the point I was trying to make. Rule of law not rule of man. Jesus said, “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s.” It seems pretty status-quoish.
Basically, I’m just tired of Christians pushing for slavery in one way or another. In a libertarian society, people are free. If the Church did its job and genuinely convinced people that certain things were bad for whatever reason, then it wouldn’t matter if they were legal or not. Thats a bit more of the philosophical reasons why I think Christians should support freedom and liberty.
I support you and your agnosticism. Its not the answer I’ve come to (although I’ve been close many many many times), but as long as you are asking the tough questions, you’re actually way ahead of most Christians.
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