In an ongoing theological exchange I wish there would be less fussing over intellectual positioning and more attention to the strength of a core that is both vibrant and vulnerable to abuse.
Neither side can point today to an existing perfect society of equality and justice based on deity belief or nonbelief. Arguing in abstract about what doesn’t exist seems to me more exercise in posture than it is useful.
On the other hand a person can trace the roots of Liberal desires for justice and fairness to some elements in Judeo Christian practice. In simple, we have a justice system that includes rehabilitation along with punishment because there is an underlying faith in the perfectibility and redemption of human kind. Whether a person accepts any faith doesn’t matter for the result to be apparent in culture and society.
On the other other-hand Conservative desires for individual accountability and freedom of action stem from underlying faith in human accountability and belief that the exercise of free will is more than a matter of following orders for fear of facing unpleasant social consequences.
One side castigating the other for being imperfect is in my view simple dogmatism. It seems to me we have more in common and more important things to focus on than positions of fundamentalism in faith, agnosticism or atheism.
Be glad we come from a base that allows discussion and conflict. And be glad that you and I can look at “political/theological” exchanges as we might look at a long portage where we decide whether to carry forward with a 40-pound pack full of peaceful intent or one loaded with rancor.
Harry Drabik
Hovland
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