Adrian:
See my earlier post to Jan regarding the basis for moral decisions.
Inasmuch as the NT disputes the OT, I don't think one must accept the
Bible as the only moral authority. I think I **do** use it as a
guidebook - but not as a book of laws. So how does that work in daily
life? An example...we have a young woman who received food and housing
from our organization (a Christian organization - or at least we think
we are). She spoke no English, so we had a Bilingual person come in to
help her. She came to us with a small child. So we set some guidelines
for her. If she wanted to stay in this country, she had to agree to
study English with the tutor we arranged for her who COMES TO THE HOUSE
WE GIVE HER so she doesn't have to leave her child. She has to refrain
from using alcohol or drugs on our property, and she cannot, absolutely
cannot, engage in sexual relations with anyone unless she becomes
married to that person. She must agree to take her child to the clinic
for medical care, which we pay for and drive her to. She must agree
upon mastering enough English to do so to take some kind of compensable
employment which we will help her find and during which we will provide
free day care.
We gave her one year to "get her act together."
What did she do? She moved into the house and accepted all the free
food and clothing. We also paid her utility bills. She refused to work
with the tutor, and also would not let the tutor teach her child
English. She "disappeared" when we arrived to take her child to the
clinic. We began to find empty bottles of alcohol and drug
paraphernalia about the house (also a terrifying legal concern for us).
We found out too late that she was allowing a married man to come to
our house to engage in sexual behavior with her, and that she was
pregnant. Nine months later she gave birth to twins. After three
months, we told her she would need to move out of our care, find someone
else to care for her, or perhaps move back to Mexico.
Hard? Cold? UnChristian? Call it what you will, but that house, that
food, that clothing, can be used for another person who WILL work with
us to become independent of us. The greatest gift we can give is not
the food or the house or the clothes. It is the ability to get one's
life together and to no longer need our help.
So I would say that the "Christian in me" says we should help people to
survive *for a while* and we should help them to become *fit* for a
while. But they must also participate. The only reason I can think of
for not "cutting off the aid" is if the person is so sick or disabled
that they cannot care for themselves.
BTW - it may or may not interest you to know that I am married to a
person who was born totally and permanently disabled. If everything had
been handed to him, I'm quite certain he would be a bloated slug today
parked in front of a television set in a day room. Instead, his mother
and I both pushed and prodded him all the way through his Ph.D. in
clinical psychology. He has maintained his own private practice for
over 20 years, drives a little, red Mustang GT, and is extremely
independent. I don't think he regrets it. (Although I did tell him
last night that some members of this list think I'm a demon, and he did
laugh and say, "Gee! And just from reading your little emails? If they
ever met you in person, they'd run screaming into the night!").
Lucy (Lucifer?)
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: [Fwd: RE: [Fwd: RE: [Fwd: RE: Darwinism/Compassion]]]
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 10:30:22 -0800
From: Adrian Teo <ateo@whitworth.edu>
To: 'Lucy Masters' <masters@cox-internet.com>, asa@calvin.edu
Lucy,
I have to be very careful here so as not to be misunderstood. What I
find inconsistent is your apparent reluctance to apply the bible as a
guide for moral decisions, and yet at the same time arguing that your
view is not unChristian, and perhaps also implying that it is more
Christian. I don't mean to imply that you are not a Christian and I have
no reason to doubt that you are, but I do think that there is a
fundamental inconsistency in your thought process. Both Christian
tradition and Scriptures are agreed on the evil of human death and the
necessity to protect the weakest among us, but you deny both. Perhaps
one could make a case as you do, that the notion of the sanctity of life
cannot be derive solely from the Bible, but the major councils of
Christianity have always taught that, or at least, have never denied
that life is an absolutely precious gift from God. Sure, Christians
historically have acted in ways contrary to this understanding, but then
Christians are susceptible to sin just like any one else. I am not a
biblical literalist as well, but neither do I reject the authority of
the bible.
Perhaps you wish to enlighten all of us about your basis for making
moral decisions?
Blessings,
Adrian.
-----Original Message-----
From: Lucy Masters [mailto:masters@cox-internet.com]
Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2002 8:41 AM
To: asa@calvin.edu
Subject: [Fwd: RE: [Fwd: RE: [Fwd: RE: Darwinism/Compassion]]]
Adrian:
I'm not sure what you find incoherent or inconsistent. It is merely
the application of reason. As far as morals are concerned, the
Bible is absolutely scandalous. I'm not sure how you derive a
morality of "life over death" by reading the Bible. ??? Thank
heavens I'm not a biblical literalist, or I'd be endorsing the
slaughtering of babes for tribal purposes.
Lucy
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