Quote:
Originally Posted by shane88888
Since we're apparently in ****ty disingenuous mode, here's my response:
Like John Locke, author of The Reasonableness of Christianity?
I don't think I was being disingenuous. I'm not suggesting there's no thread that runs from Christianity through to modern society today. I'm fully aware that many of the foundational thinkers of the western ethos considered themselves devout Christians.
But I don't think the modern ethos has much in common with Christianity, aside from some basic ethical principles that are more or less found in all religion, and which predate religion, and which honestly predate
H. Sapiens altogether in their most basic tit-for-tat, social cohesion manifestations.
Again, you originally said:
Quote:
Christianity, the moral foundation of the most open and progressive societies in the world
I would argue that the "moral foundations for open and progressive societies" are precisely the notions that things are good which make us feel good, that we should do as we please without hurting others, that what we work for should be considered our own, that we should create societies that tolerate and accept others, and so forth. These are all ideas that came to dominate the zeitgeist from 1600+, and were generally pushing back against Christianity (and other religions).
There's a reason that when we study Locke in any history / philosophy / poli sci course, you're going to be studying his theory of natural appropriation, social justice, and so forth.
And to get back to this book, I think the title alone supports my claim. It seems to tacitly recognize that things which are not Reasonable are not Good. It is not called "The Christianity of Reason," and that's no accident.
(I've only just now read a basic cursory overview of the book, and it seems the book itself doesn't follow that line of argumentation exactly, but I just thought the title is an interesting insight into the times. Also, the book does appear to argue in favor of broad inclusion / acceptance within Christianity, which is rather contrary to it's more zealous origins as an institution).