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Greetings:<br><br>
Another Cary, NC/ Moscow link. Remember John Guyer, erstwhile
Moscow City Councilman and naysayer on Darwin and female breasts?
(I was always envious of him because I wanted my last name to be spelled
as his is.) Well, he is the only elder at Christ Church, Cary
NC. Does that mean that the only person they can trust in a
position of church authority is a carpetbagger from Idaho?<br><br>
Several people apparently have no problem with the position paper on
teaching slavery at Cary Christian School that I posted recently.
Here is my response and the response of a former school
supporter:<br><br>
My beef with Wilson has always been an intellectual and scholarly one.
Wilson cannot honestly defend the distinctions and positions that have
made their way into this Position Statement. By the way, I don't think he
is a racist and I've never called him one.<br><br>
Wilson cannot defend the distinction between Hebrew and pagan slavery. In
both slaves could, under certain conditions, win their freedom and under
both slaves could, in some instances, be killed with impunity. Wilson
wishes that he could say that Hebrew masters would never have had sex
with their slaves, but that is dashed by Abraham bedding Hagar.
<br><br>
As far as revolution versus reformation, the coming of the Kingdom of
God, as the Jews and early Christians saw it, was not a gradual
reformation and those who believe in the Rapture today are pretty
revolutionary in my book. I suppose that Wilson & Co. would
have been against the American Revolution, even though evangelicals such
as he would have been on the yoke of an established Episcopalian
Church.<br><br>
And please note the equivocation and moral relativism on slavery. Is it
wrong or is it right? If the Bible condones it, it must be OK. So why
should a slave society reform? This was exactly the position of Souther
slave owners. They saw themselves as good Christian masters, and they had
no plans to give up their privileged positions of power.<br><br>
I could go on, but this is pure Wilsonian sophistry--very clever but also
very transparent.<br><br>
One of the former supporters of the school has plenty to say about the
statement and I have appended his response below. Also another teacher
was called to the principal's office and told that she must read and
teach Wilson's books in the classroom. She had presumably written up
different lesson plans according to her own intentions. <br><br>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica">Dear CCS, or Doug Wilson if you wrote this,
<br><br>
Thanks so much for your retraction of the book and clarifying your
current position on topic of slavery. I do have a few comments and
questions for further clarification. <br><br>
<b>Preamble:<br><br>
</b>This statement is intended to provide direction to any CCS
schoolteacher who in the course of his or her duties at CCS is addressing
the subject of slavery. In the course of directing class discussion, we
would like the teachers to bring the students to the following
conclusions. <br><br>
Comment: <i>I thought CCS wanted to expose students to various views of a
topic to allow them to form their own conlcusions. What happened to
that?</i> <br><br>
<b>Purpose:<br><br>
</b>The students should be taught that the reason for studying this issue
is to remain faithful to the teaching of scripture. By seeing how
obedience to scripture could quite possibly have protected our fathers
(both North and South) from a costly and bloody war, had they only
obeyed, we may be assured of the importance of submitting to the
scriptures when it comes to our controversies (e.g. abortion,
homosexuality), whatever the unbelieving world may say about them.
<br><br>
Question: <i>If slavery is acknowledged to be a sinful institution why do
the students need to study a book that describes it in a positive light.
What books are used to show the positive side of abortion, homosexuality
and other such behaviors they find repulsive and sinful in the world?</i>
<br><br>
<b>Slave Trade:<br><br>
</b>Students should learn that the slave trade was an abomination, and
that those evangelicals in England who led the fight against it are
rightly considered heroes of the faith. The Bible clearly rejects the
practice of slave trading (1 Timothy 1:10, Ex. 21:16). In a just social
order, slave trading could rightly be punished with death. <br><br>
Comment: <i>Really, so Abraham Lincoln had nothing to do with it stopping
it.</i> <br><br>
<b>Hebrew Slavery and Pagan Slavery:<br><br>
</b>The students should recognize the difference between slavery
regulated by the Mosaic Law, that is, a slavery that was little more than
an indentured servant-hood, and slavery as it existed in a pagan empire
such as Rome. In ancient Israel, it was the duty of those who feared God
to simply obey the law as God gave it. But when the existing law was that
of an unbelieving pagan order, it was the duty of Christians living
within that system to follow biblical instructions carefully so that the
Word of God would not be blasphemed (1 Timothy 6:1). <br><br>
Question: <i>What is the purpose of this distinction in the context of
studying slavery? How does this relate to slavery as practiced in the
United States? Did it follow the pagan or Hebrew model? How is such a
sophisticated distinction related to middle school students?</i>
<br><br>
<b>Racism:<br><br>
</b>The students should know that as a matter of biblical principle, and
as an integral part of our official school position, we denounce every
form of racism, racial animosity or racial vainglory. God created man in
His own image, and has made from one blood all the nations of the earth
(Acts 17:26). We believe firmly that in the gospel God has reversed the
curse of Babel, and that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, male
or female, slave or free, black or white, Asian or Hispanic (Galatians
3:28). <br><br>
Comment: <i>Unfortunate that this was not made clear before. Now people
as far away as Southeast Asia on the other side of the world think Cary
Christian School is a hot bed of racism and neo confederates.</i>
<br><br>
<b>Slavery as an Institution:<br><br>
</b>Christ died on the cross to set all men free from their sins, and all
forms of external slavery build on the bedrock of slavery to sin.
Therefore, the logic of the Great Commission requires the eventual death
of slavery as an institution in every place where it might still exist.
While Christian slaves were commanded to work hard for their masters,
Christian slaves were also told to take any lawful opportunity for
freedom (1 Cor. 7:20-24). This indicates that slavery as an institution
is inconsistent with the fundamental spirit of the gospel, and as such it
should be considered a sinful institution generally, one that invited the
judgment of God. <br><br>
Comment: <i>Read the verse in Corinthians again. It does not say
"seek any <b><u>lawful </u></b>opportunity for freedom". It
just says: "if you can gain your freedom, do so". <br><br>
</i><b>Reformation or Revolution:<br><br>
</b>The godly pattern of social renewal is never revolution. The
revolutionary insists on immediate action, through coercive, bloody, and
political means. In contrast, the work of the gospel is done as silently
as yeast working through the loaf, and the end result is liberation from
sin, love for God, and love for one?s neighbor. This love for neighbor
necessitates the recognition that in Christ there is neither Jew nor
Greek, slave or free, male or female, white or black (Galatians 3:28).
But those revolutionaries who are impatient in their spirits always
refuse God?s teaching in such matters. They are proud and ignorant,
loving verbal strife, envy, railing, and perverse disputes (1 Timothy 6:
3-5). <br><br>
Comment: <i>The Christian slave holders had over 200 years to reform and
rid their society of slavery. Apparently God was not pleased with their
slow progress and allowed a war to occur as result</i>. <i>Why don't you
let this yeast work in you and drop this effort. Why do we hear the
Slavery booklet will be reprinted and perhaps used again with proper
footnotes etc. Are you kidding What is the point now? <br><br>
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