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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Gee Joe, you are really
putting me “a bit on the spot” here! :-)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>You Write:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>“I asked you a few
questions. Let me rephrase two of them:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Do you, Michael, think that
(a) the bible “says” that slavery is sometimes justifiable, and (b)
that slavery is, in fact, sometimes justifiable?”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Me:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>I wish I could answer these
questions with either a ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ but I’m
not comfortable with how they are framed. I also think the issues might be more
complex than these answers assume. Scripturally, slavery of any form is a
result of the fall of man, and the eradication of slavery of all forms is the
goal of the history of redemption. But the kingdom of heaven is not like a
nuclear bomb, it is more like a mustard seed or like leaven. The Lord
eradicated all violence (and I assume slavery) with the flood and recreated a
new world with Noah, but the ultimate recreation of the world then falls to
Abram, and then Joseph’s Egypt, and then Israel wandering in the desert.
First, slavery is almost fully eradicated from <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region>,
since they “were once slaves in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region></st1:place>, but have been set
free.” Consider too that God had His special people enslaved in <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> for the
ultimate freedom of the entire world. And this redemptive history is the
context in which we see ‘law’ or ‘moral obligations’
from God. The law of God must be seen as part of the way God was saving the
world; law is not some abstract, timeless code in the sky. It is the Lord
disciplining His children and revealing his holiness; and Paul tells us that
His children have grown to a new maturity in Jesus, which had profound effects
in how the ‘law’ was to function. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>And I think the issue is
even far more complicated than just this; there really isn’t such a thing
as two tight categories of Slavery and Non-Slavery. There is the slavery of
the ancient world which treated men as worse than beasts, which might be
similar to the slavery of African trading (although if a man is at least a
commodity, it might fair a little better for him). Then there are more mild
forms of slavery, such as what you might still find in <st1:country-region
w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region> after she was freed from <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region></st1:place>;
this might be somewhat voluntary or temporary, and include the other general
protections of law. Then there is the sort of slavery that is financial; debt
and poverty can easily enslave men. But this was to be eradicated in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region></st1:place>
through brotherly giving, and other provisions from which we have received our
bankruptcy law. The mild forms of slavery were permitted in much the same way
as polygamy or divorce was permitted. Polygamy was finally entirely
unacceptable for the new people of God after the Incarnation. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Regarding the slavery of
poverty and debt, we can see clearly how complex the issues still are in our
own time; but when the knowledge of the Lord covers the entire earth, we would
expect this to be almost entirely done away with through love. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Next in line you have class
status, which is certainly a minor form of slavery: Jew and Gentile, Man and
Woman, Absolute Ruler and Subject. And you have the absence of “liberty
of conscience” that the world hardly knew of until the separation of
church and state that John Calvin fought for, and grew in Calvinist countries.
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>So I don’t think the
issue is as simple as the above questions seem to imply.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>You Wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>“To even suggest that
slavery is anything other than always morally wrong presents a real moral
problem, in my humble opinion.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Me:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Well, I think my comments
above might address some of your concern here; but if you could fill out the
moral dilemma a bit more, I might be in a better position to engage with it. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>You Wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>“What I really have a
problem with is how a young, intelligent man like yourself could think that
“homosexuality” is morally worse than someone even suggesting that
slavery in America was “not so bad" in a town with at least one
African-American resident?”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Me:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>There seem to be a couple
problems with this way of setting up the problem. First, the “not so
bad” seems to be a misquote from the Wilson/Wilkins position. I think
their position would be better stated as “not so bad as we have been told
by those who won the war.” But perhaps you could offer a citation to
clarify.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Second, I don’t think
your point is best served by the way you set this up. The problem you have is
with me merely “thinking” something about homosexuality. Further,
all I’m supposedly thinking is that homosexuality is worse than “someone
even suggesting” a point of view that you find problematic. The way you
set it up forces me to agree. I think homosexuality is worse than
“someone suggesting” a bad point of view. I don’t think
people should be condemned or rebuked for “suggesting” a point of
view shared by many historical scholars. This looks even more tame when added
to the fact that it is merely my “thinking” this is true that is
your problem. But I suspect you have a more serious critique in mind, so
please do clarify. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>You Wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>‘Is being nice, and
courteous, and considerate of the feelings of others the same thing as
“political correctness”? Or is it just one attempt to exhibit a
life of love and compassion?”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Me:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Actually I think
‘political correctness’ is somewhat value neutral; when
‘political correctness’ becomes a problem, the problem would be proportional
to the level of statism in a society. There will always be norms and values in
a given society; the question is how much pain results from the hand of the
political power or the masses toward an individual dissenting from these norms
and values. Whether Sally is right or wrong, or whether the standards of
‘correctness’ in Sally’s society are right or wrong, it will
not be enjoyable for Sally to challenge these standards. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Thanks!<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Michael Metzler<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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