Sunday, May 22, 2016

Reactionary Christians and Human Progress

There are so many things we take for granted today that fundamentalist Christians opposed once upon a time before they could no longer withstand the wave of change or just plain died out.
For example, Christians who were part of the abolition movement were largely progressive - the kind Falwell(s), Pat Robertson, et. al. love(d) to demonize and deplore.
Conversely, you can find much in the historical record of Southern Baptists and other fundamentalists (not all southern) denouncing abolition as evil and anathema to God's will.
The moral of the story? Fundamentalists should be the last ones in the world to be trusted to judge what kind of change is worthy of human dignity and progress.
For those who haven't read it, I recommend "A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom" by Andrew Dickson White, the founder of Cornell University, in 1896.
It outlines example after example of how reactionary/conservative Christians opposed science (just one area of human knowledge). When you read the examples, it will remind just how far we have come despite the persistent presence of religious reactionary forces.
Obviously, the book only takes you up to the 20th century, and I'm sure other authors have documents plenty of examples since then. But, it's a good place to start to get some historical perspective on fundamentalism's anti-progress role through the ages.

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