Tom Sheppard2/14/2021
Kudos for Christianity
Because Christianity has dominated European and American
cultures so thoroughly and for some many centuries we often focus on current
shortcomings and fail to see what massively good changes it has made in our
world.
Psychologist and philosopher Dr. Jordan B Peterson, in his
book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote for Chaos points out five important and
truly good changes Christianity has made in our world.
KUDO #1 We are all equal before God
Christian
doctrine elevated the individual soul, placing slave and master and commoner
and nobleman alike on the same metaphysical footing, rendering them equal
before God and the law…. Whatever its limitations, the development of such
doctrine prevented king, aristocrat and wealthy merchant alike from lording it
morally over the commoner.
Peterson, Jordan B.. 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (Kindle
Locations 3614-3615). Random House of Canada. Kindle Edition.
The United States of America was founded on the notion that “All
men are created equal…” History shows that
such an idea was totally the opposite of the prevailing political thoughts of
the day. At the time of our nation’s
founding the principle of the “divine right of kings” and the ideas that aristocrats
were put in place by God as his proxies to govern their subjects were the
prevailing doctrines of governments, almost without exception, all over the world.
Peterson makes this point as well:
[Christianity’s]
metaphysical conception of the implicit transcendent worth of each and every
soul established itself against impossible odds as the fundamental
presupposition of Western law and society.
Peterson, Jordan B.. 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (Kindle
Locations 3620-3621). Random House of Canada. Kindle Edition.
KUDO #2 We have individual worth outside of any collective
Granted, Christianity failed to enshrine this concept into
government until the rise of the United States of America, and so people suffered
for nearly 1,800 years. This simply
highlights what a remarkable and highly principled group of men set out to draft
the documents guiding the foundation of this nation and those who fought for
its founding. They were united in their
belief that the monarch was no better before God than any of them.
KUDO #3 Government exists to protect our individual rights
Christianity
made explicit the surprising claim that even the lowliest person had rights,
genuine rights— and that sovereign and state were morally charged, at a
fundamental level, to recognize those rights.
Peterson, Jordan B.. 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (Kindle
Locations 3628-3629). Random House of Canada. Kindle Edition.
In the Declaration of Independence the phrase that immediately
follows the statement of equality of all come the statement that God has given
us individual rights. We “… and are
endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights.”
The notion that people have rights which are not granted to
them by their government but came instead directly and individually from God
further undermined the prevailing political order which had governed nearly
every nation in history before then, and most of those which came after, even
up to our present day. Further, the assertion
that every individual had those rights regardless of their social standing, or
political leanings, was a slap in the face to the prevailing orders. Finally, the idea that governments had a
moral obligation to recognize and protect those individual rights established
the legitimate bounds beyond which government should not go and the legitimate
purposes which it could, with God’s support, pursue.
KUDO #4 Slavery is bad
Christianity
put forward, explicitly, the even more incomprehensible idea that the act of
human ownership degraded the slaver (previously viewed as admirable nobility)
as much or even more than the slave.
Peterson, Jordan B.. 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (Kindle
Locations 3629-3631). Random House of Canada. Kindle Edition.
During these days when the cry of “systemic racism” is
rampant it is worth noting that Christianity has quietly done the most good
towards eliminating systemic racism than any other world religion. It expressly elevated the inherent worth of
the soul of the slave to the same level as that of the master. Further, in the face of millennia of human
history where enslavement of the enemy was the norm, it ran totally counter to
the notion that might and power determines what is right and wrong. Instead, it established the standard that
doing good to others, regardless of their social standing or political views is
right, while deliberately harming them, denigrating them, or enslaving them is
wrong.
“The laborer is worthy of his hire.” 1 Timothy 5:18
Conclusions
I know some will take exception with these assertions. Especially because they are so clearly
pro-Christian. The ignorance of facts
manifested in the long-run of history does not justify the vilification of either
Christianity or of this nation.
If it were not for these fundamental notions of Christianity
it is doubtful that the United States of America would exist as it does
today. Without the United States of
America and its attendant founding charters of the Declaration of Independence,
the US Constitution, and The Bill of Rights, it is almost a certainty that the
world today would be an uninterrupted patchwork of empires, kingdoms, and fiefdoms. Nowhere would the twin notions of universal individual
liberty, and universal individual responsibility stand protected by the armies and
government of a nation. The shining
light on a hill that is the USA would not exist. In fact, there would be no shining light on a
hill, anywhere.
These kudos for Christianity are things that every non-elitist,
every where in the world should recognize and revere, regardless of their
religion or political views. Without
them, our religion and our politics would always be whatever the ruling elite
told us they should be.
Follow Tom on Twitter: @ThomasKSheppard
Tom Sheppard is a business consultant and coach to small business owners and individuals. He is a recognized author with dozens of titles in business and fiction to his credit. One of his endeavors is to help those who want to see their own book in print. He does this through his trademarked Book Whispering Process (TM).
The author is not an official spokesperson for any organization or person mentioned herein.
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If you believe Government is NOT the answer to all our problems, you will want to read
Godvernment: Government as God
Godvernment: Government as God
