Howdy Norm,
I first started to write a terse reply to your latest post, advising you to go find a JW if you are spoiling for a fight. They love these sorts of debates, but I have long since gotten over the desire to save, convert, or change anyone. It's not my job anymore.
However, upon reflection, it occurred to me that your pugnacious attitude may in fact be a cover for a real desire to find some goodness in Christianity after all (pray forgive me if that is too “psychoanalytical”). Therefore, I will proceed this one more time to treat your questions as a serious inquiry and give you the best answer I can—-though if you really want a deep, intellectual defense of Christian belief versus the problem of evil, I must refer you to C. S. Lewis (e.g., "The Problem of Pain") and other apologists better than I.
Your equating Christianity with Nazism is absurd on its face. The guiding idea at the core of Nazism was overweening pride--the self-aggrandizement of the German people in general, and the National Socialist party in particular, at the expense of all other peoples and parties. Its selfish and hate-filled philosophy, if you can call it that, harked backed to that of Nietzche and other immodest, atheistic, ego-worshipping thinkers who essentially declared that only a “superman” or a superior race was fit to enjoy freedom and domination of the world, while all other men, inferior and servile, ought and must be subservient, sacrificing their freedom, industry, and lives for the benefit of the few.
It is no wonder, then, that such a philosophy produced criminals and crimes on a scale utterly unparalleled in history, so that the exact opposite of your statement is true, and was recognized to be true by the people and leaders of those Christian nations—-as they were called then—-that fought to exterminate the filth of Nazism from the earth: namely, that the crimes of Hitler and his minions made all other crimes pale in comparison.
My own father, who was not, by the way, particularly religious, fought in that war against evil; was actually under fire and fired back at the Germans, may have killed a few, though he was not proud of the fact. However, he and everyone else at the war’s end was very glad of the triumph of what Mr. Churchill routinely called Christian civilization. And for you, Norm, to tell me now that my father and all his kin and friends who joined in that fight were merely following another, even more heinous, evil philosophy—-well, it is a patently juvenile and ridiculous statement, and if you have any conscience at all, you should be ashamed to make it.
Your black-and-white vision of what you call “reality” and history is in fact exactly what the Nazis—-and other totalitarian regimes-—sought to inculcate in their deluded followers. Hitler would have loved you, for your lack of balance, moderation, and insight would have made you ripe for the picking. (You fell for the Watchtower, didn't you?)
In contrast to the straw man of Nazism that you have set up, the core idea at the heart of Christianity is, not a selfish grab for domination, but self-sacrificing love. “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you,” “Love God with all your strength, and your neighbor as yourself,” “He that would be greatest of all must be the servant of all,” “Do not return evil for evil, but keep overcoming the evil with the good,” “Bless your enemies and pray for them who persecute you,” “Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends,” “I say to you, you must forgive your brother seven times seventy times,” “Let us love, neither in words nor with the tongue, but in deed and in truth,” “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
Now, Norm—-regardless of whether you believe Jesus is the Son of God, or merely an itinerant teacher-—regardless of whether you believe the Bible is divinely inspired, or merely a collection of solely man-made writings—you cannot with any credibility equate the filthy, hateful ravings of a madman like Hitler—-or any other of that ilk—-with the central impulse of Christianity, as noted in the quotations above. To lump both philosophies together as “evil forces” is utterly to destroy all meaning of the words “evil” and “good”—-to speak utter and obvious nonsense that even a schoolchild can recognize.
And now, having established the philosophical background, let me proceed to your main point: that “Christianity” has bloodthirstily sought nothing but genocide, slavery, witch burnings, intolerance, etc., etc.
But to speak honestly, we must first distinguish what you really mean by the word “Christianity.” The word can refer to a system of thought and belief, which I have just demonstrated is anything but evil. Or the word can refer collectively to those organizations—-Churches—-that have promoted and taught Christian beliefs. Or, more loosely, the word can refer to political entities that offer at least nominal allegiance either to a particular Church or to Christian ideals in general. Or even more loosely, it can refer to the mass of Christian believers in general. The latter two ideas are usually more particularly refered to as “Christendom” to distinguish people and governments from beliefs and ideas.
So are you saying that 1) churches, 2) governments, or 3) individuals have sometimes been guilty of terrible deeds, all the while calling themselves Christian? I think that really is part of what you are getting at, and if you will limit your statement to that, you are quite right. Proud, self-righteous, greedy men and women, as individuals, groups, or organziations, have from time to time either A) turned a deaf ear to the voice of their consciences, ignoring the basic Christian principles, B) by defect of logic and fullness of pride misconstrued those principles, or C) worst of all, misused the sublime teachings of Christ as a pretext, a cover, for their own lustful, greedy motives.
You are right to be indignant at such a perversion of good teachings, as are all decent-minded Christians themselves.
But you do not limit yourself to such a circumscribed statement. You proceed to assert or imply that all Christians in all times and all places have been all evil. Norm, that is really childish of you. Not to mention patently false, as “history,” to which you are so fond of appealing, also bears full and ample witness.
By way of analogy, let me refer you to the Constitution of the United States, a document which explicitly condones the practice of slavery and by implication the subjugation of the Indian peoples. Does that fact make it an evil document, Norm, and the government which it establishes an evil government for an evil people? American democracy is imperfect, even flawed, but is it completely and absolutely and irredeemably evil? There are some who would answer yes—-but they are, like a certain disturbed individual now awaiting execution in Oklahoma, themselves obviously terribly, terribly flawed in their thinking.
I have not the time nor space here to make a catalogue of all good Christian people through the ages and all good deeds done by them; these are just as truly “facts” as the misdeeds you cite. If you are as well-read as you say your are, they should all, or at least a great many of them, be well known to you. If Christianity is truly and thoroughly “evil,” how then can you account for the great goodness of such “facts” as St. Francis, John Newton, and Mother Teresa, to name but three of many millions of good people—-good by reason of, not despite, their religion?
Nor do time and space allow me to recount the unselfish goodness of many obscure, unknown Christians of my acquaintance, my own family, friends, neighbors, and passing strangers. Even I, one of the least of Christians, have on occasion risked my safety, my money, or at least my own convenience to do something good for others—-though I will not be so immodest as to recount the uninteresting details here. Surely you have taken your head out of the history books long enough to look around you? Have you no eyes to see, Norm? Are we Christians really as wicked as those Nazis? Really, Norm? Really?
At this very moment, all over the world, there are many millions of Christians who would, if they knew you needed help, give you food, shelter, clothing, medical care—-even, if need be, endanger their own lives to save yours, Norm--strictly on account of their "evil" religion, not because it would profit them an iota. How many Nazis or other such selfish, hateful folk would do the same for you? Is it really all the same? Really?
Even the God I worship loves you enough to die for you, Norm—-and did, as I devoutly believe. What more do you want?
Believe as you wish, and be happy.
Peace,
Bill
"If we all loved one another as much as we say we love God, I reckon there wouldn't be as much meanness in the world as there is."--from the movie Resurrection (1979)
