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From: mangoe@umcp-cs.UUCP (Charley Wingate)
Newsgroups: net.religion,net.religion.christian
Subject: Moral Complexity
Message-ID: <5495@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 6-May-85 18:07:27 EDT
Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.5495
Posted: Mon May  6 18:07:27 1985
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In article <945@pyuxd.UUCP> rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Rich Rosen) writes:

>A public note of thanks to David Harwood.  It's people like him, and Bill
>Jefferys (whom he mentions above), and Dave Trissel, and others, who have
>shown me that there are Christians who actually believe in Christianity
>and not just in spouting Christianity.  A sharp contrast to those like
>Charley Wingate, and Dave Brown (with his pseudo-pacifism), and Steve
>Hutchison, and Paul Dub*, and Larry Bickford (where has *he* been?), who
>seem to feel it is more important to prove that Christianity as a system
>of beliefs is perfect and correct than to act on the good tenets it *does*
>have, and admit where it has had its faults, and work to correct them.

Now hold it, Rich.  You were the one who wanted to argue about theology, and
especially about theological cosmology.  It's your "Assumptions" article, not
mine.  You were the one who refused to let the crimes of the middle ages die.

You want to talk about Christian morality, I'll talk about it.  But be
forewarned:  in the tradition I follow, it is a difficult and tricky subject.
Doing the right thing is NOT always easy to do, even ignoring the moral
courage needed.  It's all well and good to say "You were morally obligated to
condemn the Nazis."  But supposing you were hiding Anne Frank in the back
rooms of your house?

The reason I refrain from these blanket denunciations is that I was not
living in Germany in 1938.  I am not in a position to judge upon the state
of mind of any, save those who spoke publicly.

We should remember the Holocaust-- and not just for the Jews.  But let us
remember that we have to live for the future, as well as for the present.
At times, those who spoke against the Bitburg visit gave the impression that
they did not care about the modern Germans; they only wanted vengeance for
the crimes of the Nazis.  Such vengeance will never be sated.

Charley Wingate  umcp-cs!mangoe