- While we remember the war as a struggle for freedom, at its outset neither Lincoln nor the Republican Party planned to ban slavery. To calm talk of secession, Congress passed a never-ratified, now-forgotten 13th Amendment promising that no amendment could ever end slavery. Lincoln backed it. Going into the conflict, Congress offered to abolish abolitionism, not slavery.
Easy. Atheism. I read an analysis once that argued all the foofraw over abortion was due to legalization via decree, rather than legalization via legislation. The gist was that Roe V. Wade never gave society a chance to come to grips with abortion, thereby setting the stage for skirmish after skirmish over the ensuing 40 years. From that standpoint, the prevalent, recurrent racism throughout the United States in the 150 years since the Civil War are an outcome of slavery being passed as a gambit to ruin the south as opposed to a firmly-held social belief. On the one hand, I see the point. There hasn't been any gay marriage court ruling and over the past 10 years it's become more legal than not. On the other hand, I suspect that slavery would still be de-facto legal if the Civil War hadn't been fought. After all, citizenship in Japan isn't that far off from Dred Scott. The US is racist but it's nothing next to the rest of the world.We can only wonder which of today’s unpopular causes will, in 150 years, be considered the abolitionism of 2015.
It's pretty messed up knowing that your in-laws think you are going to hell. -This is my situation. The irony is that it's their daughter that is the most staunchly opposed to anything having to do with church, but I'm sure it's thought to be my fault. Thing is, I like the teachings of Christ and I'd like to be able to convey them to my daughter in a way that doesn't involve "son of god," "heaven/hell" stuff. I've been introducing him to her in our nightly Jedi stories. So far, he's the most powerful Jedi ever but he never uses a lightsaber, he combats the dark side with love. We'll see where I take it. But yeah, I hope you are right and I think you will be.Easy. Atheism.
I sure hope so. I'm not saying that I want to live in a world where there is no spirituality or religion etc. but I'd much rather live in a world where its not considered unusual to be a "nonbeliever."
You might be interested in this:Thing is, I like the teachings of Christ and I'd like to be able to convey them to my daughter in a way that doesn't involve "son of god," "heaven/hell" stuff. I've been introducing him to her in our nightly Jedi stories. So far, he's the most powerful Jedi ever but he never uses a lightsaber, he combats the dark side with love. We'll see where I take it.
Thanks! I've been trying to steer people in that direction for some time now. Practically I think it's awesome, and historically it's pretty amazing stuff.
> We can only wonder which of today’s unpopular causes will, in 150 years, be considered the abolitionism of 2015. I'm going to piss a lot of people off and suggest veganism might be a better candidate.
The so called animal rights crowd certainly have a way of being annoying, even if their cause is sometimes justified. I've been to my share of conferences where they have a holding pen for the picketers who liken what we do to mass murder, torture, etc. One wonders if the same irksome feeling was felt by those who weren't completely comfortable with slavery, but who took it as something that was done for the betterment of society on the whole.
I think you've hit the nail on the head. The suffragettes also come to mind; many of them were imprisoned and reviled for their activism a century ago, but few would question (for example) Pankhurst's importance in shaping the rights of women in the 20th Century. Also, b_b, I do apologise for being slow to reply to your recent comments. I've started a new job this year and of late my presence on hubski has been haphazard.
