> William S. Lear wrote:
>
> >Has anyone else read either of John Boswell's books on the subject of
> >homosexuality and Christianity (etc.)? I haven't yet read his earlier
> >*Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in
> >Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the
> >Fourteenth Century* (University of California Press, 1980), but while
> >I was living in Boston I read his *Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe*
> >(Villard Books, 1994) while riding the subway to work each day.
> >
> >>From what I remember, Largent's "2000 years of Judeo-Christian
> >history" includes such vile intolerance for women (useful only for
> >procreation and to serve men, incapable of higher feelings, etc.) that
> >the men decided same-sex unions were completely reasonable and
> >"natural".
>
> On the other hand, religious opposition to abortion is a relatively new
> thing, only about 100 years old. Even Catholic doctrine tolerated first
> trimester abortions until the late 19th century. Funny how recent the
> vintage of so many timeless truths.
Much like the religious arguments in favor of slavery. The timeless truths in this case sprouted like mushrooms around 1831. Previously, everyone agreed that slavery was a bad thing, more or less, but necessary, in view of this or that other reason.
It was only AFTER opposition to slavery on an equal rights foundation spread from free blacks to white abolitionists that the need arose to change the line and argue that slavery was a positive good. The timeless Bible defense sprang into being almost overnight.
You want religious miracles? There's no religious miracle quite like the instant appearance of a timeless moral tradition.
-- Paul Rosenberg Reason and Democracy rad at gte.net
"Let's put the information BACK into the information age!"