Posted on 03/23/2014 8:06:26 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
In regard to widespread disdain for the Middle Ages, C. S. Lewis felt that many modern people suffer from a kind of “chronological snobbery” and that “the modern conception of Progress ... is simply a myth, supported by no evidence whatever.” Certainly many minds smugly assume our world’s moral superiority to that of people in the past. That assumption merits some close critical scrutiny.
This claim probably does not rest on an improvement in the numbers of deaths in war and genocide. Many millions died in past atrocities such as the Mongol invasions of Asia and Europe and the Muslim conquests of India; similar shocking numbers fell victim to communism and fascism in the twentieth century. If most modern abortions are equivalent to infanticides and abortion figures are also factored in, Wiker concludes in Moral Darwinism that we have still more “massive murder on a scale unheard of.”
Probably believers in modern moral superiority base their outlook mainly on the abolition of slavery and overt discrimination against people because of things like race in economically developed societies. This overlooks some important historical facts about these accomplishments: slavery and discrimination have been universal phenomena throughout most of human history. For example, in Japan until the middle of the twentieth century, poor families often sold their own daughters into lifelong prostitution to pay off debts. In many instances such practices have been eliminated largely thanks to the influence of Christianity – a legacy of the past. Moreover, slavery continues to thrive in some Muslim states like Sudan to this day.
We can mention other prominent ethical failings of modernity:
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
“And yet what we call The West somehow rose out of barbarism. There is an external Factor. “
The Chinese ran a multi-year study headed by the guy in charge of propaganda. The objective was to determine why the west, a relative latecomer to them, did so much better. China had movable type print and gunpowder fully a thousand years before the west, but when we got them there was a new flowering. The conclusion they arrived at was Christianity made the difference. People could trust one another. You could even trust people you didn’t know, apparently not something that ever happened in Chinese culture. So, their answer was to create their own special brand of Catholicism controlled by the state. No word on how well that’s working at the moment. I suspect they’ll have at best mixed responses.
Simple answer is no
C.S. Lewis had it write
No. People are the same no matter what the times are. What is different is that it is now acceptable to be evil.
The answer is self-evident, Captain Obvious, what’s not clear are the reasons for this decline. How about emancipation of the lower classes, and wide acceptance of their lower class habits? How about this extreme egalitarianism that we’ve embraced that Vladimir Lenin only dreamt about? Remember: “O.J. Simpson (he before the unfortunate events) is as good as the rest of us!” ?
“The objective was to determine why the west, a relative latecomer...”
Indeed. China is IIRC the answer to the question: ‘What nation is the most technologically advanced for all time’?
.
Most people today seem to be ‘chronological snobs’ who assume that July 20th 1969 was Man’s Destiny and a function of little more than sufficient time. In this context I often consider the Romans; They WANTED to figure out right from wrong, good from bad best from worst but despite having all of the advantages that the Church would one day carry through the Dark Ages in the charge to July 20th 1969 they ended with little more than they had to begin with.
Exact opposite of advanced.
No. Utze the Iceman.
Perserved for 5000 years, he was found to have an arrowhead lodged under his shoulder blade. Whether he was a hapless victim or a hunted criminal, it demonstrates that human nature has not changed one iota in 5000 years.
RE: The US is spreading homosexuality around the entire world.
Exact opposite of advanced.
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Are you saying Putin is more moral than Obama in this regard? :)
I wouldn't go quite that far....But the fact is, there is a void today in what this country stands for, compared back to Reagan's time.
What does the US offer today? We say the biggest threat to world peace is Global Warming? Really?!?!?!
I think both of you are completely missing what it's REALLY about... i.e. ME.
In this narrow, specific issue, it is possible to observe without reservation that Putin is unafraid to call buggery what it is, and to express disdain for it, and to reject it. As awful as he is on any number of other issues, he may be admired for his stance on this one.
bkmk
No.
Abortion on Demand and Obama. The answer is no!
Absolutely not.
Advances in technology do not equate to advances in human nature.
Our problem is that we are still the same human beings as those so many look down on in scorn but our technology is fast and far outstripping our ability to use it wisely.
-— But take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time and those same friendly, intelligent, wonderful people... will become as nasty and as violent as the most bloodthirsty Klingon -—
This was not true during the Depression, nor in most societies today where people are dirt poor. Yes, this is a generalization.
no, but they believe they are. makes them more dangerous imo
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