[Notwithstanding]

annie and john,

You mention the roots of the USA.
They are ostensibly Christian.

However was it not always a Christianity focused on INDIVIDUAL freedom to consider Christianity to be whatever the INDIVIDUAL thought it might be? Thus Max is perfectly free to declare Act Z to be sinful, while Erma is free to declare the same Act Z to be godly.

I wonder if it was not inevitible that eventually the USA would become a society based on an absolute libertine view of personal freedom.

If one thinks that Christ's gospel can be interpreted correctly by every individual, then chaos is bound to result.

Churches based on episcopal hierarchies are not free from potential problems, but unity of belief and authenticity of doctrine is much more likely to occur when popularity does not determine doctrine.

[anniegetyourgun]

Of course, but you aren't saying anything that scripture hasn't already revealed: there is no private interpretation, AND many will go the way of the wide gate. Again...no surprises to those who know Him and His Word.

I love this country, but I've never labored under any imaginings that we are somehow favored by God above all nations. We certainly have experienced His blessings and bounty...but only as a result of the remnant within.

[JohnGalt]

The problem is that I personally lean libertine and yes, I consider myself a Christian; I just happen to believe that life is a distinct DNA code and ending that code can not be considered anything but homicide.

A purely rational take on the subject, if you will. Fleming, on the otherhand, is a libertarian critic and a true conservative (thus I enjoy reading him and comparing it with my own set of beliefs.) My thoughts on the article were thinking that I leaned on the sides of the protestors simply for reactionary reasons, and overlooked, Fleming's well argued point that we are talking about the wrong end of the problem.

[Polycarp]

I wonder if it was not inevitible that eventually the USA would become a society based on an absolute libertine view of personal freedom.

If one thinks that Christ's gospel can be interpreted correctly by every individual, then chaos is bound to result.

Churches based on episcopal hierarchies are not free from potential problems, but unity of belief and authenticity of doctrine is much more likely to occur when popularity does not determine doctrine.

Thank you, Notwithstanding. This is something I've always understood intuitively but never put into words.

Pinging (as usual, if you would like to be added or removed from my "conservative" Catholic ping list, just send me a FReepmail.)

[Askel5]

However was it not always a Christianity focused on INDIVIDUAL freedom to consider Christianity to be whatever the INDIVIDUAL thought it might be?

Save for the self-evident truths sorts of things ... like the fact that all men are created equal.

Sifting human lives ... at whatever moment from conception to death ... flies in the face of that truth.

(As does the purposeful concoction of some humans to spec ... slaves constructed on the auction block to fit the Master's bill and afford him whatever "self-fulfillment" he seeks ... be it a Child or just some organs he can bank for a rainy day.)