Re: A matter of conscience
Submitted by Wu-k'ung on January 25 2000 at 05:46:55
In reply to A matter of conscience Submitted by Heather on January 24 2000 at 14:50:18
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Hi Heather. These are difficult questions, which I think are general problems. You've made analogies with someone cheerfully saying a 'nigger' joke, or someone rejoicing in a divorce, and I think these are apt. Although your position is in one sense very unusual, this problem of how to behave with someone who rejoices in what you think bad is a universal one. I wish I knew the answer. To put a sour look on your face and voice your feelings clearly may calm the conscience, but would make you someone no-one wants to talk to, because it lacks acceptance of the person. On the other hand to go along with the speaker seems to be to encourage the sin. C.S. Lewis mentioned the problem somewhere, and the best even he could come up with was silence, which you find (rightly, I think) in some cases too accepting. To embrace the person while disapproving of his view is not at all easy, and, like most difficult tasks, it is not one God requires us to succeed in all the time, but just to try. Indeed I think God takes that view in all our tasks. The best approach will depend on the circumstances, and too often we'll work out how we should have handled it the next day. Bumbling is characteristic of the human condition, and I don't think God judges it harshly. I can't agree myself that a party is the wrong place to hold a debate, because I'm too much of an intellectual and I remember the Symposium too well. Actually I think almost anywhere is suitable if the other person wants to talk. But the surroundings will dictate to some degree how involved the debate can be. Not everything can be mentioned at every time, and sometime there just isn't a chance to put your view. Not every occasion is set up by God as an opportunity for preaching. But often such phrases as "Well, I don't myself agree with man-boy sex" can be used without sounding offensive. I just wish I thought of appropriate phrases on the same day :-). Wu-k'ung |