REL 205 Abortion & the Southern Baptist Convention

In addition to being internally diverse, religions are living traditions that evolve and change in relationship to the dynamic lives of adherents in different social and historical time periods.  To illustrate this dynamic on a micro level, please examine the following selected resolutions on abortion that were passed at Southern Baptist Conventions in the United States over a 30 year period. Take note of what changed over that time period and what remained consistent. Pay special attention to the tone of the resolutions and what is highlighted.

Resolution On Abortion, adopted at the SBC convention, June 1971:  (Historical note: This resolution was passed before the landmark Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision in 1973 supporting a woman's right to abortion without state regulation through the first trimester of pregnancy. See here for a description of the social and political context of this decision and its aftermath.)

WHEREAS, Christians in the American society today are faced with difficult decisions about abortion; and 
WHEREAS, Some advocate that there be no abortion legislation, thus making the decision a purely private matter between a woman and her doctor; and 
WHEREAS, Others advocate no legal abortion, or would permit abortion only if the life of the mother is threatened; 
Therefore, be it RESOLVED, that this Convention express the belief that society has a responsibility to affirm through the laws of the state a high view of the sanctity of human life, including fetal life, in order to protect those who cannot protect themselves; and 
Be it further RESOLVED, That we call upon Southern Baptists to work for legislation that will allow the possibility of abortion under such conditions as rape, incest, clear evidence of severe fetal deformity, and carefully ascertained evidence of the likelihood of damage to the emotional, mental, and physical health of the mother

Resolution On Abortion And Sanctity Of Human Life, adopted at the SBC convention, June 1974:

WHEREAS, Southern Baptists have historically held a high view of the sanctity of human life, and 
WHEREAS, The messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in St. Louis in 1971 adopted overwhelmingly a resolution on abortion, and 
WHEREAS, That resolution reflected a middle ground between the extreme of abortion on demand and the opposite extreme of all abortion as murder, and 
WHEREAS, That resolution dealt responsibly from a Christian perspective with complexities of abortion problems in contemporary society; 
Therefore, be it RESOLVED, that we reaffirm the resolution on the subject adopted by the messengers to the St. Louis Southern Baptist Convention meeting in 1971, and 
Be it further RESOLVED, that we continue to seek God's guidance through prayer and study in order to bring about solutions to continuing abortion problems in our society.

Resolution On Abortion, adopted at the SBC convention, June 1976:

WHEREAS, Southern Baptists have historically held a biblical view of the sanctity of human life, and 
WHEREAS, Abortion is a very serious moral and spiritual problem of continuing concern to the American people, and 
WHEREAS, Christians have a responsibility to deal with all moral and spiritual issues which affect society, including the problems of abortion, and 
WHEREAS, The practice of abortion for selfish non-therapeutic reasons want-only destroys fetal life, dulls our society's moral sensitivity, and leads to a cheapening of all human life, and 
WHEREAS, Every decision for an abortion, for whatever reason must necessarily involve the decision to terminate the life of an innocent human being. 
Therefore be it RESOLVED, that the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Norfolk in June 1976 reaffirm the biblical sacredness and dignity of all human life, including fetal life, and 
Be it further RESOLVED, that we call on Southern Baptists and all citizens of the nation to work to change those attitudes and conditions which encourage many people to turn to abortion as a means of birth control, and 
Be it further RESOLVED, that in the best interest of our society, we reject any indiscriminate attitude toward abortion, as contrary to the biblical view, and 
Be it further RESOLVED, that we also affirm our conviction about the limited role of government in dealing with matters relating to abortion, and support the right of expectant mothers to the full range of medical services and personal counseling for the preservation of life and health.

Resolution On Abortion, adopted by the SBC convention, June 1977:

RESOLVED that this Convention reaffirm the strong stand against abortion adopted by the 1976 Convention, and, in view of some confusion in interpreting part of this resolution we confirm our strong opposition to abortion on demand and all governmental policies and actions which permit this. (Note: the rest of the resolution restates the 1976 resolution copied above.)

Resolution On Abortion, adopted by the SBC convention, June 1978:

WHEREAS, Abortion is a matter of continuing moral concern to the American people, and 
WHEREAS, The Southern Baptist Convention in annual session in 1977 spoke clearly and forthrightly to this issue, 
Be it therefore RESOLVED, that we the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Atlanta in June 1978, reaffirm the resolution passed by the 1977 Kansas City Southern Baptist Convention.

Resolution On Abortion, adopted at the SBC convention, June 1980:

WHEREAS, Southern Baptists have historically affirmed the biblical teaching of the sanctity of all human life, and 
WHEREAS, All medical evidence indicates that abortion ends the life of a developing human being, and 
WHEREAS, Our national laws permit a policy commonly referred to as "abortion on demand," 
Be it therefore RESOLVED, That the Southern Baptist Convention reaffirm the view of the Scriptures of the sacredness and dignity of all human life, born and unborn, and 
Be it further RESOLVED, That opposition be expressed toward all policies that allow "abortion on demand," and 
Be it further RESOLVED, That we abhor the use of tax money or public, tax-supported medical facilities for selfish, non-therapeutic abortion, and 
Be it finally RESOLVED, That we favor appropriate legislation and/or a constitutional amendment prohibiting abortion except to save the life of the mother.

Resolution On Abortion And Infanticide, adopted at the SBC convention, May 1982:

WHEREAS, Both medical science and biblical references indicate that human life begins at conception, and 
WHEREAS, Southern Baptists have traditionally upheld the sanctity and worth of all human life, both born and pre-born, as being created in the image of God, and 
WHEREAS, Current judicial opinion gives no guarantee of protection of pre-born persons, thus permitting the widespread practice of abortion on demand, which has led to the killing of an estimated four thousand developing human beings daily in the United States, and 
WHEREAS, Social acceptance of abortion has begun to dull society's respect for all human life, leading to growing occurrences of infanticide, child abuse, and active euthanasia. 
Therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the messengers to the 1982 Southern Baptist Convention affirm that all human life, both born and pre-born, is sacred, bearing the image of God, and is not subject to personal judgments as to "quality of life" based on such subjective criteria as stage of development, abnormality, intelligence level, degree of dependency, cost of medical treatment, or inconvenience to parents. 
Be it further RESOLVED, That we abhor the use of federal, state or local tax money; public, tax-supported medical facilities; or Southern Baptist supported medical facilities for the practice of selfish, medically unnecessary abortions and/or the practice of withholding treatment from unwanted or defective newly born infants. 
Be it finally RESOLVED, That we support and will work for appropriate legislation and/or constitutional amendment which will prohibit abortions except to save the physical life of the mother, and that we also support and will work for legislation which will prohibit the practice of infanticide.

Resolution #8: On Thirty Years of Roe V. Wade, adopted at the SBC convention, June 2003:

WHEREAS, Scripture reveals that all human life is created in the image of God, and therefore sacred to our Creator (Genesis 1:27; Genesis 9:6); and 
WHEREAS, The Bible affirms that the unborn baby is a person bearing the image of God from the moment of conception (Psalm 139:13Ð16; Luke 1:44); and WHEREAS, Scripture further commands the people of God to plead for protection for the innocent and justice for the fatherless (Psalm 72:12Ð14; Psalm 82:3; James 1:27); and 
WHEREAS, January 2003 marked thirty years since the 1973 United States Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion in all fifty states; and WHEREAS, Resolutions passed by the Southern Baptist Convention in 1971 and 1974 accepted unbiblical premises of the abortion rights movement, forfeiting the opportunity to advocate the protection of defenseless women and children; and 
WHEREAS, During the early years of the post-Roe era, some of those then in leadership positions within the denomination endorsed and furthered the "pro-choice" abortion rights agenda outlined in Roe v. Wade; and 
WHEREAS, Some political leaders have referenced 1970s-era Southern Baptist Convention resolutions and statements by former Southern Baptist Convention leaders to oppose legislative efforts to protect women and children from abortion; and 
WHEREAS, Southern Baptist churches have effected a renewal of biblical orthodoxy and confessional integrity in our denomination, beginning with the Southern Baptist Convention presidential election of 1979; and 
WHEREAS, The Southern Baptist Convention has maintained a robust commitment to the sanctity of all human life, including that of the unborn, beginning with a landmark pro-life resolution in 1982; and WHEREAS, Our confessional statement, The Baptist Faith and Message, affirms that children "from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord"; and further affirms that Southern Baptists are mandated by Scripture to "speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death"; and 
WHEREAS, The legacy of Roe v. Wade has grown to include ongoing assaults on human life such as euthanasia, the harvesting of human embryos for the purposes of medical experimentation, and an accelerating move toward human cloning; now, therefore, be it 
RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, June 17Ð18, 2003, reiterate our conviction that the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision was based on a fundamentally flawed understanding of the United States Constitution, human embryology, and the basic principles of human rights; and be it further 
RESOLVED, That we reaffirm our belief that the Roe v. Wade decision was an act of injustice against innocent unborn children as well as against vulnerable women in crisis pregnancy situations, both of which have been victimized by a "sexual revolution" that empowers predatory and irresponsible men and by a lucrative abortion industry that has fought against even the most minimal restrictions on abortion; and be it further 
RESOLVED, That we offer our prayers, our love, and our advocacy for women and men who have been abused by abortion and the emotional, spiritual, and physical aftermath of this horrific practice; affirming that the gospel of Jesus Christ grants complete forgiveness for any sin, including that of abortion; and be it further 
RESOLVED, That we lament and renounce statements and actions by previous Conventions and previous denominational leadership that offered support to the abortion culture; and be it further 
RESOLVED, That we humbly confess that the initial blindness of many in our Convention to the enormity of Roe v. Wade should serve as a warning to contemporary Southern Baptists of the subtlety of the spirit of the age in obscuring a biblical worldview; and be it further 
RESOLVED, That we urge our Southern Baptist churches to remain vigilant in the protection of human life by preaching the whole counsel of God on matters of human sexuality and the sanctity of life, by encouraging and empowering Southern Baptists to adopt unwanted children, by providing spiritual, emotional, and financial support for women in crisis pregnancies, and by calling on our government officials to take action to protect the lives of women and children; and be it further 
RESOLVED, That we express our appreciation to both houses of Congress for their passage of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, and we applaud President Bush for his commitment to sign this bill into law; and be it further RESOLVED, That we urge Congress to act swiftly to deliver this bill to President Bush for his signature; and be it finally RESOLVED, That we pray and work for the repeal of the Roe v. Wade decision and for the day when the act of abortion will be not only illegal, but also unthinkable.

REL 205 Ramanujan and Ramayana

ramanujan-a-the-ramayana

REL 205 Ramayana

.ucla.edu/southasia/Religions/texts/Ramaya

REL 205 Methodological Assumptions and Anaytical Frameworks Regarding Religion

METHODOLOGIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORKS REGARDING RELIGION

Part One

 

Diane L. Moore

Harvard Divinity School

2015

 

OVERVIEW

 

Religions have functioned throughout human history to inspire and justify the full range of agency from the heinous to the heroic.  Their influences remain potent at the dawn of the 21st century in spite of modern predictions that religious influences would steadily decline in concert with the rise of secular democracies and advances in science.  Understanding these complex religious influences is a critical dimension of understanding modern human affairs across the full spectrum of endeavors in local, national, and global arenas. The Religious Literacy module focuses on how to recognize, understand, and analyze religious influences in human experience with a special emphasis on the role of scriptures.   This same method is employed in the Religious Literacy Project where the focus is on understanding religion in contemporary life through the overarching theme of conflict and peace and the specific (often intersecting) sub-themes of gender and sexuality and public health and environmental sustainability.

 

 

FOUNDATIONS

 

For a variety of reasons dating back to the Enlightenment (including Christian influenced theories of secularization that were reproduced through colonialism) there are many commonly held assumptions about religion in general and religious traditions in particular that represent fundamental misunderstandings. Scholars of religion are well aware of these assumptions and have articulated some basic facts about religions themselves and the study of religion that serve as useful foundations for inquiry. [1]  

 

Differentiating Between Devotional Expression and the Study of Religion

 

First and foremost, scholars highlight the difference between the devotional expression of particular religious beliefs as normative and the nonsectarian study of religion that presumes the religious legitimacy of diverse normative claims. The importance of this distinction is that it recognizes the validity of normative theological assertions without equating them with universal truths about the tradition itself.

 

Unfortunately, this distinction is often ignored in public discourse about religion. For example, there is a great deal of contemporary debate about the roles for women in Islam. In truth, there are a variety of theological interpretations of the tradition that lead to different, sometimes antithetical practices and assertions. Equally common is that differing communities will have similar practices but with diverse theological justifications.

 

It is appropriate for members of a particular community to assert the orthodoxy of their theological interpretations of the tradition, but it is important to recognize the difference between a theological assertion of normativity and the factual truth that multiple legitimate perspectives exist. The latter represents the nonsectarian study of religion. This is the approach promoted here and the one most appropriate to advance the public understanding of religion. 

 

There are three other central assertions about religions themselves that religious studies scholars have outlined and that flow from the recognition of the distinction between devotional expression and the nonsectarian study of religion outlined above:

 

1) religions are internally diverse as opposed to uniform;

2) religions evolve and change over time as opposed to being ahistorical and static;

3) religious influences are embedded in all dimensions of culture as opposed to the assumption that religions function in discrete, isolated, “private” contexts. 

 

Religions are Internally Diverse

 

This assertion is a truism but requires explanation due to the common ways that religious traditions and practices are frequently portrayed as uniform.  Aside from the obvious formal differences within traditions represented by differing sects or expressions (e.g., Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant for Christianity; Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, for Hinduism, etc.) there are differences within sects or expressions because religious communities function in different social/political contexts.  One example is the debate mentioned above regarding the roles of women in Islam.  The following assertions are also commonly repeated: “Buddhists are nonviolent”, “Christians oppose abortion”, “Religion and science are incompatible”, etc.  All of these comments represent particular theological assertions as opposed to factual claims representing the tradition itself.

 

Religions Evolve and Change

 

This is another truism but again requires explanation due to the common practice of representing religious traditions without social or historical context and solely (or primarily) through ritual expression and/or abstract beliefs. Religions exist in time and space and are constantly interpreted and reinterpreted by believers. For example, the Confucian concept of the “mandate from heaven” evolved within dynasties, geopolitical regions, and historical eras and continues to evolve today.  Another example is that the practice of slavery has been both justified and vilified by all three monotheistic traditions in differing social and historical contexts. Finally, in a more specific example, the Southern Baptist convention in the United States passed a series of resolutions in the 1970s supporting the moral legitimacy of abortion and reversed those resolutions in 2003.[2]

 

Religious Influences are Embedded in Cultures

 

Religions are collections of ideas, practices, values, and stories that are all embedded in cultures and not separable from them. Just as religion cannot be understood in isolation from its cultural (including political) contexts, it is impossible to understand culture without considering its religious dimensions. In the same way that race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and socio-economic class are always factors in cultural interpretation and understanding, so too is religion.

 

Whether explicit or implicit, religious influences can virtually always be found when one asks “the religion question” of any given social or historical experience.  For example, political theorists have recently highlighted the ways that different interpretations of secularism have been profoundly shaped by varied normative assumptions about Christianity.[3] This is just one representation of a fundamental shift in political theory that is challenging the legitimacy of the longstanding assertion that religion both can be and should be restricted to a private sphere and separated from political influence.

 

Modernist claims predicting the steady decline of the transnational political influence of religion that were first formalized in the 17th century have been foundational to various modern political theories for centuries. In spite of the ongoing global influences of religions in political life throughout this time period, it is only in the aftermath of 1) the Iranian Revolution in 1979; 2) the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 and the subsequent rise vs. the widely predicted demise of religion; and 3) the 9/11 and 7/7 terrorist attacks that political theorists in the West began to acknowledge the highly problematic ways that religions and religious influences have been marginalized and too simplistically rendered. 

 

This shift is a welcome one and paves the way for multi and cross-disciplinary collaborations with religious studies scholars across the full range of social science investigations in order to explore the complex and critically important roles that religions play in our contemporary world.

 

Definition of Religious Literacy

 

The following definition of religious literacy articulated by Diane L Moore has been adopted by the American Academy of Religion to help educators understand what is required for a basic understanding of religion and its roles in human experience:

 

Religious literacy entails the ability to discern and analyze the fundamental intersections of religion and social/political/cultural life through multiple lenses. Specifically, a religiously literate person will possess 1) a basic understanding of the history, central texts (where applicable), beliefs, practices and contemporary manifestations of several of the world's religious traditions as they arose out of and continue to be shaped by particular social, historical and cultural contexts; and 2) the ability to discern and explore the religious dimensions of political, social and cultural expressions across time and place. 

 

Critical to this definition is the importance of understanding religions and religious influences in context and as inextricably woven into all dimensions of human experience. Such an understanding highlights the inadequacy of understanding religions through common means such as learning about ritual practices or exploring “what scriptures say” about topics or questions. Unfortunately, these are some of the most common approaches to learning about religion and lead to simplistic and inaccurate representations of the roles religions play in human agency and understanding. 

 

 

 

---

[1] See The American Academy of Religion Guidelines for Teaching About Religion in K-12 Public Schools in the United States, Atlanta: AAR, 2010.

[2] For a full text compilation of all the Southern Baptist resolutions on abortion from 1971-2005, see www.johnstonsarchive.net/baptist/sbcabres.html.

[3] See Charles Taylor, The Secular Age (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007); J. Bryan Hehir, “Why Religion? Why Now?” in Timothy Samuel Shah, Alfred Stepan, and Monica Duffy Toft, eds., Rethinking Religion and World Affairs (NY: Oxford, 2012) pp. 15-24; José Casanova, “Rethinking Public Religions” in Shah, et. Al., eds., pp. 25-35; and Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, “The Politics of Secularism” in Shah, et. Al., pp. 36-54.

REL 205 Misunderstandings about Religion

Misunderstandings

REL 205 Faces of Religious Diversity

Diversity

G.I. Jews Trailer

Jews

HUM 111 Egypt and Black and White

Because the whole idea of “black” and “white” is an arbitrary invention based on the very specific racial issues of the United States. For most of American history, there was a clear divide between extremely pale skinned English and Germanic settlers and the dark skinned sub-Saharan African slaves they imported.

If we go anywhere else, this dichotomy isn’t nearly as clear. Would southern Europeans like Italians, Greeks and Spaniards be considered white? Most people today would say yes. But if we actually look, they have more in common physically with Middle Eastern groups than British or Scandinavian groups. They aren’t clearly “white” or “black.” They’re a level of brown in the middle. Below are some Greeks, Italians, Spaniards, Tunisians, and Lebanese Arabs. Can you tell which are which? Who’s white? Who’s not?

Greek, Lebanese, Italian, Tunisian, Spanish by the way

The point is, arguing whether Near Eastern people like the Ancient Egyptians were white or black isn’t useful, because they, like most people, didn’t fit neatly into either category. The art and sculpture they left behind usually depicts themselves as looking similar to modern Egyptians. Their pictures of completely black skinned people were typically drawings of Kushites, who were actually sub-Saharan Africans, or rarer stylized paintings. That’s not to say there weren’t black Africans in Egypt, as there was constant contact between Egypt and Kush. A Kushite dynasty even conquered and occupied all of Egypt for over a century. But they weren’t the dominant ethnic group.