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TD Craig's avatar

There's a lot one could get into here, but it still remains a fact that modern mass democracy, combined with the related rights of freedom of speech and conscience, are very substantially the product of Christian influence. It's all to do with the idea of equality, which many people don't realise came from the Bible rather than Enlightenment thinking or pagan philosophy. When people use the idea of equality to attack Christian thinking, e.g. in relation to minority rights, they often fail to realise that they are actually using a Christian argument. In fact, we wouldn't even be having these kind of debates but for the influence of the Christian faith over many centuries. In emphasising the essential value of every individual human, Christianity encourages us to think that everyone should have the same rights and freedoms. Whereas in many other cultures (outside the traditional Christian sphere, I mean) this kind of thinking would be considered absurd. I strongly recommend The Book That Made Your World (by an Indian intellectual) for more investigation of these issues, including a very useful contrast with Indian theology and practice. Also, The Air We Breathe by Glen Scrivener.

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