"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." - Declaration of Independence
Well, we didn't always! And if we do, we can trace our ideas back to one radical Palestinian Jew.
So went the sermon I heard at a nondenominational Church yesterday. Cursory overview below.
From a moral standpoint, the ancient Roman world was a nasty place. Society was extremely stratified (Gods, Kings, Priests, men, women, slaves, children). Children weren't even considered to be fully human until they reached a certain age, and so it was acceptable for parents to leave unwanted babies on a trash heap if they wanted a boy instead of a girl, etc. Women were property. Sick people were considered to be "cursed" and were merely quarantined, not cared for. Prisoners starved to death in prisons if friends and family failed to maintain them. Forget any code of sexual conduct. Religious ceremonies often involved women being given to men in orgies and child molestation was okay.
Yuck!
Enter Christianity with Jesus's radical "Parable of the Sheep and the Goats" (Matthew 25: 31-45). Jesus teaches that when Christians serve the downtrodden in society, it is as if they are doing it for Jesus Himself.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Compassion became the "brand" of Christianity, as the pastor put it. Christians were required to love and serve people of all walks of life because every person is equally loved and valued by in God.
Christians became known for rescuing babies off those trash heaps. They'd given them the Roman word for "trash heap" as a last name, and it became quite a common last name starting around 40-50 A.D.
Roman historians wrote that during the Small Pox outbreak under Marcus Arealius (approx 160 AD), Christians shocked the rest of the Empire by caring for victims of the disease. Same thing during a bubonic plague about a hundred years later. They'd rush into quarantined areas, "here's our chance to serve Jesus!" Sadly, many of them contracted the diseases, but they served willingly out of a love for Jesus.
A standard prayer said by Roman prisoners was for a fellow prisoner to be Christian. If there was a Christian prisoner, then the prisoners could count on the prison being visited and maintained by the Christian community.
Christians communities became known for 1) orphanages and 2) maintaining leper colonies.
Further, Christianity uplifted women by teaching the doctrines of chastity and sexual fidelity. If you went to Church as a Christian woman, you'd hear talk about the sanctity of sex in marriage, and of it being exclusively between you and your husband. If you went to a Roman "Church" as a non-Christian woman, you'd be handed off to the other men present . . .
And that's just a brainstorm covering some of what I heard yesterday.
The long and short of it is that Jesus's teachings changed our modern notion of morality and human rights for the better.
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