So, I wonder…
Originally published at Obiter Dicta. You can comment here or there.
There are people who claim that religion is nothing but bad, and seem to have as a core tenet that all religious people in general, and Catholics in specific, should be permanent apologists for past sins, as well that those of a moderate bent should be permanent apologists for the extremists who claim to belong to the same faith.
Therefore, I see fit to demand of everyone who’s ever known anyone who’s used anything created in a factory - that would be most of humanity - that they apologise profusely and immediately for creating the climate issues that they themselves (for the most part) now claim are going to be the end of us.
Personal responsibility. It’s just that. Personal. Now, one counter-argument to this can be the so-called ’sins of the father’ doctrine (ex. in Exodus 20:5; “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,”), which I’ve seen used as an argument in favour of the apologist view. Said doctrine, however, says nothing about Earthen relationships, as, going back to the Law of Moses, it is stated in that big book that sons shall not suffer for their fathers’ sins (Deuteronomy 24:16). Said doctrine is on the relationship between man and God, and basically means this: If a man turns away from God, and raises his children accordingly, the children will suffer for it, for they don’t know of God. But on Earth, each answers for himself alone.
This post produced by an annoying tendency to dislike people who believe they’re entitled to an apology from me personally for something my forefathers have done. I will answer for my crimes against mankind, but I refuse to answer for yours!