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Published by the very first completely independent religious group in North America, whose existence on these shores predates the Revolution by a century, it's a crystal-clear look into America's genuine traditions (as opposed to, say, the Papists, alien to these shores, or the Southern Baptists, born in rebellion against the Nation).
Towards a Quaker View of Sex (1963) - p
It even includes an excellent dissertation on the naturalistic view of human morality, sexual and otherwise, which, though wanting in comparison to the Germanic (Schopenhauerian) view of moral development, still represents a step forward in comparison to the effete taking-for-granted of Biblical literalism most American Christians cling to like a security blanket:
The edict, which I hope you will take time to read, is still far too open minded and reasonable for some minds to digest which is all the shame as it discusses relationships which, in 1963 were not as public as they are today.
Towards a Quaker View of Sex (1963) - p
Homosexual affection may of course be an emotion which some find aesthetically disgusting, but one cannot base Christian morality on a capacity for disgust. Neither are we happy with the thought that all homosexual behaviour is sinful: motive and circumstances degrade or ennoble any act, and we feel that to list sexual acts as sins is to follow the letter rather than the spirit, to kill rather than to give life.Further we see no reason why the physical nature of a sexual act should be the criterion by which the question whether or not it is moral should be decided. An act which expresses true affection between two individuals and gives pleasure to them both, does not seem to us to be sinful by reason alone of the fact that it is homosexual.
It even includes an excellent dissertation on the naturalistic view of human morality, sexual and otherwise, which, though wanting in comparison to the Germanic (Schopenhauerian) view of moral development, still represents a step forward in comparison to the effete taking-for-granted of Biblical literalism most American Christians cling to like a security blanket:
Throughout nearly all its history and in the larger sections of the Church today, the myth of Adam and Eve (called without justifica*tion the Fall of Man)* is treated as though it were historical fact on which logical arguments can be built. In this way, sexuality came to be regarded as necessarily polluted with sin in that event. Even when rejected as historical fact, this myth still has its effect upon the attitude of some Christians to sexuality; it will therefore be wise to think more about it. First, this, like other myths, had an earlier Babylonian origin and was used for religious purposes by the Jewish teachers. Further, like all myths, it is a poetic and symbolic repre*sentation of the condition and predicament of man. It is not ex*clusively or even primarily concerned with sexuality. It is a myth representing the transition of man, either in his racial history (phylogenesis) or his development from babyhood (ontogenesis) from an unreflective obedience to instinct to a condition in which he is responsible for his actions, in which he can reflect on them and make judgments and moral choices, weighing up possible courses of action in the light of a concept of good and evil.
It is a story, not of man’s fall, but of man’s growing up, and of the pain that growing up involves. It is significant that God is recorded as saying (Gen. 3, v. 22): “Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil.” To recognise and love what is good is to know also what is evil, to fear it and to be tempted to it. To know the good is to know joy, but it is also to experience pain, to be tempted to pride and presumption.
The edict, which I hope you will take time to read, is still far too open minded and reasonable for some minds to digest which is all the shame as it discusses relationships which, in 1963 were not as public as they are today.
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