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Gemma Mason's avatar

In his LRB essay Butler has an interesting reference, towards the end, about how he is “a member of a group historically tortured and murdered under the rubric of Sodom.” Indeed, I’ve heard from others that the story of Abraham and Isaac has been invoked by parents of gay children as justification for their own “child sacrifice” — their willingness to sacrifice a healthy relationship with their child in order to preserve a proper obedience to God. To them, they’ve found something more meaningful than their child’s happiness. To an atheist, they’ve sacrificed a truly meaningful thing for a meaningless one.

As for me, I’m haunted by the tension between the magnificence of being willing to make a sacrifice, and the horror of making the wrong sacrifice. A God is a very dangerous thing to have. Atheism — even meaningless atheism — would be preferable to worshiping the wrong one.

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Allison's avatar

WelI, I sincerely hope there’s something between Divine Command Theory and the “rationalist safety blanket.” I don’t think it’s an either/or proposition (sorry, couldn’t help myself) and many people live their lives somewhere in the middle, smugness being a temptation for almost everyone. Were the peasants in olden times really so satisfied? Did none wonder at the difference between belief and experience? I’m doubtful. Replicability is a great advance and I’m not sorry for it. It also doesn't have to be strictly scientific. God tests Abraham. Why doesn’t Abraham test God?

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