The religious right and social conservatives in America have not come up with an original argument in over 125 years. Read this excerpt from a larger essay written in 1884 and guess the subject. Was the writer talking about slavery, or intermarriage between persons of color and Caucasians, or availability of contraceptive devices, or social programs for new immigrants, equal pay for women doing the same work as men, or education opportunities for minorities and women, or affirmative action? Or is the writer sounding the alarm for something more ominous? Hint: It is not Gay Marriage.
“AMONG the social questions now under discussion, none is more important or more freighted with principles and issues that outreach present consequences and take hold of the very life of society, than that of _________. The frequency and urgency with which this measure is pressed upon our legislative bodies by a certain class of reformers, encouraged by partial success in some of the newer states and territories, and the recent advocacy of it in full or limited form by some who have very largely the ear of the public, and the apparently increasing drift of public sentiment in this direction manifest in many quarters,—call for a sober and reflective revision not only of the reasons and supposed advantages of the so-called reform, but of the very serious issues and consequences involved in it. These issues are not immediate and do not lie on the surface. The question is one which cannot be solved on abstract principles, such as that so often urged, of the ‘right’ of _______; since nothing is more fallacious than the application of abstract theories to practical and political problems.
1) This reform signifies nothing less than a radical and revolutionary change in our whole social system.
2) The demand for _______ is based upon a radically false theory of civil and political rights.
3) The claim for ________ rests upon a radically false conception of the relations and duties of the sexes.
4) The reform in question is a violation of _______’s truest and deepest instincts, and so is truly a “reform against nature.”
5) A last argument against ________ is its practical consequences, or the evil results that will naturally follow such a social revolution. Who will care and nurture the children? The secularization of the home by the intrusion of political questions and disputes, is another impending evil consequence.
- by Rev. Prof. H. M. Goodwin. Excerpts from an article in the ‘New Englander and Yale review’, Volume 43, Issue 179 (March 1884), pp. 193-213.
Did you guess right? The answer is “Female Suffrage”, the right for women to vote. Many churches and religious organizations were against woman’s suffrage. To many it signified nothing less than a radical and revolutionary change in our whole social system. It was an assault upon the Family as the social unit based on radically false theory of civil and political rights. It would hurt children. It was truly a “reform against nature.” Read the whole article. It is a hoot.
(http://www.bible-researcher.com/women/suffrage.html)
“AMONG the social questions now under discussion, none is more important or more freighted with principles and issues that outreach present consequences and take hold of the very life of society, than that of _________. The frequency and urgency with which this measure is pressed upon our legislative bodies by a certain class of reformers, encouraged by partial success in some of the newer states and territories, and the recent advocacy of it in full or limited form by some who have very largely the ear of the public, and the apparently increasing drift of public sentiment in this direction manifest in many quarters,—call for a sober and reflective revision not only of the reasons and supposed advantages of the so-called reform, but of the very serious issues and consequences involved in it. These issues are not immediate and do not lie on the surface. The question is one which cannot be solved on abstract principles, such as that so often urged, of the ‘right’ of _______; since nothing is more fallacious than the application of abstract theories to practical and political problems.
1) This reform signifies nothing less than a radical and revolutionary change in our whole social system.
2) The demand for _______ is based upon a radically false theory of civil and political rights.
3) The claim for ________ rests upon a radically false conception of the relations and duties of the sexes.
4) The reform in question is a violation of _______’s truest and deepest instincts, and so is truly a “reform against nature.”
5) A last argument against ________ is its practical consequences, or the evil results that will naturally follow such a social revolution. Who will care and nurture the children? The secularization of the home by the intrusion of political questions and disputes, is another impending evil consequence.
- by Rev. Prof. H. M. Goodwin. Excerpts from an article in the ‘New Englander and Yale review’, Volume 43, Issue 179 (March 1884), pp. 193-213.
Did you guess right? The answer is “Female Suffrage”, the right for women to vote. Many churches and religious organizations were against woman’s suffrage. To many it signified nothing less than a radical and revolutionary change in our whole social system. It was an assault upon the Family as the social unit based on radically false theory of civil and political rights. It would hurt children. It was truly a “reform against nature.” Read the whole article. It is a hoot.(http://www.bible-researcher.com/women/suffrage.html)
I love the fear-mongering, hysterical projection and "slippery slope" logic that the writer is sure will happen if women are allowed to vote. Women's voices will deepen and their bodies might take on more masculine features. They could start growing facial hair and beards. Does society really want to take that risk? It is the same BS logic that the conservatives use today to scare people about gay marriage.
4 comments:
Excellent article. I had guessed it was about race rather than gender, but the arguments have been and continue to be the same in each civil equality movement.
I was thinking it was more race than gender as well. You can actually take those "Speeches of love" they make against gays and gay rights and replace "Gay" and "Gays" with "Black People", "Women", or anything else and show how hateful the religious messages really are.
Mixing of races tends towards eliminating the races. The races were created for a good reason. It is the will of God.
Unequal pay for women doing the same work as men keeps them at home unless they really need it. Now that mom is out working, child is in daycare being raised by strangers. In addition, he comes home and is baby sat by the tv (corporate interests).
If that's what you want, that's what you're going to GET!
Fascinating. This attitude towards human dignity is alien to me as a person who has grown up in a tolerant household.
Nature is a neutral thing: neither good nor evil. "Evil" is a corruption of nature. Stress to "do this", "do that", that is what is evil.
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