Universal Human Dignity - a Christian Concept?

[◊ Krowb ◊]

I do not have time to flesh this out, but there is currently a debate brewing amongst some of my old classmates regarding the Christian duty to vote.  One of them has staked out a fairly long position that a uniqueness to Christianity is the concept of universal human dignity.  That any atheists who subscribe to this view have clearly been influenced by its Christian roots whether they wish to admit it or not. The debate is fairly lively, but has anyone done the research on the emergence of this concept?  My hypothesis is the concept developed independently (or in spite of Christianity) in an area that was largely christianized and was co-opted until it became the prevalent view. 

 

Christianity clearly rolls with the times - otherwise fundamentalists wouldn't have anything to rail against & it would've died out a long time ago.

[LogicalFallacy]

There is no Christian duty to vote. Christianity was born in a time where people didn't get to vote on matter of government.

 

That's why Paul tells his followers to:

 

In Hebrews:

Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

In Romans:

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

 

The concept Universal human dignity came about during the enlightenment period. Yes it was largely Christians that developed it, but that's unsurprising seeing everyone was a Christian in Europe at that time. I would say those Christians developed the concept DESPITE what the bible says, not because of it.

[Joshpantera]

The same is true of slavery. Some christians were for it, some christians against it. The one's who were against it did so DESPITE, not because of, christianity. So this was a running theme through the enlightenment period going forward. 

[◊ Krowb ◊]

@LogicalFallacy Yeah, the group on FB seems to treat the duty vote as a foregone conclusion - the debate itself is mostly concerned with whether voting itself constitutes a "religious experience" and how much religion should play in choosing who to vote for. There is a side thread that intrigued me more dealing with the OP's statement regarding universal human dignity as a uniquely Christian idea.  Some atheists came out to play regarding just this point and it's been an interesting development over the last couple of hours. OP believes Jesus was a radical who clearly preached universal human dignity, but it took us sinners almost 2k to figure it out Jesus' True message.

 

Another amusing side thread between the Christians themselves is whether God sent Trump to save America from Biden or vice versa.

 

This was an interesting article I found on the topic:  https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/theforum/a-history-of-human-dignity/

As all of us appear in accord, this concept is quite recent and developed in spite of Christianity.  Apparently our modern meaning of "dignity" in English is only about 150 years old - the word had a different meaning before then.

[◊ Weezer ◊]

Not really having to do with voting, but the mention of universal human dignity brought to my mind the different versions of the golden rule, with Jesus version, "love neighbor as self."  But that was far from a new thought at that time.  Is this along the lines of what you are talking about?  I researched this a few days ago and evidently the first known similar statement appeared around 2,000 BCE, and other similar statements appeared through the ages.  But, of course fundamental Christians would want to believe it started with jesus.

[alreadyGone]

Correct me please if I am wrong, but doesn't the Bible in large part declare the opposite of human dignity?  Your best is no better than filthy rags..

 

 

[LogicalFallacy]

43 minutes ago, alreadyGone said:

Correct me please if I am wrong, but doesn't the Bible in large part declare the opposite of human dignity?  Your best is no better than filthy rags..

 

 

 

Correct. Christopher Hitchens constantly pointed this out. According to the Bible we are born in sin and worthless without God.

[disillusioned]

16 minutes ago, LogicalFallacy said:

 

Correct. Christopher Hitchens constantly pointed this out. According to the Bible we are born in sin and worthless without God.

 

As I remember Hitchens putting it...

 

You are worthless. A worm. Hideous, and irredeemable.

..but nevertheless, take heart! The whole thing has been designed with you in mind.

 

What an obscene way of viewing the world.

[LogicalFallacy]

Here's a link where Hitchen's hits on this topic

 

 

[◊ Weezer ◊]

On 10/22/2020 at 7:37 PM, alreadyGone said:

Correct me please if I am wrong, but doesn't the Bible in large part declare the opposite of human dignity?  Your best is no better than filthy rags..

 

 

I agree the over all message indicates we are "lost souls", but the golden rule, as attributed to Jesus, points us toward human dignity.  That is the point I was making, and that it wasn't a totally new concept that could be attributed to christians.