{"id":7757,"date":"2013-07-22T11:06:25","date_gmt":"2013-07-22T15:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=7757"},"modified":"2013-07-22T11:06:25","modified_gmt":"2013-07-22T15:06:25","slug":"turing-2013-christian-entry-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2013\/07\/turing-2013-christian-entry-8.html","title":{"rendered":"[Turing 2013] Christian Entry #8"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This is the eighth entry in the Christian round of the 2013 Ideological Turing Test<\/a>. \u00a0This year, atheists and Christians responded to questions about sex, death, and literature<\/a>. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Polyamory<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Marriage, at its core, is limited solely to the union of two persons. I don\u2019t know very much about civil marriage, but I can attest that natural marriage is dictated according to natural law and oriented toward the building of the family. Because it cannot exist without the complementary natures of man and woman exhibited in a mother and a father, the definition of natural marriage cannot be altered. Its purpose is to maintain the family unit\u2014mother, father, and children\u2014which acts as the building block and microcosm of society. Sacramental marriage transcends natural marriage, and is a more complicated topic than natural marriage. Natural marriage can be easily acknowledged by many\/most people (see below), while sacramental marriage is much more difficult to explain without a particular metaphysical basis.<\/p>\n

The idea of the family unit as the building block of society has been around for millennia; Aristotle himself is the one who suggested it as the \u201cmicrocosm of society\u201d and Confucius (who I sometimes call \u201cChinese Aristotle\u201d) came to the same conclusion. The nuclear family is vital for the subsistence of society as we know it. This fact, combined with the biological oxytocin bonding which is a consequence of having sex, has led to the world of monogamous relationships as we know it.<\/p>\n

These truths\u2014the statistics on the necessity of two (and no more than two!) parents for the well-being of children, the fact of oxytocin bonding, the long philosophical tradition of the family as the building block of society\u2014should be easily acknowledged by everyone but with the modern tendency to base marriage on love rather than on values (the decision is based on a friendship of interest rather than a friendship of virtue), the facts are often left by the wayside.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Euthanasia<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This question is a little tricky because of its phrasing. For the purpose of the answer, I assume the question pertains to medical euthanasia and not a matter of self-defense.<\/p>\n

It is never obligatory or permissible to actively end a life. Life ends on its own. In the event of an ethical dilemma such as a coma patient in a vegetative state, all reasonable routes must be taken to restore her to a non-vegetative state. In any and all cases involving human life, compassion trumps utility.<\/p>\n

Active euthanasia\u2014purposely intervening in order to kill\u2014is never acceptable. Passive euthanasia\u2014allowing someone to die\u2014is acceptable in extraordinary circumstances where the detriments of the treatment far outweigh the potential benefits. If, for instance, a patient is very clearly terminally ill and the potential treatments cause great suffering and do not make any progress on the \u201chealing\u201d front, the treatment may be discontinued so that the patient may die in peace. This cannot be done without the permission of the patient, however, whether at the time of discontinuation or beforehand in a declaration of intention. Under no circumstances, however, is regular treatment of a dying patient to be discontinued; they must still be fed, clothed, bathed, and loved because a dying person is still a person.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bonus<\/h2>\n

Fairy-tale style myth. Hands-down. To quote G.K. Chesterton (twice): \u201cFairy tales are more than true, not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.\u201d And, in the same breath, \u201cThe world will never starve for want of wonders, but for want of wonder.\u201d To marvel at the beauty of the world around me and still be surprised by it every time\u2014that is a specialty of my perspective on the world and I think it would be best presented in a faerie story. I\u2019d like to open it with a line from Warehouse 13: \u201cWelcome to a world of endless wonder.\u201d<\/p>\n

I suspect my story would look a bit like the Lord of the Rings, though with a darker twist\u2014somewhat like J.R.R. Tolkien meets Neil Gaiman. I\u2019d like to say it would read like Good Omens but sadly I\u2019m just not as funny as Terry Pratchett. However, I do think God has a fantastic sense of humour, so maybe the story which tells my worldview is kind of like Good Omens meets the Lord of the Rings.
\nYou can vote on whether you think these answers were written by a Christian or an Atheist here<\/a>. \u00a0Comments are open to discuss the substance of the post\u00a0and<\/strong> for speculation about the true beliefs of the author, so please vote before looking at the comments.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the eighth entry in the Christian round of the 2013 Ideological Turing Test. \u00a0This year, atheists and Christians responded to questions about sex, death, and literature. \u00a0 \u00a0 Polyamory Marriage, at its core, is limited solely to the union of two persons. I don\u2019t know very much about civil marriage, but I can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[225],"class_list":["post-7757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ideologicalturingtest","tag-christian-turing-answers-2013"],"yoast_head":"\n[Turing 2013] Christian Entry #8<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is the eighth entry in the Christian round of the 2013 Ideological Turing Test. \u00a0This year, atheists and Christians responded to questions about sex,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2013\/07\/turing-2013-christian-entry-8.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"[Turing 2013] Christian Entry #8\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This is the eighth entry in the Christian round of the 2013 Ideological Turing Test. \u00a0This year, atheists and Christians responded to questions about sex,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2013\/07\/turing-2013-christian-entry-8.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Unequally Yoked\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-07-22T15:06:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/files\/2013\/07\/turing-mask-christian.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leah Libresco\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leah Libresco\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2013\/07\/turing-2013-christian-entry-8.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2013\/07\/turing-2013-christian-entry-8.html\",\"name\":\"[Turing 2013] Christian Entry #8\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-07-22T15:06:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-07-22T15:06:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464\"},\"description\":\"This is the eighth entry in the Christian round of the 2013 Ideological Turing Test. \u00a0This year, atheists and Christians responded to questions about sex,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2013\/07\/turing-2013-christian-entry-8.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2013\/07\/turing-2013-christian-entry-8.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2013\/07\/turing-2013-christian-entry-8.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"[Turing 2013] Christian Entry #8\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/\",\"name\":\"Unequally Yoked\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464\",\"name\":\"Leah Libresco\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Leah Libresco\"},\"description\":\"Leah is the author of Arriving at Amen and Building the Benedict Option. 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