Is Being a Constitutional Originalist Racist Because of the Three-Fifths Compromise? - Ask BreakPoint
Breakpoint
Colson Center
4.8 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 28 October 2020
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
John and Shane end Ask BreakPoint with a challenging question. The listener asks if being an originalist with the constitution, in the way that Amy Coney-Barrett is, is racist because of the Three-fifths compromise. Shane creates an important distinction that the three-fifths compromise was an addressing of political influence in the South. Shane points out that the northern states didn't want slaves to have full representation in congress because it would give the south an overwhelming majority.
The pair take time to not only point out how the founders saw slavery as a moral evil that requires justice from God. Their handling of the topic supports the value and dignity of all humans and the complicated history and structure of the constitution.
Does Congress legislate morality? This is the second question John and Shane address in the Ask BreakPoint Podcast this week.
The pair unpack the paths that lead to the issue of legislating morality. They walk through a number of logical foundations from Scripture in how God provides civil guidance for Israel. They point out how even pagan nations have a standard of living that must answer to God.
Before the question on legislating morality John and Shane provide resources on a thoughtful view to artificial intelligence. John highlights books by Sheri Turkle and Neil Postman, providing a strong philosophical framework to engage artificial intelligence. Shane references an interview with Jason Thacker he conducted on the BreakPoint Podcast where Jason addresses the issue in a practical way.
To close John and Shane provide a structure to address the issue of rape and incest inside the abortion debate. Their handling of the question provides setting and context that will help the listener in the ongoing debate with care and dignity.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Breakpoint podcast in our Q&A segment Ask the Colson Center. I'm Shane Morris, |
| 0:07.1 | and I'm here with John Stone Street to answer your questions. These are questions that are based on |
| 0:11.2 | breakpoint commentaries and podcasts that we've aired on short courses we've held, all kinds of stuff. |
| 0:17.0 | And I'm really excited for a great lineup today, John. We've got some very insightful questions about topics that we've discussed recently, |
| 0:24.5 | ranging from politics to what kind of morality we should have in politics to... |
| 0:30.0 | Wait, there's political questions? |
| 0:31.4 | Has there really been that much political things going on? |
| 0:33.6 | That seems like such a small part of our culture. |
| 0:36.1 | You know, something we need to explore at some point, by the way. |
| 0:38.8 | And I do want to say that I'm a little bit sad that everyone missed your hairball cough at the beginning of this. |
| 0:43.3 | That was actually really funny. |
| 0:45.1 | But I do think something we got to explore. |
| 0:47.8 | People say, why do Christians allow so much to be political? |
| 0:52.3 | And it's a good question. |
| 0:53.3 | But I also think a question is what's happened to our culture in which so much to be political. And it's a good question. But I also think a question is, |
| 0:55.1 | what's happened to our culture in which so much is political? Like, what does it say about a culture |
| 1:00.9 | in which everything is politically thought, politically debated? It says a lot, doesn't I mean, |
| 1:05.9 | it says like, you know, the state has become too big. It says that we're looking to a singular solution for all |
| 1:13.8 | problems, which is not something we should probably do. Anyway, that's not, none of those are the |
| 1:19.4 | questions. It just came to mind. So I thought I'd bring it up. I'm actually writing a commentary on |
| 1:23.2 | this right now for Breakpoint, where we refer to a passage from the screw tape letters where |
| 1:28.6 | screw tape advises Wormwood to get his patient to use Christianity as a means to talk about |
... |
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