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Old 08-08-2015, 12:28 AM   #7
BlueK
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Interesting point. Of course judgment and shame play a role in helping to keep society in line. In the context of the gospel though, I would say we shouldn't miss the point of redemption. Repentance and forgiveness remove the shame, but we have a strong cultural tendency to not want to remove it from others or ourselves long after we've been redeemed.

Also, my interpretation of the NT makes me believe that Jesus wasn't a big fan of societal shame. I mean, he made friends with the dregs of society who carried shame. Every Samaritan was under shame by the Jews just because their ancestors mixed with people not of the covenant. He hung out with tax collectors who were shamed because they associated with their Roman oppressors. I think among the Jews of his time the whole shame thing had really run amok, to the point that people born blind were assumed either to have had parents who sinned or had sinned themselves. I grew up LDS and this didn't bother me that much I guess growing up, but as I have matured, I suppose, it bothers me now that our culture should be a little more forgiven and less judgmental.
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