Christians frequently restrict the scope of ethics to a narrow class of 'personal' sins. A few years ago in a study of over 1,500 ministers, researchers discovered that the theologically conservative pastors speak out on sins such as drug abuse and sexual misconduct. But they fail to preach about sins of institutionalized racism, unjust economic structures and militaristic institutions which destroy people just as do alcohol and drugs.
There is an important difference between consciously willed, individual acts (like lying to a friend or committing an act of adultery) and participation in evil social structures. Slavery is an example of the latter. So is the Victorian factory system where ten-year old children worked twelve to sixteen hours a day. Both slavery and child labour were legal. But they destroyed people by the millions. They were institutionalized or structural evils. The Bible condemns both.
Ronald J Sider, 'Rich Christians in an age of hunger' (Hodder & Stoughton 1978), p.120
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