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Paper Title

-- By JackSherrick - 21 Feb 2021

Introduction

In 1524, German peasants waged a bloody war against the aristocracy. Among other goals, the peasants sought to protect their legal interests to land and secure other legal advantages that the aristocracy had deprived them. During the conflict, the peasants sought the support of the father of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther. Luther's opposition to the oppression of the Catholic Church suggested to the peasants that he would take a similar stance against the aristocracy's political oppression. However, rather than give the peasants his blessing, Luther penned a scathing letter condemning the peasant's plight and beseeching them to acquiesce to aristocratic rule. Luther agreed with many of the peasant's demands but nevertheless instructed the peasants to "suffer to the end, and leave the case to Him (God). "

Luther's position is representative of many religious adherents today. Many Christians are willing to subject themselves to secular laws that do not align with their religious laws because they put little stock in the quality of their temporal lives. They also have a belief that original sin has placed a low ceiling on the degree of justice that can possibly be achieved on earth. Regardless of how "good" a law is, the corrupt nature of the human condition precludes the law from having much of a positive impact. As a brief caveat, this essay is not seeking to paint all Christians with a broad brush. Many Christian organizations such as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference seek to radically restructure society through legal means and do not hold the fatalistic attitudes towards legal change that I describe in this essay.

Miracle Motif

The miracle motif is a belief held by many Christians that the best way to improve society is to "love one another" and to add more people to the church. The state of society is not dependent upon secular laws or institutions, but upon the character of the individuals that compose society. Emerson and Smith first analyzed the miracle motif and found that it contributes to white evangelical Christians' opposition to radical social change.

Original Sin

Expected Life Utility

Many Christians view their life on earth as merely a blip in the eternal timeline of their existence. This makes sense if you assume that your soul has an eternal lifespan. (Average life span on earth/eternal life span of the soul ≈ 0). The following equation seeks to explain how those who believe in the eternity of their existence would seek to optimize their expected life utility.

y=β_1 X_1+ β_2 X_2+ ε where y = expected utility over span of entire existence; X_1 = temporal utility; X_2 = post-temporal utility; β_1 < ∞; and β_2 = ∞.

Assuming this equation dictates behavior of religious adherents, a rational actor has little reason to do anything to improve their temporal condition. If post-temporal utility is infinity, why care at all about earthly affairs unless it impacts your post-temporal expected utility?

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Section II

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Subsection B

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