My roommate and I were having an interesting conversation about nobility and celebrities last night and this was the choice quote.

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Scott - Dallas, Texas - Faith OPC

"It is not what a lawyer tells me I may do; but what humanity, reason, and justice tell me I ought to do." - Edmund Burke

That seems pretty accurate.

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Daniel Franzen
Church Creek Presbyterian (PCA)
Charleston, SC

Case by case issue, society has expanded the umbrella it arches over "celebrity".

However men like Ronald reagan turned celebrity into useful platform for great public service.

As did Charleton Heston, Jimmy Stewart and many others.

We are rightfulyl weary of gossip and those that subject themselves to be objects of it, but by and large celebrities rue the day they obtained the status.

As is noted most were not noble before fame and are unfairly expected to be noble simply because they have public attention.

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:detective:
Travis Speegle
Redeemer Presbyterian, PCA (Waco, Tx)
Pacific Cross Roads, PCA (Los Angeles, CA)


"When it comes to trustworthy theologians one can usually honor the rule of thumb that the deader the better."-Dr. John Hannah, DTS (of all places)

Out of interest what are the benefits of nobility?

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Fraser,
Trinity Reformed Baptist Church
Hamilton, New Zealand.

Silence peasant!

They will ask silly questions, won't they?

-----Added 1/28/2009 at 08:54:49 EST-----

It is interesting, though, did society benefit from nobility and royalty, or did it not?

Only a peasant would question such a thing?

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Frank
Under Care
P.C.A.
Maryland

I would think that in theory nobility would have a greater ability to produce and support the arts, literature, music, medical charities, etc. because they do not have a need to work to survive.

That was at least what happened in the past. For example, amost every piece of literature, history, poetry, etc. we have from the Classical Period (Greece and Rome) was produced by nobility.

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Fred Greco
Senior Pastor, Christ Church PCA (Katy, TX)
Christ Church Blog

"The heart is the main thing in true religion...It is the hinge and turning-point in the condition of man's soul. If the heart is alive to God and quickened by the Spirit, the man is a living Christian. If the heart is dead and has not the Spirit, the man is dead before God." (J.C. Ryle)

Also worth noting is that the great Composers of the past all worked at the pleasure of a King or an Emperor or some type of nobility (or even an Archbishop).

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Benjamin P. Glaser, M. Div, Licentiate, Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
Member Fairmount ARP Church
Pittsburgh, PA

Deo Vindice

If all the celebrities were truly noble, they could do a lot of good.

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J Baldwin
Keowee Presbyterian Church, PCA
Pickens, SC
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27

Check Out My Blog: http://reflectjoy.blogspot.com/

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Martin - Reformed
Husband to the most godly, honorable and loyal wife Line
Searching for a Church
Webpage www.5solas.dk
Free Online Reformed Seminary - http://www.tnars.net
Soli Deo Gloria

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soli Deo gloria!
~Nicholas~ Ordained Pastor
Member, Fulton PCA; GPTS Student
Christians are like snow covered dung; it is the purity of the covering which the Father sees. -Luther-
There is nothing more ugly than a Christian orthodoxy without understanding or without compassion.
-Francis Schaeffer-

At what could be considered an extravagant cost in the welfare of the peasants, though. Was it really worth it?

And secondly, did Jesus call His followers to be exalted or to be humble?

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Jonathan
Audio Engineer
Reformed Anabaptist
Ohio

Moroni's magical glasses of proper interpretation:

In talking about nobility on this thread, Rev. Winzer made this point about some of their historical responsibilities. The arts have arguably been incredibly impoverished in the western world by the decline of patronage, in addition to the other things.

Every society has elites, and every type of elite has its own problems, but you won't get rid of elites. A member of a landed aristocracy (the nobility) can be "exalted" or "humble" just as any of us can be, whether we have $1,000 in the bank or $10,000,000 or are the richest person in the world.

Nothing about said individual requires or dictates that they opress the poor or that they do by their very existence. Otherwise in our society, Sam Walton and his family have inherently oppressed the poor by the very virtue of making their fortune off a chain of discount merchants that favors the lower incomes. (I don't want to hear about their business practices, this is an example).

I'm not saying nobility was perfect or even inherently a good idea, but I dispute the idea that it only brings a net loss to a nation with those institutions.

Jonathan,

No one is arguing that life (in a Fallen world) is fair.

But all the same, I'd rather pay Homer to wrote poetry that will last 3000+ years than to pay a complete buffoon like Manny Ramirez to hit a ball, or the latest thug to make three pointers, or Madonna to spout filth.

Also, where would the early church have been if it weren't for some wealthy (elite, culturally, financially, and socially in some cases) members with large homes? Clearly there were problems of favoritism and the like that came from it.

However, due to the nature of sin, you still have the same potential for sin-caused problems in economically level societies as you do in stratfied ones. The problems look different, but there are still problems often at least as bad as the ones eliminated.

Our queen paints if that counts

That's a good point.

Yes, but when was the last time you saw a humble celebrity?

^^Seconded.

Hence my opening post's quote