Debunking Christianity is one of my favourite blogs, run by the incomparable John Loftus. John has posted a call from himself, Hector Avalos, Jim Linville and Ken Pulliam for the establishment of a group to apply biblical scholarship from an explicitly non-religious perspective.
Yes, yes, I know the CJCA is trying to not rock the boat, but replace it plank-by-plank, while keeping it afloat (possibly a doomed enterprise, but who's to say it's not a fun experiment?), but this has got to be a good thing. Many Christian Atheists have come to their positions because they have studied the bible in considerable detail, and Christianity ultimately supports Atheism in the final analysis.
Of course, a corollary of what I'm saying is that Atheistic Judaism and Atheistic Islam etc. are perfectly valid positions to take, and people are developing atheistic compatibility layers for these religions too (possibly most advanced in Judaism - a fantastic model to follow in many respects). Atheistic Christianity is not exclusive - our atheism joins us to our colleagues in many other camps and disciplines. Keep it up, folks! Similar groupings for study of the Torah and Koran, anyone?
I think the idea of atheistic judaism is ludicrous.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, if there is no God, he sure never splek to Abraham or the Prophets and all that stuff about the Jews being Chosen and the land being special is propaganda.
Just like the anti semites say it is.
Meaning Judaism is a massive fraud.
Atheistic Judaism...hahahaha!!!!
Hitler would have loved it! Judaism itself wiped out in one swipe!
Not in the least. Jewish Atheism is alive and well.
ReplyDeleteShane,
ReplyDelete"Christianity ultimately supports Atheism in the final analysis."
Surely it's time to put a little bit of meat on these bones? Goodness I can even think of a (completely out of context) bible reference, in Ezekiel and the valley of dry bones! :-)
Come on, get blowing!
PeterM
Thanks, Shane, for your thoughts here! I suspect that many ostensible Christians are actually religious naturalists. At my Blogger site, inclusive-publishing.blogspot.com, I'm trying to work through the Psalms as powerful texts along similar lines as you're discussing here. Quakerism, of which I'm a part, allows for a wide variety of perspectives, Theistic, Nontheistic, as we look to experience the light. Thanks! Mike
ReplyDeleteCheers, Mike - I have a couple of Quaker friends (a tautology? ;-), and the value of freethought and reason is certainly something we share. Your work on the Psalms is certainly refreshing. Keep it up. BW, -Shane
ReplyDeleteHi Shane i dont see people ever completely stopping being spiritual if thats partly the type of thing you are talking about.In the sense of the attitude interests and outlook etc,like how the American Indians thought and cared about mother earth for instance.Or folks are wondering if global warmings a problem now or not.And folks care for other folks when they hear they are suffering.
ReplyDeleteBut for just myself anyway bible readings i cant see myself getting into much again,still i think its great if some do i even think its worthwhile and important.
Im just more like the savage tribesman type i suppose L.o.L,more interested with down to earth stuff.
But hey a world where everyone needed to be exactly the same would make life extremely more harder and boring anyway,folks would all need to learn it all and sharing of our different talents by helping each other out maybe just no longer would happen quite the same.
Our strengths lay in some of these things that have often helped us survive in the past.
Hi Shane,
ReplyDeleteYou say you are now a Christian who is an Atheist? This thing sounded a little bit weird the first time I heard about it but as time progressed I have used to it and it is kinda of normal thing to me now. I must say it is a very interesting personal philosophy and when you ponder about it in its context and details, you gotta love it.
Apparently, it requires a bit of intellectual and emotional sophistication to be a Christian Atheist. The term rather appear that a person must be of the Atheist mindset but behave emotionally as a Christian! I mean, a Christian Atheist must be convinced God does not exist but behave as if He exist. A person must believe that Jesus did not die for our sins but preach to others that he died for our sins. And all those stuffs of orthodox Christianity.
Now, initally, I also was of the mindset that if it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck...it is a duck. That if you live as if God exist and as if Jesus is Christ and Lord, then you are a Christian believer any way , no matter what you say in the public.
But then again, I was forced to change my mind when I thought about it further. It is virtually impossible to be convinced God does not exist and yet live as if He does. It is practically untenable to know that Jesus resurrection was a hoax and live with a Christian Hope of resurrection. It then became apparent to me that all that fiasco about Church of Jesus Christ atheist is just one of those pseudo-intellectual hocus-pocus by confused guys when attempting to gain that warm fuzzy feeling they need the most in their naturalistic world view.
Hi folks,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments. I have to say from my own perspective, the atheistic "emergent church" malarkey leaves me a bit cold. Too post-modern for a hard-nosed realist like me. However, what I have come to realise is that churches *are* full of atheists, whether we like it or not, and I think that a certain percentage of them are happy enough within the church and the overall philosophy at a humanistic level, without paying much attention to "God".
And it takes me back to the concept of the "Compatibility Layer" - I'm not trying to develop a "new sect" with this blog - quite the reverse. I'm experimenting to see if overt atheists have a place within churches. It's not about converting people to a "new philosophy" - I am not saying that Christianity is "the right way" or anything as silly as that.
Atheists and humanists have a wide variety of perspectives, likes and dislikes. There is a lot about Christianity that I like (and a lot that I dislike, or I know to be untrue).
Join the experiment!
Thanks again for the comments; keep 'em coming.