There are still lots of people who don't get the whole thing about Christian Atheism (or at least the version I'm working on here). And that is understandable. Surely you either believe in God or you don't - if you believe, you follow a certain course; if you don't, you follow another. Why try to ride two horses (or donkeys - but that's for another day)? No man can serve two masters?
Well, it's not quite as simple as that.
The more I learn about human beings and how we wend our way through this world of dizzying complexity and craziness, the more I observe that we do so by subscribing to stories. Beliefs are stories that we tell ourselves, and we sometimes add the additional layer of stating that they are True. However not all stories need to be True to be useful.
This is where the Christianity Compatibility Layer re-enters the fray. An atheist will state the God does not exist (or is very unlikely); a theist will state that God *does* exist. But it's not at all obvious how these statements connect up to what decisions we make in the here and now. Perhaps a theist is looking forward to eternal reward and hoping to avoid damnation; the atheist isn't looking forward to anything much. But is it this thinking-ahead that is really determining how they choose what to do in a given situation?
When the Good Samaritan stopped to help the man at the side of the road, was he thinking about what God had commanded him to do? Or was he using something else as his motivator? It seems very clear that Jesus was pointing out the straightforward compassion that comes from one human seeing another in need - a neighbour, no less. In the authentic Christian tradition, if we are to hold up this parable (which we don't maintain as true in the usual sense) as a guide, we are clearly subscribing to the narrative and using it to inform our own decisions when faced with moral dilemmas.
And for the Christian Atheist this is exactly what the whole story of God and Jesus and even the Resurrection and the supposed Second Coming are - they are a story, and one to which we can choose to subscribe. The mental imagery of the Resurrection isn't just a historical mistake - it's a powerful narrative that retains its transformative power even if we know that it didn't actually happen.
I need to do a lot more to unpack this further, but in the meantime let me just re-emphasise that we can do better than just show that religion is based on things that didn't really happen. We can try to understand why the stories arose, what human needs those stories address, and what the consequences of the stories are. We can recognise that the stories themselves were shaped by the humanity of the people to told and re-told them, and that humanity is our humanity too.
So when we stand up and sing about God or Jesus, we're not lying, and we're not even taking God as a "metaphor". We're seeing God as a transformative story - one created by humans, one that has sub-narratives and tropes and twists and turns. And it's in that story that we too can find and express our humanity, because it's our story too. And we can shape it and use it to speak to others and to reach out and do some good in the world.
Building tunnels
I am very likely not ever going to convince my theist-inclined friends that God is at best a metaphor, and that atheism is a valid form of Christianity, but then they're hardly going to convince me that God actually really exists when every single apologetic argument is demonstrably false - and that Jesus himself didn't engage in apologetics.
But the core issue is wider than Christianity itself - we need to find forms of communal expression in which we Christian Atheists *can* express our heritage and culture, while being welcoming and inclusive and *facilitative* (not just "tolerant") of Theistic Christians, Jews and Muslims and Hindus and whatever. Indeed, I think we should (as the Apostle Paul - not one of my favourite chappies, but that's another argument - sort-of suggested) be able to become as Jews or Muslims as the situation demands. When in a mosque, behave in an appropriate way, and join with the worshippers. Similarly in a synagogue or temple. There is no need to stand aloof. Get in there and feel what your fellow humans feel - maybe you'll learn to understand them just a little better.
This was brought home to me when I was last in Nazareth - a place very close to my heart. One of the Nazareth Hospital doctors was giving us a guided tour through Old Nazareth; some of the places were familiar from my previous forays, others were new to me. I had never been inside the White Mosque, but our group were kindly allowed inside, and the imam showed us into pretty much every nook and cranny of the place - including the entrance to the Nazareth tunnels. Sadly the chap with the key was off for lunch so we didn't get inside, but these little-known old tunnels link the Christian and Muslim places of worship, as well as other centres in the town, so that if Nazareth was ever attacked (as it often was over the centuries), the entire population could join together and mount a joint defence. I later joined an Evangelical Christian friend on the floor of the mosque, and we both "prayed" in our own ways towards Mecca.
Maybe we all need to build these tunnels, and learn to stand together despite our differences. Learn to dig beneath the superstructures to our core shared humanity, deep in the earth. The differences will not go away, and represent different places where we are on our respective journeys.
Next time, I'm going to wait for the keyholder to get back from his lunch.
[Hey, we're on FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/christatheist also Twitter: @heliopolitan ]
Richard Dawkins - new poster boy for Christian Atheism.
 |
| Richard Dawkins is a Secular Christian. In that tie. [Telegraph] |
Yet I think such views miss out some very important aspects of our history and culture in the West. David Cameron got into a lot of trouble for saying Britain is a "Christian country", but the problem with what he said wasn't that it was wrong, but that it had the wrong emphasis. I have argued that Atheism is one (not necessarily the only) logical outcome of Christianity properly applied. For many people, being an Atheist is like a Level 2 Christian, where theists are still stuck at Level 1. They haven't solved the puzzle sufficiently to move beyond the simplistic notion of God and Salvation and all that jazz.
But Richard Dawkins accepts that Britain is steeped in Christian heritage, and this in turn has shaped his thinking, as well as that of everyone "British". We should no more ditch the Bible than we would ditch Shakespeare or Dickens. The hymns of Cowper have a resonance that owes everything to Christianity, and that resonance rings as loudly in the heart of an atheist as it does in a theist. It's not the first time Prof Dawkins has said this. He has previously suggested that "Atheists for Jesus" could be an appropriate slogan (I concur).
Now, not everyone is going to be happy with this - that much is clear. Some people did not arrive at atheism as a journey out of Christianity - or, if they did, it was a hair-raising escape, and they're just glad to be free. For me, I enjoyed Christianity, I got a lot from it, most of my friends are still believers, and I don't even mind religious ceremony. I just don't believe it's true any more. As such, I still feel like a Christian (or what I think a Christian should feel like), and I can rebuild my notion of "Christ" around ideals that the historical Jesus may or may not have embodied, however imperfectly. Because it's a story - a parable. We all have our foundational myths - recognising that they are myths doesn't make them less powerful - on the contrary, it makes them more useful and adaptable. We can do more with them, rather than being doxastically constrained by them.
Maybe this Secular Christianity will catch on. But remember - you heard it here first!
On the word "Action"...
As previously remarked, it is very very quiet round here these days. Sorry for that, but we're all pretty busy, and I don't kid myself that there are thousands of people eagerly awaiting my next comment on any particular subject.
However, there IS a Facebook group, and you're very welcome to head over there and see if anything tickles your fancy: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christian-Atheism-in-Action/128248970561284
I'm always keen to hear from you, my fine friends, as to how you see Christian Atheism working out in practice. Are you a church goer? Have you pretty much given up on church, but still see yourself as Christian? Or maybe you are an out-and-out atheist who feels that Christianity in particular, as well as Religion in general, are Bad Things that need opposed rather than exapted for humanistic purposes? Maybe you're a Theistic Christian who feels that we're all hellbound heretics, and how dare we assume the label "Christian" for an atheistic humanistic worldview that seeks to express itself via the Christian narrative (as others will express theirs through an Islamic, Jewish, Egyptian, Buddhist etc narrative)?
However, there IS a Facebook group, and you're very welcome to head over there and see if anything tickles your fancy: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christian-Atheism-in-Action/128248970561284
I'm always keen to hear from you, my fine friends, as to how you see Christian Atheism working out in practice. Are you a church goer? Have you pretty much given up on church, but still see yourself as Christian? Or maybe you are an out-and-out atheist who feels that Christianity in particular, as well as Religion in general, are Bad Things that need opposed rather than exapted for humanistic purposes? Maybe you're a Theistic Christian who feels that we're all hellbound heretics, and how dare we assume the label "Christian" for an atheistic humanistic worldview that seeks to express itself via the Christian narrative (as others will express theirs through an Islamic, Jewish, Egyptian, Buddhist etc narrative)?
As quiet as Mars here...?
Thanks for sticking with this, those of you who are still around! As you'll have noticed, things have been a little quiet around here lately. I hope to get some more material up fairly shortly - no shortage of good ideas, but you know the typical quandary of things failing between neuron and keyboard...
Anyway, here is a little song I wrote about Mars exploration - I hope you like it:
The justification for putting this on here is that when I was a theistic Christian I did sometimes wonder what the vanilla "traditional" Christianity should make of interplanetary travel and colonisation. Would the Rapture on Earth happen at the same time as on other planets? Would other planets be "unfallen" (as C.S. Lewis mused in the "Out of the Silent Planet" fantasy trilogy)? Indeed, could we see the effects of the Fall, as the wavefront of sin impacted on them? Is the Speed of Sin the same as the speed of light?
Looking back from the perspective of the Christian Atheist, this all seems rather silly. But, as I hint in the song, the trail of our footprints leads back to the Turkana clay, and some day we'll have to decide whether we are simply Children of the Earth or Children of the Stars.
Groovy, baby.
Anyway, here is a little song I wrote about Mars exploration - I hope you like it:
The justification for putting this on here is that when I was a theistic Christian I did sometimes wonder what the vanilla "traditional" Christianity should make of interplanetary travel and colonisation. Would the Rapture on Earth happen at the same time as on other planets? Would other planets be "unfallen" (as C.S. Lewis mused in the "Out of the Silent Planet" fantasy trilogy)? Indeed, could we see the effects of the Fall, as the wavefront of sin impacted on them? Is the Speed of Sin the same as the speed of light?
Looking back from the perspective of the Christian Atheist, this all seems rather silly. But, as I hint in the song, the trail of our footprints leads back to the Turkana clay, and some day we'll have to decide whether we are simply Children of the Earth or Children of the Stars.
Groovy, baby.
Name change
OK, after the consultation (thanks, all!) I have decided to change the name from "Church of Jesus Christ Atheist" to "Christian Atheism in Action" (not "inaction"). The new URL for the blog is christian-atheist.blogspot.com (yes, it has a hyphen - sorry about that).
One problem with the "Church" label was that it gave the impression that we were trying to start a denomination. That would be totally against the core concept of the Christianity Compatibility Layer. Another problem was that it juxtaposed "Jesus Christ" with "Atheist" too soon in the game, and I think potentially alienated part of the audience who really need to get a wee bit deeper into the thinking before deciding whether to switch off.
So let me know what you think - is there a better title? Are there other blogs or websites doing a similar thing to this? Are there useful links you can suggest? Is the concept fundamentally flawed, or is there a better way of getting atheists and believers alike to snuggle cosily together under the banner of "Christian" (in the same way as I hope they can do for Judaism and Islam)?
One problem with the "Church" label was that it gave the impression that we were trying to start a denomination. That would be totally against the core concept of the Christianity Compatibility Layer. Another problem was that it juxtaposed "Jesus Christ" with "Atheist" too soon in the game, and I think potentially alienated part of the audience who really need to get a wee bit deeper into the thinking before deciding whether to switch off.
So let me know what you think - is there a better title? Are there other blogs or websites doing a similar thing to this? Are there useful links you can suggest? Is the concept fundamentally flawed, or is there a better way of getting atheists and believers alike to snuggle cosily together under the banner of "Christian" (in the same way as I hope they can do for Judaism and Islam)?
Alienation or Illumination?
It has come to my attention (i.e. I've been collared by one of my nearest and dearest) that the title of this blog, "Church of Jesus Christ Atheist" might be somewhat alienating or even offensive to some Christians, or even to some Atheists. Perhaps the juxtaposition of Jesus Christ and Atheism is too much for some (despite the very deliberate device in the gospels of Matthew and Mark that suggest that Jesus cried out on the cross "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?").
Whether we like it or not (and I don't - just to make that clear), many Christians and Atheists regard the "other side" with a degree of disdain, suspicion, or even outright hostility, so that putting Jesus Christ together with Atheist might raise a few eyebrows.
My intent in the name was to indeed raise the eyebrows, but not to put people off; rather, I wanted them to read further, to see whether the distinction was as sharp as it is often made out. I would contend that already many people who see themselves as Christian, and unapologetically so, do not believe that the bible records absolutely accurate accounts of past events, do not believe the stories of miracles represent true records of real events, do not believe that Jesus was divine, born of a virgin, or rose from the dead, and don't even believe in God (at least not in the "conventional" way).
So enough preamble. It's over to you folks now: should I change the name of this blog, and if so, what should I change it to? Bear in mind the stated purpose of the blog - to develop a Christianity Compatibility Layer for Atheists. Some ideas for starters:
Opinions welcome below in the comments section. Thanks in advance!
Whether we like it or not (and I don't - just to make that clear), many Christians and Atheists regard the "other side" with a degree of disdain, suspicion, or even outright hostility, so that putting Jesus Christ together with Atheist might raise a few eyebrows.
My intent in the name was to indeed raise the eyebrows, but not to put people off; rather, I wanted them to read further, to see whether the distinction was as sharp as it is often made out. I would contend that already many people who see themselves as Christian, and unapologetically so, do not believe that the bible records absolutely accurate accounts of past events, do not believe the stories of miracles represent true records of real events, do not believe that Jesus was divine, born of a virgin, or rose from the dead, and don't even believe in God (at least not in the "conventional" way).
So enough preamble. It's over to you folks now: should I change the name of this blog, and if so, what should I change it to? Bear in mind the stated purpose of the blog - to develop a Christianity Compatibility Layer for Atheists. Some ideas for starters:
- "Christian Atheist Understanding"
- "Tolerating Difference"
- "What is Truth?"
Opinions welcome below in the comments section. Thanks in advance!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)