I don't believe Jesus Christ was the son of a God that I don't believe in, nor do I believe Jesus rose from the dead to ascend to a heaven that I don't believe exists
This is a quote from an
article by Robert Jensen, an atheist who recently affirmed that he (1) endorsed the core principles in Christ's teaching; (2) intended to work to deepen my understanding and practice of the universal love at the heart of those principles; and (3) pledged to be a responsible member of the church and the larger community - in front of the congregation of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin, TX.
Jensen has become a secular Christian, or a non-believing believer, or something that I can’t quite put a name too. I am a little confused. Why would an atheist do this?
Jensen’s rational – his decision was political. As in, Jensen wanted to engage people in discussion about politics and their underlying values. This seems well… interesting. He holds the same moral perspective as the parishioners, he wants to talk about it with like minded people, and he feels that perhaps the bible can be read symbolically and not literally. It is a complicated argument.
I wonder, does his membership in a Christian church imply that he cannot find this same sense of community and moral grounding among his fellow atheists? My guess is the answer is yes. My experience is that Atheism is essentially a very lonely experience. I don’t know many other atheists personally, except for 2.5 people I work with (one has a foot in both camps). I certainly do not share the same moral position with any of them, and more importantly, besides are work relationship, there is not such thing as a community. What I a saying? Well… Based on Jensen’s definition, I would have to call myself a secular Christian too – I prefer the Atheist title, my morally does not need to be purchased by the blood of a martyr, no matter how well meaning.
The big question is, would I take the step of attending a church like Jensen has done? Would other atheists? No, I would not. Although I find my life grounded in Christian values, in general, I find Christians to be people I try to avoid socially. I cannot imagine becoming a member of a church, it would drive me crazy. In fact, I am having a hard time understanding why Jensen did it. If I am going to invest my time and energy in building a community, I’m going to do it with people who share my disbelieve, my skepticism, and my goals.
Jensen’s decision to join a church was not without controversy. Jim Rigby answers the question,
Why We Let an Atheist Join Our Church, in a well written response to membership criticism. Rigby’s main justification:
Neither the church nor Jensen views his membership as surrendering anything, but instead as an attempt to build connections. Such efforts are crucial in a world where there seems not to be a lot of wood to build the bridges we need. And the shame is, while we fight among ourselves, the world is burning.
Jim Rigby makes a strong statement:
while we are fighting among ourselves, our world is burning. - Jim, are we on the same team? If so, can you talk to the guy who just sent me a death threat for criticizing the
Willard Preacher?
Technorati Tags: Christianity, Atheism, morality, values, religion
Friends have been asking me who my photographic influences are lately. I would love to respond with Ansel Adams, however, although I love Adams, I do not gravitate towards beautiful landscapes. I prefer the odd, the ugly, and the absurd. I have several influences; Martin Parr is at the top of my list. Parr’s work has inspired me for years. His ability to capture the essence of the mundane suburban experience has pushed me to turn my camera on friends, family, strangers, and even myself at times. I aspire to take photographs that are as boring insightful. Parr's website is a great place to get to know his work. There are several other online resources as well:
Slavoj Zizek wrote an insightful essay for the International Herald Tribune on Tuesday. Atheism is a legacy worth fighting for is a compelling argument for the celebration of atheism as an ideal under which all religions can flourish. Zizek touches on a truism with this statement:
…and here is my picture of Mao to prove it. I am having the worst time trying to post on Blogger. I do not think the government here is very blogging friendly. For instance, I cannot hit my own blog unless I go through a redirector site. It really is quite a pain. It makes me wonder too – it does not take too much skill to get around this stuff, so why do they put it up in the first place. I tried to hit google when I initially logged on and was redirected to the http://www.google.com/intl/zh-CN/. I could not get to google any other way than through this url – then I used my Google toolbar and guess what – that’s right, I shoot right over to Google. It really makes no sense to me.
