The University of California at Davis has backed away from a policy that defined religious discrimination as Christians oppressing non-Christians after more than two dozen Christian students filed a formal complaint.
This confusing article came across my google news feed today. If you are not familiar with the “No True Scotsman” fallacy, the CNN article is a textbook example because the author accuses moderate and liberal Christians of being “fake” Christians. The article outlines the ideas of a book called “Almost Christian.” The author seems to think that the answer to American Christianity’s problems with losing teenagers is to be more “radical.” Radical? How Radical? Like Scott Rhoder? Like Pat Robertson? I think that the world could use fewer “radical” Christians, but I don’t think that’s what she means. I think she would say “Radical like Jesus.” Ok, fair enough. If Ms. Dean would like people to swear a vow of poverty and travel around on foot spreading moral teachings, I might not have a problem with her ideas. But I’m not sure this is what she means. For some reason she attacks “the gospel of niceness” that more moderate Christian denominations teach, and instead encourages teens get passionate about 4 things: their personal story about God they can share, a deep connection to a faith community, a sense of purpose and a sense of hope about their future. In other words, pietistic, evangelical and superstitious-the “old time religion,” of Christianity.
Let me suggest to Ms. Dean why teens are not too excited about their American Christian faith. 1) Teenagers need more sleep than adults, it’s a scientific fact. Having your meetings at 9:30 on Sunday mornings is not a great way to get teen followers. 2) The young teen years are when people start developing critical thinking skills. These critical thinking skills are what enable people to see that many of the teachings of conservative Christianity (Creationism, hell, weird sexual ethics, etc.) are crap. You can’t teach a skeptical teenager a bunch of good things about doing charity and community service, and then slip in the weird teachings of “every sperm is sacred,” or “man and dinosaur walked the earth 10,000 years ago,” or “God doesn’t technically “hate” your gay friend, but it is a grave sin for him to marry someone he loves.” The strange grab bag of assorted good/bad/weird teachings that is American evangelicalism is why people leave. Which brings us back to the “gospel of niceness.” Moderate Christian denominations realized over 100 years ago that the only way to keep religion relevant was to help people. Period. American Churches are losing people (teens included) because we are becoming a more secular country. If American Churches want to attract modern, educated, young people people they need to dispense with the superstition, and simply help people and build communities-nothing more. Oh yeah, and start services around noon (except during football season, when church should be canceled).
Bonus resource: for a different take on why many American Christian churches are suffering, read this very provocative article from the internet monk on “The coming evangelical collapse.”
On this website they pretty much accurately describe what atheism is and what we hold true, which is frankly astounding for a Christian website. I expected it to say, “Atheists are evil Satan worshipers who want America to die.” So I keep on reading, intrigued, and come across this gem about the bible:
The Bible alone is the word of God. It is without error. It cannot and should not be added to or subtracted from (2 Timothy 3:16-4:4; Revelation 22:18-20). It backs up its claim as the word of God with accuracy, historical correctness, and fulfilled prophecy.
I have a couple qualms with that. Let’s tackle these one at a time, shall we?
1. “word of God” - We’ll just leave that one alone.
2. “without error” - The problem with this is that if it is without error then the stories within must exist within a multiverse and Jesus must have existed multiple times.
-Was it an angel at Jesus’ tomb, or was it two women? Or was it a group of women. Well, if the bible is without error then it was all three of these.
-Was Jesus born of a virgin or wasn’t he? It was both, if the bible is without error.
-Did Judas hang himself or spontaneously explode? Both!
3. “cannot… be added or subtracted to” Is that right? Really? There are books of the bible that have been canon, then not canon then canon, and it changes as religion changes. So this claim is bunk right out of the gate. I always find myself referring to this video and there’s a reason. It’s so good; Sam Harris is brilliant.
4. “accuracy” - of what? This is too vague.
5. “historical correctness” Just by mentioning a person who in fact did exist (i.e. Pontius Pilate, and Herod) does not make it historically accurate. Very few events in the bible are actually and archeologically verifiable or likely. Jews were not slaves in Egypt, there was no Jesus Christ (maybe a prophet named Jesus at one time, but there’s no proof) and a serpent didn’t get a rib-woman to eat a piece of fruit.
6. “fulfilled prophecy” because this is all fiction, the likelihood is that the original author of Mark or Q took the Old Testament and said, “Oh, I can write a story that will fulfill these prophecies.” And that’s what he did and it somehow exploded into a super-cult.
Can we stop spreading pure, unadulterated propaganda?
Many Christians claim that the primary way to get into heaven is through good works. There is, however, substantial reason to not believe that this is true. I submit that it seems wicked to people to not be rewarded for doing good by getting into heaven. It also seems evil that their friends, neighbors and loved ones who do not accept Christ because they are a member of another religion or simply because they are non-believers cannot get into heaven even though they are good people. You often hear this question posed and many Christians pose it themselves: well if I live a good life, or my friend lives a good life, can I get into heaven without accepting Christ? Most Christians, I argue, would think that a fair and just God would still let in people that they love and who they view to have done good deeds. However, it is very hard to escape a literal or metaphorical reading of the Bible’s conclusion on the matter:
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
NIV John 14:6
Perhaps I am guilty of cherry picking as many religious people do. However, one of the most famous lines of the Bible, said by scholars, theologians, and laymen alike, summarizes the whole of the Bible:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
NIV John 3:16
Let’s beat a dead horse:
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.
Acts 4:12
Well, are you SURE that it is only through believing in Jesus and not good works?
…he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,…
NIV Titus 3:5
And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
Romans 11:6
Yes, yes I’m sure the Bible conveys this. This issue, however, isn’t like the issues of slavery, homosexuality or anything else people bring up and that apologists defend with the notion that you ‘need to understand the historical and Biblical context.’ Many Christians seem to disregard this notion, however, and accept that they will get into heaven because they are good (which is not guaranteed by the Bible, even if you are a believer). Even the Christians who seem to disregard the notions I have submitted claim to adhere to the Bible. The thing is, people don’t adhere to the Bible. The Bible, instead, is just an excuse for them to create a way for them to believe that God wants what they want. Is homosexuality a sin? These people don’t look at the Bible, they ask themselves instead. This is, in many instances, a great relief. People do not subscribe to the great deal of terribleness in the Bible, but instead often think for themselves. When we look at such a core tenant of Christianity though, such as entrance to heaven and belief in Christ, it gives me some hope that maybe religious people aren’t that far off from disregarding the Bible entirely.
Well, as a final note, in the line of Pascal’s wager, what if I am wrong? Well if I somehow were, it doesn’t concern me much since the person asking somehow thinks I can redeem myself (not that I am looking to):
And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
NIV Matthew 12:31-32
It is nice that such a just God would regularly forgive graven trespasses such as murder, rape, pillaging, etc. (Paul/Saul, amongst others) but my trespasses, should such a God exist, are unforgivable.
Jim Henderson, Todd Hunter, and Craig Spinks have recently published The Outsider Interviews: A New Generation Speaks Out on Christianity, a compilation of opinions on the religion from Christians and non-Christians alike. They had gathered interviews of young adults who had problems with Christianity, whether the issues were with the religion or the community. Henderson and his co-authors hope to gain insight on how to improve Christianity’s image. The book also comes with a DVD of the interviews.
In an article dated April 9, 2010, USA today reported that Old Testament scholar Bruce Waltke was asked to resign from the evangelical institution, Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS). The event that caused the resignation was a video released by the BioLogos foundation (a groups that “promotes and celebrates the integration of science and Christian faith”) in which Dr. Waltke stated the following:
“If the data is overwhelmingly in favor of evolution, to deny that reality will make us a cult … some odd group that is not really interacting with the world. And rightly so, because we are not using our gifts and trusting God’s Providence that brought us to this point of our awareness” Continue reading…
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