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Someone sent this to me - thought it might be of interest to some. By Oralandar Brand-Williams - The Detroit News Detroit - A series of controversial billboards recently erected throughout Metro-Detroit is drawing curious stares and criticism from the faith community. The seven billboards read "Imagine No Religion" or "Praise Darwin: Evolve Beyond Belief" with a stained-glass window motif. They are sponsored by the Madison, Wisconsin based Freedom From Religion Foundation, a nonprofit group that touts itself as the largest free-thought association in the nation. The billboards are part of a month long campaign aimed at provoking debate about the role religion plays in daily life and public policy. Metro Detroit is a target in their national campaign because many people have some religious affiliation here. "The fight against gay marriage is a religious fight." says Annie Laurie Gaylord, co-president of the foundation. "The fight against abortion is a religious crusade. In this country, we must question religion." But many people consider the billboards offensive. "I understand that they are more about the issue of separation of church and state, rather than bashing people of faith. (I certainly agree with the mission," said Gail Katz, president of Women's Inter-faith Solutions for Dialogue and Outreach in Metro Detroit ( WISDOM). "There are better ways to get their message across than these billboards, which can be totally misconstrued and found offensive." Charles Green, pastor of Temple Baptist Church in Roseville, said the billboards will prompt him to step up his efforts to "save souls." The billboards don't bother him, he said. "It's their choice. I don't mind as long as they are not trying to keep me from worshipping." The Freedom From Religion Foundation has 14,000 atheist and agnostic members across the country, including more than 400 in Michigan. - End of Article. This got me to thinking about the rights of Atheist and Agnostics - they have rights as much as those of a religion. Anyone interested in commenting? Judith |
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| | | | | 4013.2 in reply to 4013.1 | |
I was raised in an Idependent, Fundamentalist Baptist background. I grew up in a North Carolina county adjacent to the one Bishop Spong grew up in. I come from the same culture. Like him, my understanding of God and Christianity has evolved quite a bit from what I was taught as a boy and teen. And during my search for knowledge and understanding, I've looked into atheist and Humanist doctrines. I've communicated with atheist and Humanist thinkers via the internet and on discussion forums similar to this one. I've found that it's pretty easy to make the case against a literal, fundamentalist enterpretation of the Bible. Lots of atheists and Humanists do this all the time. But the problem all of them have is this: They don't have anything to offer the average person to take the place of their simiple faith once it has been destroyed. That's the main reason they attract so few followers.
I heard Bishop Spong being interviewed on the public radio station in Charlotte a few evenings ago during his visit there. I was quite stunned to realize that I agreed with 90 to 95 percent of everything he said. And then I realized it is a mistake to dismiss the faith of our fathers so quickly. The masses of the people simply cannot take that step. They need something they can understand and hold onto to give them guidance in their lives and help them through life's big events: birth, marriage, and death. Ten percent of the people (perhaps 20 percent at most!) have the basic intelligence to grasp what atheists tell them. The rest simply cannot follow. And even those who can grasp and understand and follow, they, too, need something to take the place of the simple faith. Most atheists live lonely lives.
I've come to a similar point that Bishop Spong has, although I have travelled here on a much different path. But I'm thinking he's a smart man and has something more than the atheists have to offer other smart people. Certainly he is worth listening to and considering and learning from. |
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| | | | | 4013.3 in reply to 4013.2 | |
R,
What you present is the crux of the situation. Where do we go from here? A new poster, Peter, has a book called Jesus Circles. If it is what I think it is, and I will find out when time permits, it sounds appealing. But, again, if it's what I think, one has to find like thinkers.
And, yes, atheism, or whatever moniker one wants to put upon that thinking, is lonely, but refreshing. There is a certain peace that comes when one is completely honest with oneself. |
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| | | | | 4013.4 in reply to 4013.3 | |
If you reject the basic tenets of the Christian faith and even deny a belief in an anthropomorhic diety that rules the universe -- and especially deny that such a being cares even a whit about yourself, then the average person calls you an atheist. Those are my beliefs, but I've never been comfortable with the label "atheist" and have never accepted it personally... basically, because I have an open mind. I don't know the true nature of God or if he exists. There could be some urge and power within the Universe that functions as a creator god that we simply do not understand yet. And based upon the evidence I now have, I can see no reason to believe in life after death or the existence of an immortal soul or eternal consciousness. But again, I'm open for evidence that would prove otherwise. I consider myself to be a strong skeptic rather than a dogmatic nonbelieving atheist. And that is what the average person percieves an atheist to be: a dogmatic non-believer in any kind of God.
And there is the the social aspect of a local church. It functions much like a tribal group did in pre-historic times. I think most people are attracted to churches because of the genetically wired-in need to belong to a tribe. Long ago you had to be a member of a clan or tribe to survive. That's why for most people it really doesn't matter what manner of nonsense is being preached from the pulpit; people feel the presence of God (that warm sense of peace and belonging) whenever they are one with their tribal group. The preacher may tell them it's the Holy Spirit they sense, but it's not. It's the sense of love and completion they sense in the presence of their tribe.
This aspect of the importance of tribalism is where I sense I see things differently than Bishop Spong. I believe it is hard-wired into our genetic makeup -- it's something vital! And it is the key to this entire business of church and religion. Living one's life as a hermit or loner is not normal or healthy, and everyone instinctively understands this. One cannot survive this way and pass on his genes. The tribe may have a very long existence, but the individual's life is brief; and once a man seperates himself from his tribe, his life usually amounts to nothing. We yearn for this sense of completion and belonging that we get when we belong to an intimate group like a church or tribe. In large diverse empires like the USA, people seek out a church to satisfy this longing because there no longer is a functional tribe for them to belong to. Again, the dogma doesn't really matter that much to most of the members. But this is precisely the reason for the explosion of the Evangelical church movement over the past 40 years. People need a church when they no longer can live in a place like Mayberry.
Thus, the lone atheist preaching reason and logic holds no appeal for the average man. There is nothing human there to belong to and bond to. So! Keep the framework of the functioning church but work for the reformation of the doctrine from within.
Brilliant stuff! |
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| | | | | 4013.5 in reply to 4013.4 | |
You're a person after my own heart! Judith |
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