Atheists and Christians
March 17th, 2008 | by Noel |Just read a great post over at Cracked.com (thanks to Marie for the link). While I don’t agree with everything the author says, it is worth the time to read it. Here is his main premise:
I think we’ve got more common ground than we admit. For instance, both my atheist and Christian friends (I seem to have an equal number of both these days) tell me they agree with the following statement:
Celebrating the death of somebody you disagreed with pretty much makes you a dick.
He then makes 10 points about Religion and Atheism, which I am only tech saavy enough to find 5 of, apparently. They are:
- You can do terrible things in the name of either one.
- Both sides really do believe what they’re saying
- In everyday life, you’re not that different
- There are good people on both sides
- Your point of view is legitimately offensive to them
I think this is huge stuff, especially point #2 and #5. They should cause us to have a huge measure of grace when talking about spiritual things with other people.
And #3 is just sad but true.
Tags: atheism, christianity
By Joel on Mar 17, 2008
Here’s the link to items 6-10.
http://www.cracked.com/article_15759_p3.html
By Fritz on Mar 18, 2008
Read the Shane Claiborne book “Irresistible Revolution”? It’s given me lots to chew on lately…and he’s really easy to read.
By Noel on Mar 19, 2008
I have had several people recommend that book. I’ll add it to my Amazon wish list.
By Ben on Mar 22, 2008
Why is #3 sad? That could be either good or bad. There are atheists that are good people - caring and compassionate - who work for something greater than themselves. There are lots of little things too that just aren’t that big of a deal - we live, eat, work, love… It’s the same.
By Ben on Mar 22, 2008
Full Article: http://www.cracked.com/article_15759_10-things-christians-atheists-can-must-agree-on.html
By Noel on Mar 22, 2008
Don’t disagree with the fact that there are a lot of things that are the same.
What is sad to me is that there should be more evidence of the fruit of the Spirit in Christ-follower’s lives. And yet, in my experience, quite often there isn’t. There should be a lower divorce rate, but there isn’t.
Etc, etc.
That’s what makes me sad.
By Dan on Mar 27, 2008
I think I’m the only person in the world who doesn’t love the Claiborne book. I thought there were some good points, but it would probably be a better book if someone else had written the book about Shane’s life. I dunno.
By Dan on Mar 27, 2008
Ok, here’s a review I read on amazon’s review list of “Irresistible Revolution” and I resonate with this reviewer:
Claiborne lives what many of us have dreamed of but not dared–a radical life of reaching the “least of these.” It’s hard to read his narratives without thinking, “How could I live like this?” “What would it take?” “Why don’t I start?”
And, in part, that’s the concern with this book. It skewers “the American dream” to such an extent that it is hard for the truly “ordinary” American to apply it without giving up trying. Had Claiborne been a tad more inviting and a tad more illustrative of how people living the American dream could at least take baby steps toward his revolutionary lifestyle, then perhaps many more would join the “kingdom movement.” However, this tends to be the way with 30-something and younger Christian writers. It is all black and white, all or nothing, no middle ground, “my new way or your old highway.” For all the talk of grace, some writing like this comes across judgmental and invents a brand new “holier than thou” attitude that yet a new generation 20 years from now will reject. Again, this is not to say that the book is not valid. It is to say that “with just a spoon full of sugar, the medicine goes down. . .”
Additionally, the application of Scripture at times seems more based on leftist cultural interpretation than contextual scriptural examination. For all the talk in the book about being counter-cultural, what seems to happen is that the book is counter-right-wing-cultural, but quite cozy with left-wing-cultural ideology. Regardless of where one stands on political/social issues, we should acknowledge when our exegesis reflects cultural immersion.