I found this article out on usatoday.com today. It completely supports what we’re doing here, and I agree with much that the author had to say. But I wonder if atheists realize just how difficult this is for Christians to do. The author says,
Although I do not believe in God, I have no interest in telling anyone else what he should or should not believe. I am more interested in dialogue, and I hope that conversation will get us to respect and understanding. I cannot see dialogue happening with someone who tells you that your core beliefs are wrong, so I refrain from telling anyone what to believe.
She makes it sound so simple - so obvious. And while I can agree that Christians need to do a better job of not forcing the issue, it’s just not within our paradigm to “not care” when people reject what we see as vitally important. We see eternity at stake, and you don’t. That doesn’t mean we’re right, but maybe it helps you understand why this statement is harder for Christians to accept than it is for atheists.
And she ends it with this statement -
Once we start, we might see that we have more in common than we all think. Once we all agree to disagree, once we set the rules that no side is trying to convince the other of its rightness or wrongness, once we clarify that we are simply trying to understand each other — and then move on to other topics of common interest — then the conversation about religion and its place in our society can really begin.
I don’t see anything wrong with trying to convince people of rightness or wrongness - I think that’s one difference between merely letting people think (but not caring what they think), and actually caring what people think. Caring requires more effort, but it’s worth it.
In fact, I wonder if one difference between atheists and Christians is that atheists are perfectly willing to let people think but don’t particularly care what they think, while Christians tend to care what people think but don’t particularly want to let them think.
Posted in A Cacophony of Posts, Mike O | 13 Comments »
At the Republican Debate Sunday in Orlando, Mike Huckabee said a surprising thing.
“When our founding fathers put their signatures on the Declaration of Independence, those 56 brave people, most of whom, by the way, were clergymen, they said that we have certain inalienable rights given to us by our creator, and among these life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, life being one of them. I still believe that.”
That’s stunningly wrong. Only one, actually was a minister.
Only one of the 56 was an active clergyman, and that was John Witherspoon. Witherspoon was a Presbyterian minister and president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University).
I have a feeling that this won’t be the last time we hear this pseudo factoid.
Isn’t Huckabee a former minister? Doesn’t that mean by his logic, that most of the candidates running for president are also clergy?
Posted in A Cacophony of Posts | 1 Comment »
News flash!
The literary news that has the entire world talking: Dumbledore is gay!
Shouldn’t we all have guessed it when his Patronus Charm is the form of a big flaming bird?
Posted in A Cacophony of Posts | 4 Comments »