The Christians Making Atheists

[viole]

[Source: "The Christians Making Atheists"]

I agree with the author that a prominent segment of Christianity in America (i.e. the more radical, fundamentalist sort of Evangelicalism) is rapidly alienating people from the Christian religion. I disagree with his notion that the people so alienated are for the most part becoming atheists. I think instead they are by and large becoming unchurched, people who identify as "spiritual but not religious", and so forth.

Comments? Observations? Questions? Unhinged, mouth-frothing rants?

I am skeptical. I am skeptical because I come from a country that developed atheism not as a reaction to fundamentalists. We never had fundamentalists, really.

What I think is more true is the contrary. The radicalization of some religions is the defensive reaction of an irreversible movement towards their oblivion. A sort of last rattle.

Ciao

- viole

 

[Vee]

[Source: "The Christians Making Atheists"]

I agree with the author that a prominent segment of Christianity in America (i.e. the more radical, fundamentalist sort of Evangelicalism) is rapidly alienating people from the Christian religion.

Here's what Jesus said about that in Mathew 24:11,12 - Many false prophets will arise and mislead many; and because of the increasing of lawlessness, the love of the greater number will grow cold.

I'm not surprised people are running away from religions that identify as Christian but behave nothing like the Christ they claim to follow.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

It's not just Christians. I read the other day that a quarter of Muslim immigrants to the USA abandon Islam within the decade.

 

[Sunstone]

It ain't moderate, sensible conservatism...

Exactly! As you know, the very same thing goes for the conservatism here, too. "Conservatism" is a misleading term because there is so little that is genuinely conservative about it. Instead, it espouses a radical reshaping of society along lines that have little or no mainstream tradition in our society.

Many -- by no means all, but many -- of the conservatives of 40 or 45+ years ago accepted a progressive unfolding of the American Experiment and sought mainly to insure that "newfangled" policies and programs were introduced gradually so as to avoid unintended consequences, and to preserve the best American traditions and the Constitution. Eisenhower, for instance, was that kind of conservative. But today's conservatives are recklessly advancing their agenda without caution, and are dismantling both American traditions and threatening the Constitution, in my view.

 

[Milton Platt]

You don't have to be a Christian to be a spiritual theist.

Most theists are not Christian... most Christians would not consider me Christian, because I pray to the spirits of the deceased, and I practice things like Shintoism, Shamanism, Buddhism, and find inspiration from Hinduism.

Yes, you are correct, Christians do create atheists... I find that there is much in the Bible, that can become toxic, if a person is using the Bible as the sole ruler of their faith...

I think there is some truth in the Bible, and some very good verses in the Bible, like love your enemies, forgive all people, feed the hungry, give shelter to the needy, don't judge, be humble Etc

I think the Bible is a mix of Truth and error...

I do read it every day, but I'm not very fond of it.

What the heck is a spiritual theist? What the heck does "spiritual" mean, for that matter?

 

[Spiderman]

What the heck is a spiritual theist? What the heck does "spiritual" mean, for that matter?

Of or relating to the spirit or the soul, rather than what is material