My Journey to Atheism - Part 2

Here is part 2 of my discussion with my brother about leaving the faith. We talk about why I couldn't stop at Agnosticism and what effect this all had on my family. If you haven't listened to Part 1 yet, you can find it here:  Part 1

My Journey to Atheism - Part 1

I want to recommend to you my brother's podcast. Steve is a Christian believer whose faith journey has led him to ... more open pastures ... in the past half dozen years. Steve and I have both gone through a lot of changes over our decades as brothers, but no matter where we were politically, philosophically, or religiously, we have always managed to have excellent dialogue. One reason is because Steve, at his core, is a great conversationalist and that really comes through in the podcast. Be it discussions of faith, stories from his month long walk on the Camino de Santiago, or opinions about the latest Star Wars movie, his new podcast has proven to be a worthy listen on my list.

In his latest episode, Steve interviews me about my journey from a life of faith to atheism. We talk about Hell theology, life among the Mormons, and how Evangelicals respond to diversity.  We had a great conversation, in fact, it lasted over 2 hours. So Steve split it in half and this is part one. Enjoy!

Review: Hellbound? - A Documentary About Hell

I finally got around to watching Hellbound. Hellbound is a documentary, that looks at how the doctrine of Hell is viewed in Christianity.  In it, various clergy and theologians are interviewed for their take on God and Hell. As an ex-evangelical, I enjoyed it.

There is a good sampling of people and I think all of the views were honestly represented without much spin.  There were folks who were pro-Hell and others who leaned to a more universalistic end. Though it is obvious the director wants to point you to a universalistic end, he is fair to the other opinions.

Much of the theology is represented by various folks within evangelical circles. Greg Boyd and Mark Driscoll are interviewed, rather than Catholic priests and Lutherans.

As an atheist, what was clear to me was that each person's "god" was a reflection of their own personalities. It was no wonder that to the folks of Westboro Baptist, "God" pretty much hated everybody. On the other end, the universalists who wanted to love everyone, had a god who would save everyone.

Look in the mirror, and God looks just like you.

Facebook Faith #43 Feelings and Coincidence

"I know I have relationship with God because there are too many things that I can't explain as random in my life. I will often pray and get a different answer to what I was thinking. I can go on, but the point is I feel God in my life."

This was an explanation I saw given on a friend's FB page this afternoon. There is rarely a time when discussing faith with a believer, that it does not come down to feelings and coincidences. They may start by trying to offer proofs, or rational arguments; but it soon becomes clear that those approaches only work when discussing faith with other believers. The pokes and prods of the skeptical tend to clear those away without much effort.

What the believer is left with is some variant of the above. Their faith is founded on feelings they have, or a litany of too good to be chance circumstances. I understand. As an Evangelical, I had those too.

And again, if you stay within in your faith circle, that will probably be enough. However, once you look over the fence, once you examine life outside your tribe, you discover every other faith rests on those items as well. The pagan, the Mormon, the Catholic, the JW, the Calvinist, the Universalist, the Jew, the Muslim, etc... They can all point to times when their deity met them in some transcendent moment, when circumstances were too perfect, when Heaven touched Earth.

One of the things that started my walk away from belief was a recognition that these divine moments were not unique to my faith. That which should have been exclusive to my "correct" belief, was being experienced across faith lines.

Coming to that realization was a little like finding "The Great and Powerful Oz" was really just that man behind the curtain. Booming voices and balls of fire lose their wonder after that.

However, what replaced the wonder of spiritual experience was an awe of the natural world and the wonderful souls around me. I discovered that man behind the curtain is a layered individual who is worth getting to know. It turns out that reality is much more satisfying than smoke and mirrors.

The universe is huge and old - and rare things happen all the time.
Lawrence Krauss –  A Universe From Nothing

What I Believed

and monkeys might...

Three years ago, I posted a blog listing what I believed as a Christian. Two years ago, I reposted that list on Facebook and got taken to task by one of my pastors. I was still a Christian at that point, but my commitment and attendance at church had gotten thin. In fact, I seem to recall his response as a significant tipping point. There was no more denying that Evangelical Christianity and I stood apart.

Here is the list, and the subsequent conversation. It originally consisted of him responding to each of my points, and then I went back and addressed each of his concerns. For clarity, I will edit that into one streaming conversation. This is kind of long, so you might want to grab a beer and some popcorn.

• I do not believe God has any more investment in America than anywhere else. It is pure ego and insecurity that drives us into all of this "God is on our side" language.

• There is no "War on Christmas".

• I believe abortion is the murder of innocent life, but our attempts to legislate it away is closing the door when the horse has already left the barn. It is easy to shout against abortion, it is a sacrifice to work for the changes that need to come about to make a real difference.

• Christians are no different than anyone else.... really..... at all.

• I do not believe that any soul will spend an eternity in a place called Hell. Nope, not one.

• I believe prayer in public schools is motivated by a desire for power, not piety.

• I do not believe it is a threat to my children, nor to my marriage, if homosexuals marry.

• I believe the world would be a better place if the head of every ministry quit, then went and got a job at their local hospital.

• I do not believe in any kind of "rapture". I believe God wants us to redeem this world.

• I believe God is as close as out next breath, but that most Christian rhetoric shields Him from view.

• I believe Christianity competes with other religions, and that is a mistake.

• I believe most Christian parents lead their children to make spiritual decisions that they are not yet equipped to make.

• I believe organizations like Focus on the Family do more harm than good.

• I believe most churches indoctrinate their congregations and are houses of theological inbreeding. Inbreeding is bad in genetics and worse in theology.

• I believe Christians spend a lot of time working on "belief" rules (inerrancy of scripture, hell, trinity, salvation, etc..) so they can divide people into in/out and thereby give themselves a higher position.

• I believe Christianity has completely jettisoned the command to "love your enemy" and in doing so we have lost the heart of the gospel.

• I believe God stands with the poor. Christianity honors the poor while inside church doors, but mocks them in political discussions.

• I believe there are Christians who live contrary to what I have said, but they do not own the term "Christian" here in America.

And now, the conversation:

PASTOR: Andy, I really don’t think I can argue with your beliefs, because you obviously have a problem with some of the things Jesus and the Bible teaches. But I will give you my best shot from The Bible and the teachings of Jesus, just in case some may be swayed by your “beliefs”. 

Your friend! Pastor

ME: You seem to assume that your beliefs are biblically based, whereas mine are not. This is an erroneous assumption because I can scripturally account for every belief I hold. However, everyone “obviously has a problem” with various points of scripture because we all tend to highlight some parts while minimizing or ignoring others. This is why I often state that the bible is like one big Rorschach test. What we take away from it, I believe, says a lot more about us than it does about God. Using scripture to defend a point is of some value, but one can easily find scripture to the contrary point. This is why there are over 30,000 different versions of Christianity. The folks at Westboro Baptist probably have airtight scriptural reasoning for why they do what they do. I still think they are wrong.

•”I believe abortion is the murder of innocent life, but our attempts to legislate it away is closing the door when the horse has already left the barn.” 

PASTOR: REALLY? Go Back in time and tell that to the abolitionist and the slaves in both England and the USA. Glad they didn't take your advice.

ME: I don’t think I hold as contrary an opinion here as you seem to allude to. I just don’t think legislation accomplishes all that much when the majority of people hold a different ethos (not to say that it isn't an avenue). Slavery was ended, but it was generations before any real change started to happen. Some Christians feel morally obligated to vote for only pro-life candidates, yet it is often the case that less abortions occur under pro-choice legislatures and administrations. I just think this issue runs deep, but often we seem content as a Christian community to address this as purely a legal battle.

• Christians are no different than anyone else.... really..... at all.

PASTOR: REALLY? The Bible Calls Christians “sanctified”, “set-apart”, “chosen” “holy”. Christ made a Huge difference in my life. Without him, my life would be a crap hole. If Christ in me, the hope of glory doesn't make me different, than I am one to be pitied.

ME: But lots of folks have pulled their lives out of a “crap-hole” without “Christ”. And many people with “Christ” remain in a crap hole. As Christians, we are just as statistically likely to divorce, gossip, slander, sue, go to war, hate our enemies, kick the dog, etc. We can say lot of euphemisms to declare our differences…. But we are not fooling anybody. Jesus made this clear during the Sermon on the Mount. IF one is really different, I think it should be what others say of us… not what we say of ourselves.

• I do not believe that any soul will spend an eternity in a place called Hell. Nope, not one.

PASTOR: REALLY? From what do you base this belief on. I do not like the concept of hell at all, but the one who claimed he was the Way, the Truth, and the Life taught more on hell than heaven. If we don’t believe in one, we shouldn't believe in the other. 

ME: As I stated above, I have scriptural arguments for my Universalism (all on my blog). But here is just one “In Adam all died, in Christ all are made alive”. I never said I didn't believe in Hell, or ramifications, or punishment – I just don’t think scripture consistently can be used to make an “eternal” argument. “God disciplines us for our good; that we may share in his holiness.” His corrections, like all good fathers, have a hopeful end. God never fails.

• “I do not believe in any kind of "rapture". I believe God wants us to redeem this world.”

PASTOR: REALLY? There is only one redeemer, Jesus Christ: “Christ redeemed us from the curse” Galatians 3:13. Not even Jesus can redeem this world. He can only redeem those who believe and are washed in his blood. The rapture is clearly communicated by Jesus, the Apostle Paul and others in the Bible.

ME: Well, again, your hermeneutic here is just different than mine. I believe scripture calls us to be redeeming agents in this world (we are his hands and feet, equipped to do good works). I would also argue that the rapture is a fairly new Christian teaching and exists clearly in the Left Behind novels, but fuzzy in Scripture – if at all.

• I believe Christianity competes with other religions, and that is a mistake. 

PASTOR: REALLY? Jesus said “go and make disciples of every nation.” Guess what his disciples did. They went out and made disciples of Jews, Gentiles, Idol worshippers, and people of all religions. That’s not competition, that’s obedience to Jesus. We Christians still follow Jesus’ commands, whether you think that is a mistake or not. 

ME: But in many cases I think our conversions are often worsening the problem (“You scour the land and sea to make a disciple, and when you do, you make him twice a son of Hell). But my point is that our view of other religions is often based on false assumptions, and our superior/competitive attitude often prevents us from being good neighbors.

• I believe most Christian parents lead their children to make spiritual decisions that they are not yet equipped to make.

PASTOR: REALLY? I believe that Christian Parents should: “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Deut 6:5-7

Unfortunately, from over 20 years of experience in Children’s Ministry, most Christian Parents do not teach their children to Love the Lord with all their heart. Some even forsake the church and release their children to the world.

ME: Teaching is one thing… indoctrinating is something different. I guess it depends on how one is using the word. However, I was addressing decisions. We would never let our 9 year-old pick their spouse at that age – Why? Because they do not have the facilities to make such a huge decision… what musical instrument they want to play is probably enough at this stage. Yet parents often want their children to make big religious decisions. It makes me wonder if they really believe it to be an important decision. A lot of parents direct their children into decisions and somehow think their child made a “real” decision. I have a card trick that I do for my students. They are amazed at the end because they think they made every choice along the way, yet somehow I knew their card. The truth is that “I” made every one of those decisions – performers call this “magician’s choice”. I see parents do this all the time with their children spiritually, but not only does the child believe they made the choice, the parent also believes the child made the choice.

• I believe most churches indoctrinate their congregations and are houses of theological inbreeding. 

Inbreeding is bad in genetics and worse in theology.

PASTOR: REALLY? The Church is the bride of Christ. Calling her a theological inbred is just not nice.

ME: I don’t mean it as an insult but as a description. When theological ideas are coming from only one source, or only approved sources… that is inbreeding. It can produce theological offspring with serious “health” issues. Paul warned against this - “when they judge themselves by themselves, and compare themselves with themselves; they are not wise.”

PASTOR: Andy,

I love you and your family, and actually don’t hate anyone. As a pastor, I have never taught anyone to hate another person, nor have I ever been a part of a church that taught hate. You make the church out to be “The mother of all Haters” and for that I am saddened. As a leader in the church, perhaps I and all my fellow ministers should give up, close the doors of the church, and “redeem the world” as you put it. But that wasn’t God’s plan. Jesus said, “Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hell (yes, a real place) will not prevail against it.” God’s only plan is the church. It is the only hope for the world. It’s the only organization which can point people to their Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Think About it!

ME:  My thought is that I don’t think I make the church out to be the “mother of all haters”, but neither do I see the church as one monolithic unit. As I indicated in my last “belief” there are many types of Christians out there, but the kind of Christian I would hope would pop in the mind of a non-Christian is usually not the one that pops in when the term is mentioned.

Again, we differ on a perspective of organized church…. I think it is part of how God is redeeming the world, but not limited to it.

Yes, I believe Hell is a real place…. And I also believe it will not prevail, not once.

I don’t expect you to change your views based on anything I said, but I hope we can move away from your initial insinuation that you are speaking for God, whereas I am speaking without Him. We disagree on many things (perhaps strongly), but we probably agree on many as well. I would hope there is enough common ground there to find us each a place in Christianity.

PASTOR: Love you man. Happy New Year to you and your Family!

and that was that...

Just as some background, my family moved out to Salt Lake with about 35 other folks 10 years ago to start that church. At the time of this conversation, we were already on our way out. My views above had been that way for years, and did not mesh well with the church and some folks in it. Still, inertia kept us going there for quite awhile after our expiration date had passed. I was given some advice that I could get back into everyone's good graces if I would just quit announcing my opinions and tone down the blogging.

"It might happen. Shyeah, and monkeys might fly out of my butt!" ~ Wayne Campbell

I, Humanist

I was involved in a discussion with one of my brothers recently on Facebook. My Atheism was brought up, and he noted that my journey had been a progression "from Believer to Universalist to Agnostic to Atheist". So, was there another step to take?

An interesting question. Here was my response:

Well, I think the underlying change happened when I became a universalist. I would not have defined it this way at the time, but looking back, that is when I became a humanist. For the first time, people became more important to me than doctrine, and it was the first time I was willing to look at scripture and decide that, if it brought about a harmful result to people, then it was wrong. In this way I think Jesus, and MLK, and others are/were humanists - they were willing to defy the accepted dogma of their day in order to protect people. 

I think Atheism is a definition that describes how a person relates to any form of theism; but humanism is a moral and ethical statement which is used to describe how one views the world - that which promotes the advancement of the human condition is moral, that which detracts from it is immoral.

I think the humanist moral standard is a better standard. Having found it to be better, I found less and less use for the the theism... until it finally fell away. I think is possible to be religious and a humanist. Rob Bell would be a good example. In places where he finds popular dogma to cause harm to people, he either discards it or throws it up to such a flurry of questions as to render it inert. He puts people first. I think that whittles away at theism over time.... I think mine was hurried along though some of my interactions with Mormonism, but my leaving the faith was only a matter of time.


Yes, it is true that I am an Atheist. However, if I must be known by a label, I choose to take on one that speaks more to what makes me tick.

I am a Humanist.


“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”  - Marcus Aurelius

Love: The True Narrow Path

But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

A little over a week ago, Bill Maher gave a scathing critique of the popular Christian ethos. For most of Christianity, this critique went unnoticed. After all, most Christians don't tend to listen to Bill Maher - a liberal leaning Atheist with a propensity to drop the F-Bomb. However those who did, tended to respond to Maher with derision - He is an Atheist, what does he know about Christian ethics?  or  He hates Christians, and this is just another slam!

Maher was pointing out that American Christians tend to be more pro-war, pro-torture, and pro-military than the average citizen. This brought forth some sardonic wit from Maher as he noted that most of Jesus' quotes run contrary to the attitudes of many of his followers.

One can't blame Christians for being a little uncomfortable. If you are religious, the last thing you want is to be outfoxed by an Atheist who is pummeling you with your own scriptures. To top it off, Maher points out that the best historical example of someone living the Christian ethic was carried out by a practicing Hindu.

What is apparent to me, as I read the various responses to Maher, is that Christians don't really believe they are capable of loving their enemy. Loving your enemy, doing good to those who wrong you, turning the other cheek.... these have all been moved to the miraculous category. Yes, Jesus loved his enemies... but he also walked on water and raised the dead. In the minds of most Christians, they no more believe an enemy can be loved than they believe they will walk on water this evening. So, they quickly move past these commandments to ones that are more do-able... say, witnessing or going to church.

I also think Christians struggle to take these teachings seriously because their faith is often built on a  faulty foundation. To love your enemy, you are going to have to put aside your needs, your pride, your need to be right - perhaps even your safety. You have to give up self-protection. Your ego is going to have to die... daily.

However, most Christians turned to the faith by an appeal to their ego and their sense of self. Jesus will save you from Hell - saving one's own ass is a primal response.

Then there is the Christian who follows Jesus because Jesus is going to make them happy, or healthy, or wealthy. Following Jesus causes blessing after blessing to fall their way.

With all of this ME cemented into the foundation of popular Western Christianity, is it any wonder that enemy-love gets scant attention from Christ's followers? Go to a Christian church in America this Sunday and you will most likely hear a message about Hell or what blessing God has in store for you next. A message on how to do kind acts for the person who opposes you, hurts you, hates you? How to joyfully surrender your rights and protections? Not so much.

But anyone who knows scripture knows the ways of the Divine tend to be a little counter intuitive. Look at Maher's two examples of people who followed the teachings of Christ. He spoke of Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. with honor... those who humble themselves shall be exalted and established.

Please don't think I approach this tritely or as if it is easy. I don't often despise people, but there is someone in my life right now that I do. Every word this person speaks, their very presence raises my blood pressure. I literally take joy in speaking badly of this person to others.

If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles... You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.

It is after hearing such words that I want to drop one of Maher's F-bombs; cause' it is hard and I don't want to do it. My ego and sense of self screams out for protection. But if we are ever to change this world, truly change it, it is the only way. Ghandi and MLK proved it. Jesus proved it.

In the great spiritual traditions, the wounds to our ego are our teachers and must be welcomed. They must be paid attention to, not litigated. How can a Christian look at the crucified and not get this essential point? ~ Richard Rohr

Listening to Love Wins

I finally started to listen to Rob Bell's Love Wins on my way to work today. I probably hold an even more liberal view of Hell than Mr. Bell does, so since I am already sold on this issue, I was not buying it the day it came out. I was content to wait and get a copy from the library. The audiobook is a great listen, since Rob is the narrator.

I am only a third of the way into it, but I supect that many of the negative reviews that proliferate the blogosphere are concerned with more than his view of Hell. From what I have heard so far, Bell is not just critiquing Hell, but the practical and evangelical practices that result from holding the popular Christian view of Hell.

This is Bell's true heresy. He critiques popular Christianity.

For many Christians, who have been trained to think in an us/them paradigm, when Bell makes a critique he places himself securely in the THEM category.

I was recently on David Hayward's (NakedPastor) facebook page. He was being taken to task by a Christian for a cartoon he drew that critiqued the church. The Christian said that David's cartoon was "anti-church" and that he should be making a "positive case for the Christian tradition". I would think that such a "rose colored glasses" approach would bring the accusation of "cult" were we talking about any other group.

When I heard the following quote in Love Wins this morning, I laughed outloud. However, when I was searching the Net for someone who had already typed it in, I found that most Christians didn't see the ironic humor. Most writers' defense mechanisms kicked in and they spent their sentences refuting the statement... rather than seeing Rob's use of irony. Either/or, Us/Them thinking.
__________

So is it true that the kind of person you are doesn’t ultimately matter, as long as you’ve said or prayed or believed the right things?

If you truly believed that, and you were surrounded by Christians who believed that, then you wouldn’t have much motivation to do anything about the present suffering of the world, because you would believe you were going to leave someday and go somewhere else to be with Jesus.

If this understanding of the good news of Jesus prevailed among Christians - the belief that Jesus’s message is about how to get somewhere else - you could possibly end up with a world in which millions of people were starving, thirsty, and poor; the earth was being exploited and polluted; disease and despair were everywhere; and Christians weren’t known for doing much about it.

If it got bad enough, you might even have people rejecting Jesus because of how his followers lived.

And that would be tragic.
__________

Comedy.

Heated Responses to Rob Bell

The truth is, the further I get from the Christian community, the more satisfying life is. There are a number of reasons for this, but case in point presently is the weekend ho-ha over Rob Bell.

A video was released by Rob this weekend promoting his new book - Love Wins. It addresses the idea that maybe much of Christianity has been looking at eternity through a very pessimistic scope and that, perhaps, St. Paul was right when he said that Love gets the final word.

Blogs and Tweets began to spring up by Pastors and Theologians condemning Bell. Rob was in the top 10 trending topics on Twitter Saturday.

Christianity has been around for over 2,000 years. One of the skills we have yet to get any kind of a handle on is how to deal with disagreements like adults.

Someone holds a different view?

Off w’their head!

This attitude comes from thinking God is going down a checklist of what you believe as of primary importance. One misplaced belief… and it results in an eternity of torture!

With a view of god like that, I guess one can't blame the more conservative wing of Christianity for being paranoid and a wee’ bit jumpy. Navigating life for such Christians is like being a long-tailed cat in a world full of rocking chairs.

I would suspect that Rob Bell is offering an alternative view with this new book.... a way out of this theological bondage.

The vitriolic rhetoric he has already received is testament to how much people love their chains.

Rob Bell : Love Wins

This video got me geared up to get this book when it comes out next month (I haven't read anything by Rob Bell yet). The message of the universal, unconditional love of God is breathing new life into people everywhere. However, the vast majority of Christianity is in line with the person who wrote the note in the video... and I am sure they are going to have lots of "notes" to write about Rob Bell. :)

HT: New Ways Forward

The Cost of Faith?

There are a number of things I find fascinating about the above video. For one, it is a perfect example of what happens when you live in a religious echo chamber. I am sure that many of the caller's points seemed perfectly airtight when stating them amongst fellow believers on Sunday.... but quickly fell apart under the most simple scrutiny.

I also love the natural good cop/bad cop format the hosts take on. The gentleman on the right is often gracious as he tries to walk the caller through a linear thought-line - while the guy on the left can hardly contain his exasperation with the illogical pronouncements of the caller. I laughed out-loud multiple times.

Though there is a lot of material here (and perhaps folks might want to talk about other bits in the comment section), I want to focus on a piece that was brought up toward the end which is also a "hobby-horse" of mine - the relationship destroying nature of exclusivist theology.

The host is spot-on when he points out that there is a natural tendency within religion to assume that anyone outside of your group is in some way bad or morally hobbled. I was nervous getting my first "secular" job as a teen. I was convinced that all of my fellow employees would hate me because I was a Christian. It was a life lesson to find out they were friendly and more accepting than most of the Christians I knew.

It was too bad they were all going to Hell.

This attitude isn't confined to the young. I spoke with a Christian who was hiring recently. He discovered his two potential employees were both Christians. "It gave me a peace in my spirit," he said, "to know that regardless of who I hired, I was going to get a good employee." Because of their Christian status, it was assumed they were "good". So non-Christians, by implication, would at best be suspect.

I think Hell lies at the root of this (the caller threatened the hosts with Hell before hardly saying hello). Since most of the world is going to Hell, many Christians have resolved themselves to trying convert who they can while keeping themselves untainted. The world is doomed.

I was at a church one Sunday where the Pastor was mocking the "peacemakers" in our world. "There ain't gonna be any peace in this world," the pastor shouted while bouncing on the front of his toes, "until the Prince of Peace returns!!!"

Let's just hunker down until Jesus gets back....

Another Pastor said to me recently "Not even Jesus can redeem this world. He can only redeem those who believe and are washed in his blood."

Well, I guess that's it for THEM then.

Even the Governor of Alabama felt the need to announce to his fellow citizens that any non-Christians are "not my brother".

With this underlying attitude of separation, it is of no surprise that many religious folks like to keep people who are not in their group at arms length. As I question various aspects of my faith, I have had folks jettisoning my friendship left and right. Six "men of the cloth" have cut ties with me in the past year and a number of the laity as well. Whatever I have might be catching. A few tossed in a hell warning on their way out. :) (for my good, of course)

In the end, the caller from the video is afraid. He is afraid when he sees a Christian abandon his faith. He fears that it could happen to him. He fears that listening to anything outside the echo chamber could taint him. He could stop believing. Then the God he "loves" will reject him and torture him for eternity.

So, in a sense, you can see why he needs to put his fingers in his ears. You can understand why he must maintain superficial relationships with outsiders. It makes sense that he feels safe at church functions, meetings, and potlucks. There are scary possibilities outside.

He could burn FOREVER! That fear, to him, is real!

What a world we might have if the religious could believe that Perfect Love casts out fear!

That He May Have Mercy On Them All

I am always surprised (and not) to find that chief among my theological offences with Evangelicals is my Universalism - that not one soul will spend an eternity in a place called Hell. It is understandable, to give up Hell is to become powerless; at least in a coercive sense.

Having stepped out of Evangelicalism, it is easy to see the proclamation of an eternal Hell as simply a power grab. One's religion has a lot of command if no one comes to God except through you. Now that I am out of that subset of Christianity, I hear those statements as one amidst a myriad of other sects stating the same thing.

Each of them has the monopoly.

So many correct/only ways... so little time. :)

The thought of a generous and patient God would deprive them of control. It would also burst their hope for vindication. For within the heart of many religious people is a longing for the day when they will finally be proved RIGHT!

The writers of the scriptures recognized these characteristics ... and warned us against them many times.

Jonah was told to go preach to Nineveh. When God showed mercy to it's people, Jonah was not pleased.

"But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the LORD, “Isn’t this what I said, LORD, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

But the LORD replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

In Matthew, we hear from Jesus the story of the workers. Some are hired at the beginning of the day, some just before quitting time.

"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

“But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

In Luke, Jesus tells the famous story of the prodigal son. When the Father is overjoyed at the return of the prodigal, the brother becomes sulky.

"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!"

I think in our first moments, when we are all gathered before Him, there are going to be a lot of brothers, workers, and prophets who are bitter and angry. Angry because God gives generously to all without finding fault. That God kept no record of wrongs. That He always trusted, always hoped, always persevered, and did not fail.

These folks will sulk for a bit... but they'll get over it. :)

Love is the Truth

God is Love

You've heard it before. It says it in 1 John 4:8.

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Could you imagine what Christianity would look like if "Love" were the marker of someone who is close to God? Rather than someone who clings to a certain set of postulates?

Instead, most of Christianity chooses to reference John 14:6

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

This verse is usually used to set up an exclusivism - God is for Christians only. The fact that this interpretation runs contrary to the life and ministry of Jesus is relegated to a footnote.

A few years ago I heard Bart Campolo re-quote 1 Corinthians 13 based on 1 John 4:8. Since God IS love - not something God chooses or decides - he swapped out love and put GOD in the text. So it read like this:

God always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.... God never fails.

So, in the fashion of Brother Bart, I would like to take that approach to John 14:8 -

Love is the Way, Love is Truth, Love is Life. No one comes to God... except through Love.


Heresy you say?

Heh! I got a million of em'! ;)

I am your Father, who loves you.

“All the most orthodox divines, Calvinist as well as Catholic, taught that one of the chief joys of heaven is the viewing of the torments of the damned... Tertullian cackled with glee as he anticipated seeing pagan philosophers writhing in the flames. Surely Paine was right. Such doctrines have corrupted and brutalized humanity. Cruel dogmas make cruel people.” - Keith Parsons
_____

I have found this quote to be very true. I have also found its inverse to be real ... rejecting cruel dogmas helps develop compassion.

I can give a scriptural argument for the rejection of an eternal Hell - a place where all hope is lost, redemption has died, wrongs can never be made right, and unforgiveness reigns - but my rejection is much more experiential. When Jesus prayed to God, he was praying to a Father. Being a Father has given me a sense of what God feels toward us. At some point in my faith, I decided to reject the "cruel dogmas"; the dogmas that, if true, could never be advanced by a good father.

I think a very good picture of a Father's love - a love that goes the distance, risks, and never quits - can be found in the movie "Blood Diamond". It is a story set within war torn Sierra Leon, where cruel rebel armies conscript children into their ranks.

In the story, Solomon is kidnapped and made to work digging for diamonds. His son is taken to be a soldier. The son is brainwashed and commits many evil deeds while with the rebels. Solomon escapes and spends the movie trying to get to his son. When they first meet, his son denies him; so deep is his brainwashing.

At a later point, Solomon rescues his son, but his son threatens him with a gun. Solomon appeals to the boy to remember who he is. He goes on to say:

"I am your Father, who loves you. You will come home with me and be my son... again."

This is not the message of most modern religion. In our religions, "God" will burn you down if you dare to point your "rejection" at him. This is not the view of a good Father.

To borrow a thought from Bart Campolo:

"I may be wrong in this matter, but I am not in doubt. If indeed faith is being sure of what we hope for, then truly I am a man of faith, for I absolutely know what I hope to be true: that God is completely good, entirely loving, and perfectly forgiving, that God is doing everything possible to overcome evil (which is evidently a long and difficult task), and that God will utterly triumph in the end, despite any and all indications to the contrary."

This is how I view God.

Benevolent Dictatorship

I now have a new favorite episode of South Park. Season 10 Episode 7 "Tsst".

Like Jon Stewart on politics, sometimes only through comedy can truth be told well. This episode gets at the core problem with much of American parenting.

I have been teaching for 20 years, and I have seen it all. There are a few exceptions here and there, but most kids are a direct product of their parenting .... and many American parents don't parent.

When Kathryn was on the way, I became particularly interested in the practices of successful parents. I remember during parent teacher conferences, I would often ask particular parents what was the key to their success. The responses always followed a theme that was summed up by one mom:

"Our home is not a democracy... it is a benevolent dictatorship."

That was one of two pieces of advice that became the rudder by which my wife and I directed our parenting.

But back to the episode.....

In this episode, various super nannies try to get the incorrigible Cartman under control. All fail.... mostly because they keep trying to reason with Cartman or appeal to his better nature.... HA!

Finally, they bring in a world famous dog trainer... and Cartman becomes a new boy. However, it doesn't last because his mother simply cannot follow through.

I think every parent with a little one on the way should watch this episode.

I remember years ago we had some friends over. They had children who could be most generously described as "a handful". As it got late, it was time for my kids to get ready for bed. I called them into the family room to say goodnight to our guests, then to go upstairs, brush teeth, and head to bed. My kids gave hugs all around, said goodnight, then went upstairs.

I saw nothing abnormal about this, but our guests' eyes were as wide as saucers. Once my children had gone upstairs, the husband stammered out, "How??.... How did you do that???"

Some of the credit goes back to Mrs. Schweighoffer - Our home is a benevolent dictatorship. :)

A great scene from the episode.... "I am not being aggressive, I am being dominant."

As with all South Park, this scene is crass; watch at your discretion. For the full effect, I suggest the whole episode which is linked at the end of the clip.

A Peek at Eternity

I stopped in at a new burger joint called Buster Burger for lunch today. The restaurant is also a TCBY, which takes up a side third of the store. However, from the outside, there appears to be two different stores each with its own entrance. A large fireplace stands between the two doors.

As I sat there eating my lunch, I spotted a young couple with two children approaching the entrances. I couldn't hear their dialog, but they seemed to be in disagreement as to which door to take. Tension appeared to build as they each headed to opposite doors with a child in tow. He seemed to say something a little sharp to her and she flipped her hair and rolled her eyes.

They both stepped into the restaurant and froze.... eyes wide, they surveyed the room as it opened out into a much wider space than either of them had anticipated. Simultaneously they turned and saw each other... standing in the same room.

They both turned a little red, laughed, and closed the distance between them. They kissed and walked together from that point on.

Heh!

Welcome to Eternity!

Why I Am A Universalist

At a blog I was commenting on recently, one person compared Universalism to that of an enabling Father. I responded to that, and I think my reply succinctly addresses why I am a Universalist.

I would resist the image of God in a universalistic perspective being an enabling father. The father of the prodigal was not enabling… he simply never gave up. In Universalism, God simply does not give up. He is always patient, always kind, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres… and never fails.

It is not enabling to simply not have a point at which you eternally cut someone off. What Father would not always seek after and desire a restored relationship with his son or daughter… anyone that has a cut off point cannot call themselves Father.

Goes Good Together

I really enjoy the writings of Richard Beck over at Experimental Theology.  I consider George McDonald to be my theological guide in many ways.  So, when Beck writes about McDonald... I am having a good day.

His latest post - George McDonald: Justice, Atonement, and Hell - articulates thoughts that have been rolling around in my head for a while.  Specifically, that our typical Christian concept of Justice does not capture the heart of God on the subject.  Very often, it sounds like scales being balanced, or someone getting what's coming to them, exacting a pound of flesh - an eye for an eye.  However, Beck echos in his article a thought that I heard N.T. Wright say a year or so ago.... Justice is when things are put right.

Beck says:

This twofold notion of justice--an act of reconciliation requiring the participation of victims and perpetrators--is at the heart of MacDonald's notion of God's justice and atonement. This is the notion that sits behind his "universalism." That is, God just can't ship people off to hell to earn the label "just." Neither could we view hell as a manifestation of God's justice. Because hell doesn't heal the wounds of sin. Hell doesn't mend. Hell doesn't bring peace. Hell doesn't atone.

I couldn't agree more. The problem with Hell, as it is evangelically interpreted, is that is offers no redemption, no hope, no peace. This runs completely counter to the message of love, hope, and redemption spoken of by Christ. It offers only brokenness. A story that ended badly.

He later says:

A further problem with the allure of substitutionary atonement--to have Jesus suffer the consequences of my sin rather than me getting into the hard work of repentance and reconciliation--is that it is selfish, a theological product of my sin. Substitutionary atonement is an attempt to cling to my sin ever more tightly! Let Christ suffer the consequences of my sin so I don't have to make amends and restitution. I'm off the hook as it were.

I don't think many evangelicals would say they do not have to do repentance or reconciliation, but the underlying thought that all of my wrongs are "paid for" does cause us to often leave those words in their rhetorical state. It becomes less urgent.

I highly recommend the entire article.

Radio Interview With Author David Dark

My good friend Brook did a 2 hour (yes, 2 hour) interview with David Dark, author of The Sacredness of Questioning Everything, on local Detroit radio.  As far as I know, it is not streamable anywhere.  I have hosted a download of it through my skydrive account, but I had to compress it down a bit to get it under the 50mg file max... so the audio is so-so.  If anyone knows of a better way to do this, I am all ears.  The original file was 200 mg and some change.

David is one of my favorite authors in theology right now.  This interview is a great peek into his head and heart - and Brook does an excellent job of using every question and comment to its best interviewing potential.  I was surprised at how quickly the two hours passed.  If you want to listen in on a great conversation, download this mp3 file.

Love Is At The Heart Of Justice

I was flipping stations on the car radio when I came across some fire and brimstone preaching.  The preacher was railing about what sinners we all are.  We are so steeped in sin that god can't stand to look at us. It makes god so angry that his wrath smolders like embers.  He finished it off by yelling, "We shouldn't ask how does a loving god send people to Hell?!  We should ask, How does a just god not send us there now?!"

That kind of preaching is fundamentalist boilerplate. I was actually surprised that preachers are still using that line. But it does say a lot about how this preacher interprets sin and justice; and I believe his interpretation is the opposite of the heart of God.

As my wife and I drove home from the symphony this evening, she told me of an incident that happened between our children today. The two of them usually get along pretty well, in fact I would say that they enjoy each other's company. They like to play together. Today though, there were some harsh words said and it left one of my children hurt and broken hearted.

As my wife told me the story, I felt my heart slowly sinking. I ached for my child that was hurt. But I was also hurting for the one who said the words. Contentment and happiness are hard to find with words like that embedded inside, ready for use. It crushed me that those words could be said. I hope for so much more.

I wasn't angry, I wasn't wrathful. No one had to step between me and my child to prevent me from doing them harm. Justice is not taking vengeance out on one of my children. My desire for justice is a desire to put things right. That things would be as they should be. That my children would be in a loving, happy relationship.  That is when justice is fulfilled.

I think the heart of God broke as he listened to the preacher speak harsh, untrue words to his brothers and sisters.