Atheism

A community portal about Atheism with blogs, videos, and photos. According to Wikipedia.org: Atheism is the state of disbelief or non-belief in the existence of a deity or deities. It is commonly defined as the positive denial of theism, or the deliberate rejection of theism. However, others—including most atheistic philosophers and groups—define atheism as the simple absence of belief in deities , thereby designating many agnostics, and people who have never heard of gods, such as the unchurched or newborn children, as atheists as well. In recent years, some atheists have adopted the terms strong and weak atheism to clarify whether they consider their stance one of positive belief that no gods exist, or of mere absense of belief that gods exist.

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Evangelical Manifesto: A Role For Atheists?

Written by vjack on

From: atheistrevolution.blogspot.com

There may be growing discontent among some evangelical Christians over the politicization of their faith, but the Christian extremist base remains determined to fuse religious delusion and political power. Do atheists have a role in supporting those evangelicals who wish to withdraw from the culture wars and reclaim the religious roots of evangelism from the politicians? This is a controversial question, almost certain to split atheists. And yet, it just might be something of an opportunity too.

The pending "Evangelical Manifesto" is something with which many atheists may have some interest. After all, it has been described as "starkly self-critical."

"That way faith loses its independence, Christians become 'useful idiots' for one political party or another, and the Christian faith becomes an ideology," according to the draft.

The just of the document appears to be that evangelical Christians have lost their humanity in getting sucked into the culture wars and need to learn how to be compassionate instead of simply judgmental. Why? Because they risk losing converts if they continue on their present course. By continuing to be hate-mongers, they turn into little more than bad stereotypes and make themselves less attractive.

I suspect most readers will agree that some cleaning of the evangelical Christian house is long overdue. But my question is whether we atheists have any part to play here. Should we support them in their efforts to the extent that we can agree with their goals, or is this an opportunity for us to facilitate increasing fragmentation within the evangelical ranks? What do you think?

Tags: evangelical Christians, faith, Christian extremists, delusion, religion, politics, culture wars, evangelism, Evangelical Manifesto, Christians, atheist, atheists, atheism