Non-belief Research Study Completed

The study has been completed.

http://www.atheismresearch.com/

 

makes sense.

 

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This is really valuable in clarifying major differences among categories of atheists. It's useful in counteracting simplistic stereotypes. As a Christian reading this, I was struck by the parallelism I've encountered from atheists in generalizing about Christians on the basis of subcategories--mostly fundamentalists, hypocritical politicians, and New Age mystics. I've been told that Christians a warlike and caused most wars, that Hitler was a Christian, that the Klan is Christian, etc. Nonsense! Some categories (intellectual atheist/agnostic, ritual seeker, seeker/agnostic, and ritual seeker) are very close to my own beliefs, as well as those of my Progressive Christian coreligionists. Failure to recognize this breeds distrust and prevents effective coalitions against common adversaries. For example, in discussions we've had in our church , it's evident that many members, like me, don't believe in the Trinity, virgin birth, original sin, the resurrection, transubstantiation, an afterlife, a Six-day creation, a young earth, etc., as well as the Pauline idea that Christ died for our sins. Am I confused or hypocritical? I don't think so.These are litmus tests of Christianity developed by various church councils of antiquity. I think they miss the point about what Jesus was about. They produce divisiveness and the "bitter fruit" Jesus warned us about. Belief in the ideals and example of Jesus are central to my sense of who I am and what I stand for. What are these? Non-judgmental love for all humans, especially the poor and society's rejects. I also believe in God, although not necessarily the theistic version. My ideas are pretty well summed up in a book by an Oklahoma pastor, Robin Meyers', Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus.