Note below some comment on the US pushback against the European shift toward Soviet-style totalitarianism (i.e. the J. D. Vance speech), as well as comment on the partisan politicization of US justice.
When considering the issues here below, first set aside the simple-minded dualism of “atheism versus religion”, as if that were the actual alternatives. That is a dead approach to working through these issues.
Better, as my paraphrase of Mao goes, “Let (8 billion) flowers bloom.” C’mon, we are a creative bunch. We can do better than that dualist extremism that distorts the issues entirely and locks people within limited and false contrasts.
And props/kudos to all those people comfortable to remain within a religious tradition for whatever reason (i.e. sense of family, community, shared enterprise, etc.), people who have found ways to ignore the darker stuff in their traditions and focus on the good elements and thereby moderate their positions. Go my friends and family, go.
So, a sincere “Clap, clap, clap” to all moderation of religion projects. As Jefferson and Tolstoy said, “Pull the diamonds out of the dung”. Like Jefferson’s abbreviated New Testament that tried to include only the original teaching of Historical Jesus. An original version of the “Q Wisdom Sayings” gospel research, the closest that we get to what the man actually taught.
See Bob Brinsmead’s comment below in relation to his latest essay on the Hellenization of Christianity.
Some excerpts from Bob’s comments:
“The Christianity built on the Christ myth which has been the central plank of Christian civilisation is not a friend of democracy, rights of women, or emancipation of slaves, opposition to divine right of kings. For over a thousand years, lay persons were not allowed to read the Bible and some of the first people who insisted this was a human right and had a copy of the Bible in their house were in danger of being put to death…
“Just as the 18th century was about to dawn, a young student by the name of Akenhead was hung in Scotland, the home of the Enlightenment, because he dared to suggest that Moses did not write the first five books of the OT. There was no religious liberty in Protestant- founded America until the Declaration of Independence and the forming of the Constitution of the US guaranteeing freedom of speech and religion and the separation of church and state which thereby became the pioneer in liberal democracy… Read the rest of the opening comment here