OK, so I was reading a post on Prop 8 Trial Tracker where the following quote was rendered which spawned the creation of this post:

There’s two lenses here. One’s a biblical world view and the other is basically more of a secular humanist world view, and that’s why there never seems to be agreement,” said the Rev. Pastor Brad Cranston, of Burlington’s Heritage Baptist Church. “They’re not going to be reconciled with one another.”

Iowa – One Year Later (Proposition 8 Trial Tracker)

Now, my recent post A problem with conservative religions is that Dogma and tradition is more important than People really touched upon this, but having read that quote I realized that I realistically could take this a step further. I have stated before quite a bit, perhaps not specifically on this BLog, that modern (fundamentalist and Conservative) Christianity is not really “Christian”. They have lost their way. Jesus’ teachings were about love, compassion, mercy, and acceptance and many of the contemporary Christian teachings, especially fundamentalist and conservative Christian teachings, have nothing to do with these ideals, and in some way are antithetical to them, which saddens me greatly. In that post I also state flatly that for them dogma is more important that humans which is something that they need to move on from, especially if they are to remain relevant and not part of the problem.

Now, the above thought brought me to the create the idea of Biblical Humanism. Fortunately, I am not the only one to ever have considered this possibility. It was first (as far as my currently limited research shows) was thought up in the late 1400’s with Erasmus of Rotterdam’s’ writings. Erasmus was a monastic Catholic priest of sorts and was heralded in his time for his enlightenment and writings. He was, shall we say, the father of contemporary Biblical/Christian/Theological Humanism.

A more humanistic approach to religious practice and teachings less zealous, blind, irrational, and tyrannical. The heaven hell model and the extreme religious tyranny are why Christianity is slowly dying and why people for many years have been defecting from Catholicism and other orthodox religions to other more humanistic faiths. These conservative or fundamentalist faiths enforce their dogma with fear – fear of going to hell, fear of sinning, fear of not getting presents on Christmas, fear of not being saved. This sort of fear based propaganda stresses the psyche and emotions and eventually there is going to be a break down, and we are seeing that, especially in Europe an Asia, and also here in the United States. These religions are killing themselves and they are too proud and arrogant to see it. Historically they have changed only when they see that they have had no real choice, but perhaps this time… they may not be able to fully recover, unless they embrace a more humanistic view of Christianity – a view that is more “Christian” than what is being taught in many churches today. A Humanism Theology may be the only way to save contemporary Christianity.

Resources

• Why bother with the Bible? … Interpret, or others will do it for you (by John Buehrens @ UU World, April 2003 )
• Protestantism and Christian Humanism – Fundamental Differences Between the Two Movements of the Reformation
• Society for Humanistic Judaism
• Biblical Humanism: The Tacit Grounding of James Clerk Maxwell’s Creativity (The American Scientific Affiliation)
• Humanism in Scripture and Culture – Recovering a Balance (by Dennis Bratcher @ The Voice)
• Humanism
• Christian Humanism
• The Christian Humanist
• Some Reasons Why Humanists Reject the Bible (by Joseph C. Sommer)
• The Rennaisance Bible: Rewriting the Vulgate (University of California E-Books Collection)
• Humanist Theology

Karen Armstrong, a former nun, gave her speech called A Charter for Compassion (TED)” to Ted Talks on Feb 2009. I watched this speech and it is quite inspiring. This speech was given as her TED Prize Wish for 2009. She now has a website of for it as well: Charter for Compassion

Related TED Talk: “Lets Revive the Golden Rule“

I have posted a new article for the Milwaukee Examiner titled “Christianity’s Heaven/Hell model not conducive to altruism?“

I started writing this post one third of the way through his vitriol laden rant fully expecting not much was going to change by the end, and nothing did change.I did watch the whole thing before finishing this post.

The Louisiana Gun: The Manning Bar (on YouTube as well) with Reverend Dr. James David Manning (author of the Oblation Hour) speaks out against Obama and claims that white people are going to riot because they are tired of being pushed around. *shakes head* I was not aware I was about to revolt? Perhaps I did not get his script? *shrug*

I just had this video forwarded to me and it is really disappointing to hear how such influential people can be so lost and bigoted (calling Obama a man-lover, homosexual, half-breed, Muslim, illegal alien, usurper). I fully expect these words, especially from a man of his background (conservative Christian Southern preacher), but it is still sad to hear.

Dr. Manning’s words were vacuous at best, and he is attempting naught but fear mongering and fomenting unrest and rebellion (where there is none) via sensationally and emotionally charged words, which is a southern preacher’s talent. Move the congregation with fear and emotion; reason and dignity be damned.

Dr Manning claims matter-of-factly that his view is the state of things with nary a hint of evidence evidence or reasoning. He incorrectly assumes that everyone in America is his version of Christianity (Southern and Conservative), when in-fact, we all are not, and I am pretty sure the fact that Obama was elected shows this clearly as well.

Obama made no illusion of trying to cater to the Southern Conservative Christians (even though he seems to be leaning that way a bit) as Republicans are want to do with their platforms. The Republicans are currently struggling with this and trying to  reinvent themselves to stay current and not lose themselves in the morass of uber-conservatism, which is obviously not the direction that American socio-cultural values are headed. Gay marriage anyone?

He is just a conservative southern Christian rallying against a liberal president using the traditional conservative vitriol in an attempt to maintain the status quo. Social progress is the bane of conservative religion because change means that they need to change to remain relevant; if they have to do that then they were not “correct” to begin with. They will have to change as a religion or die out as a religion and lose face in the process

In our increasingly progressive and aware society, uber-conservative and controlling religions are fighting tooth and nail to hold on to their stagnant social values to maintain face as well as to maintain control of their flock. Without that the sheep may become disillusioned and wander off to greener and potentially more enlightened pastures.

His speech appears to be an attempt to appeal to the homophobic conservative Christian African American by attempting add credence to his views by saying the that  white people felt that way too. His racist and bigoted words do not stop there. He calls Obama a homosexual to try to cement his lack of a real case. =(

These uber-conservative Christians are a huge part of what is wrong with America today and it saddens me to the core. Let us please have a moment of silence for Dr. Manning and may God have mercy on his soul.

Michael Shermer and Dinesh D’Souza go toe-to-toe on some of the greatest issues related to science and religion: is there evidence for God’s existence, what is the proper relationship between science and religion, and has religion been a force for good or evil in the world?: Is Religion a Force for Good or Evil in the World?

I have not had a chance to watch it all yet, but I am really looking forward to listen to their debate.