I want to make a three-way distinction. You can be a Cultural Christian, a Political Christian, a Believing Christian, or any combination of the three. People may disagree about which of these constitutes being “A Christian”. For me it has to be Believing Chistian.Who appointed him to decide who qualifies as a Christian?I am a Cultural Christian, specifically a Cultural Anglican. I was educated in Christian schools. The history of my people is heavily influenced by Christian tradition. I like singing Christmas Carols, and am deeply moved by the sacred music of Bach and Handel. My head is full of Biblical phrases and quotations. And hymn tunes, which I regularly play by ear on my electronic clarinet. ...
Believing Christians believe that there is a supernatural creator at the base of the universe called God. They believe a First Century Jew called Jesus is the son of God. They believe Jesus’s mother was a virgin when she gave birth to him. They believe that Jesus came alive again three days after he died. ...
If I were American I would vote Democrat because, in spite of their idiotic stance on the male/female distinction, they are hugely preferable to the Republican alternative. Similarly, if I were forced to vote for either Christianity or Islam as alternative influences on the world, I would unhesitatingly vote Christian. If that make me a Political Christian, so be it.
Dawkins likes to play the role of a hard-headed materialist scientist, but I don't think he is. He has written a whole essay on making a distinction based on unmeasurable abstraction. Nobody can objectively determine whether someone else truly believes that Jesus rose from the dead.
There are saints who privately expressed doubts about their faith. I guess Dawkins would deny that they are true Christians.
We can look at Dawkins and see that he is living a Christian life, and not a Moslem or Hindoo life. He is a product of Christian culture and values. He has mostly accepted Christian morals and ideals. He has rejected aspects of Christianity, but as you see, he very much prefers it to Islam. I think that makes him a Christian. Christianity is not an exclusive club.
You could argue that members of the Anglican Church have traditionally announced support for the Nicene Creed, and Dawkins does not. Okay, but they also have traditionally be able to explain why Christianity is better than Islam. Dawking can do that, but the current Archbishop of Canterbury, the church leader, cannot. Not only that, he appears to be abandoning Englishmen in favor of recruiting new African members.
And Pres. Biden, who claims to be a practicing Catholic, has just redefined Easter Sunday as Transgender Day:
Transgender Americans are part of the fabric of our Nation. ...No, there is no dignity in this. Biden has also banned religious symbols from the White House Easter Egg hunt.I am proud that my Administration has stood for justice from the start, working to ensure that the LGBTQI+ community can live openly, in safety, with dignity and respect. I am proud to have appointed transgender leaders ...
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 31, 2024, as Transgender Day of Visibility.
Happy Easter.
2 comments:
Redefined Easter? No, Trans Day falls on March 31 every year. Maybe we should look into Pope Gregory and his calendar.
It's so painful watching folks say "Except for everything the Democrats are doing,
on trade with those who wish to destroy us,
on the border encouraging mass migration and lawlessness,
on the economy and lack of any understanding it besides 'print more money',
on lying about almost anything to do with Covid,
on lying about government censorship,
on gaslighting everyone about what they themselves are on record openly saying,
on literally encouraging outright bigoted racism against people to...fight racism?,
on literally not knowing what a Nazi actually is... except that it's supposed to be 'bad'
on even knowing what the hell a woman is without a dissertation worthy of a modern art piece,
on even knowing what the hell a man is without using the words 'toxic' or 'patriarchy',
on encouraging minors to get castrated in the name of 'identity',
on even knowing what the hell an education is or what it is for,
on sub-dividing everything in the nation into small groups of angry helpless victims,
on idolizing highly dysfunctional mental illnesses and parading them as virtuous behaviors,
on even remotely understanding that civilization and the ideas and meanings that undergird it are not just chintzy decorations they can enjoy 'nostalgically' while they sneer at it,
...they are so much better than Republicans..." and then not simply ask:
'What is it again ...exactly... that the Democrats are actually doing better?'
Post a Comment