architect

xorbie, that is my story exactly. I have met few other Jewish Atheists on various discussion boards. I am curious about how you deal with visitng your parents/family during the high holidays and passover. And I am also curious as to how you raise your kids; essentially how to give them a Jewish identity without all of the bible hocus-pocus. This discussion might warrant a new thread. Thanks in advance.

Rational BAC

I have always wondered why it was "bad" to try and determine for oneself what Christianity is all about.

I have no problem with anyone belonging to a church and still personally question some of the basic precepts of that church.

I do not think that the founders of any sect were any smarter or "inspired" than you or I. I do not think those who formed the various councils in the 4th century were any smarter or "inspired" than you or I.

So belong to any Church you want to and question anything you want to-----certainly on a personal basis. If your personal views vary so much from your Church's views that it makes you uncomfortable, then change churches, or go it alone if you cannot find anything that fits your personal version of Christianity. The point here is that it makes YOU uncomfortable, not your church uncomfortable.

What your church thinks doesn't really matter. The only thing that is important is what you think. And the idea that you stop being Christian because you do not exactly fit in with "established Christian belief" according to any kind of canon is nonsense.

Remember that we do not question today the intellectual honesty of the early Christians of the first 3 centuries. Surely no one believes that the only legitimate Christians of history lived after 400 AD -------and those that came before were just "phoney Christians". Those early Christians were just trying to figure out as best they could for themselves what the whole thing was all about. And that is what any true Christian should do today. Forget Church doctrine except as some sort of general format for your own personal Christianity.

If your Christianity doesn't quite "fit" in todays Church market, then be proud of yourself for being a true questioning Christian of the first 3 centuries. And most certainly do not think you are less of a Christian for being that way. In my opinion, you are more of a Christian for finding your own way.

abe smith

.... no (religious) sect (sic) of any sort whatever could/can exist under your unboundedly-free/tolerating rubric. ALL religious sects, in order to exist, HAVE TO assert that they are "the only true religion!" and that all the competitors are unsubstantiated JUNK. As none of all that dreck (by its nature) can EVER be examined nor PROVEN, therefore those who choose to adhere to whatever set of manmade assertions = "beliefs" HAVE to assert that they possess the only TRUTH.

Not too many years back, the RC sect's current CEO was making gestures at "Islam" and "Judaism" , to try to gather them into the Judeo-Christian fold "so that all may be one", as his alleged Lord is alleged to have said. Of course, JP2's intention can only have been that the "ONE" in question was going to be (You guessed it!) Roman Catholicism.
We haven't heard too much, recently, about the furthering of this jolly ecumenical intention....
I'd hazard an opeenion that dogmatic freedom-of-choice is not and cannot *ever* be compatible/coexistent w/ any religion.

callmejay

architect, I'm another Jewish atheist. I just wrote a long post here that might interest you. (I don't have kids yet, I just told my parents I'm not going home for the high holidays [I HATE those holidays] but I go for passover.)