What about Canada? The historical influence of liberal Protestantism is undeniable. The social gospel movement drove political change from the 1930s to at least the 1960s. People such as J. S. Woodsworth, Tommy Douglas and Stanley Knowles – all of them Protestant ministers — moved Canada in a humane and social democratic direction. But that flame has been burning less brightly in recent decades and a more right wing religious presence now prevails in the halls of power. A well-connected minister of my acquaintance says that the Prime Minister has yet to meet with United Church leaders since he was first elected in 2006. But religionists of a more conservative persuasion appear to have widespread access to Parliament Hill.
The complaint about Liberal Christians is that their faith is a "thin gruel". But I don't know why that has to be. Throughout history, Liberals have known how to kick ass. Liberal Christians can learn that trick again. We Liberal atheists would be happy to show them.
Jeremy is a kook. Should he troll further, he shall be erased.
ReplyDeleteActually he was doing pretty good right up until the last two sentences ;)
ReplyDeleteWe 'liberal Christians' are doing the best we can, in the circumstances.
ReplyDeleteI agree with double nichel. On Jeremy's latter point sbout Sharia law, a majority of Muslims in Canada do not want to introduce Sharia law according to the results of a survey by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
ReplyDeletehow about religion be completely separate from laws, legal process, states,nations, towns, politics, and anywhere else public....let folks practice quietly at home, and when they leave their house, they are simply humans:)
ReplyDeleteI get sick of all the religious issues from every corner of this planet. Just imagine...if there was no religion...oh how peaceful it would be:P
and no I dont buy for a moment that religion or religious people created morality, in fact I think religion distorted it.
Liberals have known how to kick ass. Liberal Christians can learn that trick again.
ReplyDeleteProgressive Christians by and large stopped kicking theological ass decades ago, so why do you imagine they can now kick political ass? Plus, as deb illustrates, whenever they try to raise a voice, they are swarmed and drowned out by the angry atheist brigade spouting their anti-historical drivel.
uh, peter, im sure I dont represent the athiests, they have way more on the topic then I do. But when you mention anti-historical drivel, the irony is painful...as the bible is hardly the place to search for facts;)
ReplyDeletedeb, I was thinking of your quaint belief that peace would reign supreme if we got rid of religion. You may want to check out the record of avowedly atheist and anti-clerical regimes.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, if Martin Luther King came back today, I expect a sizeable portion of progressive opinion would dismiss him as a dangerous "Christianist" whose vision and dreams had no place in modern evidence-based policy making.
fair enough peter...I get that part that those who favour one side or the other...or no religious beliefs can go about it aggressively. I guess I was sorta looking at it from the old witchs hammer days;) or the earlier times of the crusades, forgetting that plenty of other regimes over millenia exist:) I stand corrected on my historical shortcomings. I do get that were humans exist, fighting is sure to follow with or without any gods or religious books!
ReplyDeleteas for if martin luther king came back...I dont think the republicans would call him christian...pretty sure they would try to tack on terrorist, or communist as a label...but its interesting how quickly things can descend into madness with politics or religion;) esp with extremists in any camp.
aside of my quaint and historically inaccurate belief system Peter, Im still having a discussion not an argument...I think thats the main problem with humans in any medium, they cannot see nor find common ground when beset by their own ideologies...me included:) Religion muddies up the waters, and makes it even more fractious for folks to get along.
ReplyDelete...I think thats the main problem with humans in any medium, they cannot see nor find common ground when beset by their own ideologies...
ReplyDeleteWith that, I agree. Ideology is like iodine. We can't live without it, but too much kills us.