Agnostic.com

Can an atheist be a proud Secular Christian?

By Admin 3 years ago

Thomas Jefferson had an interesting hobby. In his spare time, he would use a razor to cut out the things in the bible that were said to be spoken by Jesus and didn't contain religious hocus pocus. He called it "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth" or what's now called the "Jeffersonian Bible". As Jefferson was a strong advocate for the separation of the Church and State, he was interested in what could be consider common ground between believers and non-believers like himself. Jefferson saw value in the teaching and wrote, "A more beautiful or precious morsel of ethics I have never seen; it is a document in proof that I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus."

For me, as someone who grew up in a devote Christian household, I spent a decade hearing stories and parables attributed to Jesus. When I later left the faith, I was often hostile to religion for the wrongs I perceived it did on me and on millions throughout history. However, as I've grown older and especially in recent years, I am more aware that I did benefit from the experience especially in how to treat those who disagree with me or could be consider enemies. The concepts of "love your enemies", "turn the other cheek", and "take care of others outside your tribe (good Samaritan)", while obviously not exclusive to Christianity, were taught to me in a Christian context. The phrase "Be like Jesus" or "What would Jesus do?" are shorthand reminders for me to try to be a better person... and something that to be proud of.

What do you think?

Can an atheist be a proud Secular Christian?

  • 11 votes
  • 21 votes
  • 3 votes
Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of this website or its members.

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31 comments

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0

Give up on being a Christian and move on.

Toni Level 4 Dec 28, 2020
0

Why, in the name of all things logical and reasoning, would they wish to be so since We have shed the shackles of religion, thrown of the chains, etc, of superstition and embraced with open arms all things REAL and True?

0

That's why I use "spiritual not religious". I get crap for saying that, but whatever. I am an electronics nut. Energy can only be converted, not created or destroyed. So to me god is electricity. We know it exists. We can't see it either. The only reason why we know it does is because of the after effects of something else. So I guess both are believeing in something you can't see?

Good write up! Also was it cut with razors? Did they exist at the time? We do know he wrote that book, that's not my point, I'm just curious.

2

Can a Turkey proudly celebrate Thanksgiving?

2

I vote no, Christianity is nothing but lies.

Secur Level 5 Nov 22, 2020

King David existed. And there is some truth about eating from the tree of knowledge. Enslaved Jews in Egypt outside the bible? Romans putting a hit on Jesus (never mentioned in one record ever and they recorded everything). I think the jeebus thing would have made it into some other work somewhere...

@TheGreatShadow Rave on Avon, the entire Goat-herders Guide to the Galaxy has absolute NO foundation/s in historical factuality what- so-ever.

@TheGreatShadow : Please expand on this supposed truth about the tree of knowledge.

2

They may not use that label, but I think most of the people on this site fit that category: Having ditched the theological/“god” part of Christianity, they still often uncritically embrace the moral/ethical ideas for which the Jesus character is the front man.

0

Please use another photo other then this demented creep. It's surreal and offensive.

0

Two out of three ain’t bad.

1

It doesn't work that way.... Jefferson was a believer he just didn't think of Jesus as the son of a god his beliefs were more in line with Muslims who speak of that imaginary being as a Prophet instead.

0

What about a proud secular Muslam, Jew, Hindu, Shinto, Buddhist, etc. If you grew up with religion whether it be Christianity, Islam, Judism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shintoism, Taoism, Unitarian Universalism, or whatever, it's part of who you are. Yes you grew up, moved out and decided not to practice religion anymore but you still did it as a kid (not that you wanted to of course 🙂 ) and that's what makes you a secular ___.

0

maybe not

1

Click bait

2

Morals have nothing to do with Christianity. There are many different reasons, some choose religions, others karma or energies, and there are still other ideas that demonstrate or explain our need for morality. Pick whichever you choose as long as you pick something to motivate your morals!

4

No, there is no such thing as a secular xian.
Firstly, you don't need the (supposed) words of jesus to be a moral person.
Secondly, when you do that (taking passages that you like) you're simply doing the same thing as the scamgelicals- picking-and-choosing what sayings suit youy.
Thirdly, according to paul, you have to believe in the resurrection to be a xian.
Fourthly, to be a xian, you have to accept the old testament. Do you really want to do that?

3

The person in question would have to remain ignorant of the preceding 2,500 years or so of recorded history. He or she could just as easily be a proud Confucianist or Taoist or Hammurabist or Hindi or Zoroastrian as all or most of the doctrines attributed to Jesus were already codified in older texts and/or passed down through oral traditions. I suspect that most proud Christians are ignorant of the history of the ideas they believe originated with Jesus. In the end, being a proud any kind of Christian looks like little more than brand loyalty - like being a proud Tide laundry detergent user vs. a proud Cheer laundry detergent user

1

An atheist can not be a proud secular Christian as these are mutually exclusive. One can try to be a good person (be a good Christian in the colloquial sense) but that is a cultural nuance. Just because a particular belief system claims to have moral standards does not make the standards moral nor does it make a particular belief system the origin of morality.

I understand the cultural equivocation but that cultural equivocation is not objective.

Just another note. President Jefferson did believe in the separation of state and government as he put it.
His idea was almost the opposite of what it is understood to be today. He believed that government should not interfere with religion. He never said that religion should be banned IN the government. I am however very glad that we have it wrong!

In this video I go into further detail about the subject.

Love the shirt. Should 45 prevail then I would, again and more forcefully, advance the idea that the remaining 3 years of AntiChrist rule has begun. Those Jews who follow Christianity will allow non-Jesus Jews to be shot in order to bring the prophecy into reality. Only the converts will be left.

0

You are ignoring the vast quantity of Humans who do good work, have as much if not more empathy as the construct called Jesus and do not conduct miracles but real steps towards fully understanding the Human condition and potential. Why concentrate on a single person for your inspiration? Why?- it is because you were taught and told to believe in him .Whereas I take it that you got here by yourself with reason and logic. If you do. chose the wrong leader , they tend to make massive mistakes because of their adulation . Jesus' death was a good career move towards martyrdom and others joined in to produce eventually our terrorists.

How is being a Secular Christian different than following the teachings of the Dalai Lama or Tony Robbins? Do you need to believe in the spirituality of Jesus to agree with what his key secular teachings were?

3

I voted yes.. The way Jefferson did this with the bible is very interesting...

1

Any atheist called Christian ?

Do they call him "Chris"?

@Admin Maybe.

@Admin As they do Kris Kringle?

0

NO! Unless you can provide objective evidence that jesus or god are real, then the answer is NO.

I said "proud Secular Christian"... not "proud Christian". Perhaps you mean that the extra baggage of Christianity outweighs the positive non-spiritual teachings?

@Admin
You don't believe in god or jesus?

2

I have voted no...because the morality and the examples shown by Jesus Christ did not originate with him, he in fact adopted an empathy and morality towards others that was already inherent in humans. It is an admirable philosophy of philanthropy and compassion, and an ethos of caring for others than I wish more people, whether Christian or not, would adopt, but it did not originate with him. Unfortunately, it is impossible to single out the teachings of Christ and leave the rest of the baggage being a Christian comes with, and for that reason I cannot agree with the premise that it’s possible to be both an atheist and a secular Christian.

Is it possible to admire any teaching of any religion that has a spiritual component? My guess that the cultures that were precursors to the "common sense" teachings of "Jesus" also used it in a spiritual capacity. You do make a good point 🙂

4

I say absolutely one can be atheist, secular and still follow the basic principals found in the teachings of Jesus, thus considering themselves a Christian. More fundamental Chrstians would certainly disagree due to their belief in a Supernatural God and the designation of Jesus having been his son, but for those who do not believe in a deity, it fits together quite logically. I have read the Jefferson Bible and found it to be a relevant piece of work in encouraging that there is no need for a God in order to be a 'good human'. Whether or not Jesus actually existed, the teachings abscribed to him are rather unarguably a good set of precepts to follow if one seeks to be a kind, compassionate, forgiving human that has a positive and mindful impact on his fellow earth dwellars. One can simply view him among many wise teachers that came before our time and provided a guide to what is now more along the lines of a humanistic view on life, once all the dogma inherent in a belief in a God is removed. Simply because we have morphed those teachings into the supernatural and diety driven force of moralism that we now see in most religions, doesn't necessarily make the wisdom itself irrelevant.

1

I heard that Hitler was a stickler for dining etiquette and table manners, so since many learned those habits in that context, I suppose we should call them polite or dignified Nazis.

You can use shorthand like this, but you're going to waste more time on all the invited questions than it's worth.

Well, if table manners wasn't a popular thing until HitXXX promoted it, those of us who think good table manners is common place, might have to... ugh... never mind. Ha!

@Admin I know you're just kidding, but to be fair, the article kinda stated the opposite of that.

The concepts of "love your enemies", "turn the other cheek", and "take care of others outside your tribe (good Samaritan)", while obviously not exclusive to Christianity, were taught to me in a Christian context.

So even if table manners were common place, the Hitler youth that learned them in that context...

I was mostly joking, but kinda making a little bit of a point.

@Admin Oh, and is the quote box bug fix in the works?

0

One can be as long as the Atheist rejects the belief that jubus is a god but merely a spiritual or cult leader.

Hopefully better than David Koresh 🙂

0

Hah! And ignore all the crap that does contain religious hocus pocus? Now there is some cherry-picking!

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