email: RE: THE CHURCH IN AMERICA

From: Allender, Mark
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2003 9:55 AM
To: MDT
Subject: RE: THE CHURCH IN AMERICA

> I wasn't convinced that most of your issues were with biblical
Christianity as much as the modern Church or distorted doctrine.

well,

- I don't believe there is a God who intimately cares about the daily goings-on of humanity. in fact, I have issues with there being a God at all.

- I don't believe there is anything divine about the books of the Bible. I believe they are books just like any other ancient or historical text.

- I believe that, like other ancient texts, they do not always tell the whole story. the Gospels for example are not "historical"

- I do not believe that humankind is sinful, nor that it needs to be saved.

- I am not persuaded of any certainty of anything in an alleged afterlife.

these are my fundamental issues with Christianity as a religion. now I also have some other issues with the mainstream American church which you may or may not agree with me on ...

- I am annoyed by the anti-intellectual nature of the modern Church

- I am annoyed by the alignment of the mainstream Church with the political right.

- If the Church is going to remain relevant, it MUST be more flexible and more willing to engage in dialogue. it needs to embrace the findings of science rather than be afraid of them. if there is dissonance with Church teaching and current trends in thinking, the FIRST thing to be re-examined should be the Church teaching, not the immediate assumption that current popular thought is misguided. Certainly popular thought can often be flimsy or ignorant, but the mainstream Church refuses to even engage it.

- Christians claim to the Light of the World, but they have been the very last to embrace new thinking or new science since Constantine. consider the following issues:
- heliocentric theory
- evolution
- rock `n roll
- acceptance of homosexuality

(that's not to say that the Church hasn't been the forerunner in many other issues, of course...human rights notably - the abolitionist movement comes readily to mind)

- if the Church is going to remain relevant, it needs to concern itself more with spirituality and the dirt of being human and less with the need for salvation or the avoidance of damnation.

- the Church needs to totally eliminate outreach or evangelism. Let your lives be the draw. If your ideas or thinking resonate with those of others, they'll come on their own

- the Church is WAY TOO COMFORTABLE. They are not challenged enough. Sunday morning should involve discussion of heretical issues - or feature controversial speakers. Bring a Muslim cleric to speak at church and LEARN from him instead of reaffirming where he has erred in his faith..

- Church leadership needs to read the Bible intelligently. Use the Bible. It's a great book. But god I would LOVE to hear someone in the pulpit say, "...and in chapter 5, Paul writes that 'blah blah blah blah' - and frankly I disagree with Paul on this point. I think that 'blah blah blah blah.' " Just because it says so in the Bible doesn't mean that you need to believe it. If there is a God, I believe that he gave us a questioning mind ... on purpose.

ok I'm ranting now - but there's some fat to chew on i suppose.

whadaya say?

-arkmay
zzz at uu dot cx
http://uu.cx/