{"id":30415,"date":"2015-06-02T06:37:27","date_gmt":"2015-06-02T10:37:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/exploringourmatrix\/?p=30415"},"modified":"2015-06-02T06:37:27","modified_gmt":"2015-06-02T10:37:27","slug":"ehrman-not-anti-christian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/06\/ehrman-not-anti-christian.html","title":{"rendered":"Ehrman Not Anti-Christian"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Ehrman<\/p>\n

It is one of the major problems\u00a0with fundamentalism that it recognizes no other form of its religious tradition as authentic than its own narrow version. And so it perceives as\u00a0an attack on religion what is in fact an attack on narrowness, on unjustified dogmatism, on sloppy thinking, and many other things that deserve to be criticized\u00a0not out of dislike for religion in general or Christianity in particular, but first and foremost by those who\u00a0love<\/em> Christianity and want to see it flourish rather than be stifled by the oppressive forces of fundamentalism. It is fundamentalism which is an attack on religion. Criticism of fundamentalism, on the other hand, is the best support to religion that anyone can offer.<\/p>\n

See further Ehrman\u2019s recent blog post<\/a> reflecting on the recent Pew survey, in which he wrote:<\/p>\n

\n

Some of my former friends among the evangelicals get upset with me for \u201cleading people astray.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s people like me \u2013 or those damn neo-atheists \u2013 who are at fault for these shifts from Christianity to \u201cunaffiliated.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 I don\u2019t see it that way.\u00a0 In my view, no one has been led astray.\u00a0 People instead have been encouraged and persuaded to think for themselves, based on knowledge that is widely available to anyone willing to look, see, and think.\u00a0 (Knowledge of science; knowledge of world religions, each with distinctive views; knowledge of the Bible or the history of early Christianity; and so on).<\/p>\n

For my part, I have long insisted and continue to insist that in fact I personally don\u2019t care at all \u2013 not in the least \u2013 if people agree with me in my religious views.\u00a0 I really don\u2019t care.\u00a0 My evangelical friends don\u2019t believe me.\u00a0 They really don\u2019t believe me.\u00a0 They can\u2019t believe me.\u00a0 They can\u2019t believe that someone like me would have hard fought views and not want everyone to agree with him.\u00a0 I suppose that\u2019s why they\u2019re evangelicals.\u00a0 (!)<\/p>\n

I on the other hand don\u2019t feel that way.\u00a0 My view is that everyone should be what they, on the basis of hard thought and consideration of all the information, should decide what they really think or believe.\u00a0 They should not think or believe what they were told by someone \u2014 their parents, their teachers, their pastors or priests or rabbis, their Sunday school teachers, their school teachers, their friends, their lovers, or anyone else.\u00a0 They should think through everything carefully themselves, and make an informed decision.<\/p>\n

If people do that and remain or become evangelical, I\u2019m OK with that.\u00a0 So long as they don\u2019t hurt and exploit others, especially the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized.\u00a0\u00a0 If they remain or become Catholic, AOK.\u00a0 If they remain or become Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist<\/a>, Hindu, pagan, agnostic, atheist, or anything else, I really don\u2019t care.\u00a0 I care only that (a) they think about it and (b) they actively love others and do good to others and help others in need.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is one of the major problems\u00a0with fundamentalism that it recognizes no other form of its religious tradition as authentic than its own narrow version. 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