{"id":546,"date":"2011-02-16T14:06:00","date_gmt":"2011-02-16T14:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2011\/02\/good-pointers-for-advancing-the-non-theistic-message.html"},"modified":"2011-02-16T14:06:00","modified_gmt":"2011-02-16T14:06:00","slug":"good-pointers-for-advancing-the-non-theistic-message","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2011\/02\/good-pointers-for-advancing-the-non-theistic-message.html","title":{"rendered":"Good Pointers For Advancing The Non-Theistic Message"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I\u2019m not the type to give tips to my fellow non-theists and secular humanists.\u00a0 We all share about 99% of our intellectual DNA even if our styles are different.\u00a0 So while I wouldn\u2019t have written something like it, I really want to recommend Phil Zuckerman\u2019s post in (GASP!) the Huffington Post<\/a> about the mistakes that atheists make.<\/p>\n

The wise professor enumerates them, adding some good suggestions; they are pointers that I will definitely keep in mind (and they fit my approach):<\/p>\n

2. Condemning all religion, rather then just the bad aspects thereof.<\/b> Religion is man-made. It is socially constructed. It grows out of human culture. As such, religion inevitably contains, reflects, and reveals all that is within the realm of humanity: the good and the bad. It is like any other facet of human civilization: some of it is noble and inspirational, much of it is nonsensical and even dangerous. But to condemn it all as poisonous is to be in serious denial.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I like that.\u00a0 I would\u2026I am a rabbi.\u00a0 I\u2019m dedicated to preserving the positive in religion and, to their credit, so are my liberal theistic colleagues.\u00a0 Eventually, I believe that my approach will succeed because frankly, some weak<\/a> attempts<\/a> notwithstanding, their theism\u2019s barely hanging on by a thread.\u00a0 It\u2019s a pale reflection of the heartier God-idea harbored in the more \u201cnonsensical and even dangerous\u201d wing of religion.<\/p>\n

3. Condemning the Bible as a wretched, silly book, rather than seeing it as a work full of good and insightful things as well.<\/b> The Bible was written by humans. It has no other source. The evidence is clear on that front. And similar to point two above, given that it is a human creation means that it isn\u2019t all good or all bad \u2014 but contains both. Its contents can be downright absurd, flagrantly unscientific, embarrassingly racist and sexist \u2014 not to mention painfully boring. But it also contains brilliant insights into the human condition, fun stories to entertain kids, and heady poetry. It even has solemn stretches of unbridled skepticism and existential angst. Check out Ecclesiastes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For me there\u2019s even more to recommend the bible.\u00a0 I am riveted by the exploration of ancient Israelite civilization.\u00a0 There are more and more reconstructions of Bronze and Iron Age Canaan\/Israel that uncover the real story behind the tales in the book. Good archeology also furthers our understandings of the \u201chidden\u201d texts (e.g. monolatry vs. monotheism, the origins of Yahweh or the realpolitik of the era) and enables us to sketch a more objective Israelite history.<\/p>\n

Biblical texts have also inspired a rich history of commentary.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have to agree with the interpretative conclusions in order to be enthralled by the process.\u00a0 Some of them are like philosophical fossils revealing moral evolution.\u00a0 This is certainly what it feels like to witness the rabbis converting lex talionis<\/i><\/a> into monetary reparations.\u00a0 (By the way, I refrain from capitalizing the word bible because it does not refer to a consistent, agreed upon body of work.\u00a0 I capitalize Tanakh, Torah, New Testament and Genesis.\u00a0 They are titles of specific compilations.)<\/p>\n

4. Failing to understand and appreciate \u201ccultural religion.\u201d <\/b>There are tens of millions of people out there who are part of a religious tradition, but don\u2019t actually believe in the theological teachings thereof. They go to church, they get bar-mitzvahed, they identify with a religious tradition, and yet they are basically atheists, agnostics, or skeptics at heart. Why do they stay religious? They like it. They enjoy the traditions, the songs, the rituals, the community. These people should be seen as allies, not enemies. And every time we condemn their religion as idiocy or wickedness, we simply turn them off.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That pretty much sums up my purpose in life; to completely transform religion into culture by eliminating its supernatural truth claims.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Post-Theistic Religion\u00a9 <\/sup>is all about.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m not the type to give tips to my fellow non-theists and secular humanists.\u00a0 We all share about 99% of our intellectual DNA even if our styles are different.\u00a0 So while I wouldn\u2019t have written something like it, I really want to recommend Phil Zuckerman\u2019s post in (GASP!) the Huffington Post about the mistakes that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[6,22,24,30,34,39],"class_list":["post-546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogentries","tag-atheism","tag-jewish-history","tag-liberal-judaism","tag-non-theism","tag-post-theistic-religion","tag-secular-humanistic-judaism"],"yoast_head":"\nGood Pointers For Advancing The Non-Theistic Message<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I\u2019m not the type to give tips to my fellow non-theists and secular humanists.\u00a0 We all share about 99% of our intellectual DNA even if our styles are\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2011\/02\/good-pointers-for-advancing-the-non-theistic-message.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Good Pointers For Advancing The Non-Theistic Message\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019m not the type to give tips to my fellow non-theists and secular humanists.\u00a0 We all share about 99% of our intellectual DNA even if our styles are\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2011\/02\/good-pointers-for-advancing-the-non-theistic-message.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Atheist Rabbi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-02-16T14:06:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey L. 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