Atheistic Christians

No surprise for me here, but the recent BBC article about Rev Klaas Hendrikse titled “Dutch rethink Christianity for a doubtful world” by Robert Pigott is significant. Rev Klaas Hendrikse who does not believe in God and the results of a study by the Free University of Amsterdam that “one-in-six clergy in the PKN (Protestant Church in the Netherlands) and six other smaller denominations was either agnostic or atheist” demonstrate an important cultural change. 

Well, this reflects not just a cultural change but a fundamental change within western civilisation reflecting shift from monotheistic agrarian worldview into new, scientific, modern perspective. Maybe that’s the way how denominations and institutions of mainstream monotheistic faiths will follow to accommodate the growing number of non-believers – or something-believers.  

The article about rev. Klaas Hendrikse is here.

MG

Paradox

Human race try to preserve its sense of existence through myths, beliefs, religions and ideologies. Whole societies and their particular members give themselves identities through holding various ideas, various beliefs.  Since the dawn of humanity people tell themselves stories about spirits, immortal soul, about going to heaven after death. All of that in order to gain identity, to gain meaning, to preserve sense of existence, to deny death. And yet the same ideas, the same memes often prompt violence and bring death. And that is a paradox

MG

The four Horsemen of New Atheism

What is New Atheism? According to wiki: 

“...a 21st century movement in atheism. (...) supporters of the New Atheism movement are hardline critics of religion. They state that atheism, backed by recent scientific advancement, has reached the point where it is time to take a far less accommodating attitude toward religion, superstition, and religious fanaticism than had been extended by some atheists and secularists. According to CNN, "What the New Atheists share is a belief that religion should not simply be tolerated but should be countered, criticized and exposed by rational argument wherever its influence arises."

Richard Dawkins

Well known scientist and militiant atheist

Religion is bad and outdated - we all should become militant atheists (at least people who know better - scientists)

Creationism has nothing to offer, nothing even close to the beauty of Darwinian Theory of Evolution

Children should be protected from brainwashing.

Richard smites religion in many of his bestselling books

Christopher Hitchens

God is not great – in fact, religion poisons everything

The real axis of evil is Christianity, Judaism, and Islam – the tree desert dogmas

Organized religion is the main source of hatred in the world;

Religion tends to be violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism, tribalism, and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children

Sam Harris

Let’s take morality from religion

Religions offer answers to moral questions but often they have wrong answers

Science can answer moral questions

We don’t scrutinise religion enough - acceptance and respect for 'moderate' beliefs provide cover for fundamentalists and fanatics who blow themselves up

Besides, let's don't call ourselves atheists: nobody calls himself non-astrologer to distinguish himself from astrologers, so why do we call ourselves a-theists?

Sam is a spiritual atheist – “Compassion, awe, devotion and feelings of oneness are surely among the most valuable experiences a person can have”; he studied meditation with Hindu and Buddhist teachers, he organises retreats for scientists

Daniel Dennett

Religion is an excuse to many people to stop thinking- and that is a real danger

Of course, it is rather rude to say to grandma there is no god

Should we be upfront? I’d rather disagree on this point with Richard Dawkins

Some people need help to be moral and let's don't deny it to them. They need religion as a moral Viagra.

Daniel is a cognitive scientist whose research centres on the philosophy of mind, philosophy of science and philosophy of biology, particularly as those fields relate to evolutionary biology and cognitive science.

The above description is far from being complete. All four horsemen are authors of influential books who took part in many public debates. There is much more to it - look it up on the net.

MG