I did JonJ. But it is the same thing. I find it hard to justify a set of beliefs on the basis of whether your family is happy or not. They could be happy for all the wrong reasons. Or what if they are not happy tomorrow? Does that mean you recant your atheism?

I made my criticism of the "emergent-church" movement on the basis of a familiarity with the many blogs of those involved with this movement, including some of the key movers and shakers.

The writings of Spong & Fox are notably absent from these blogs.

By the way I quite like the work of Matthew Fox. I have read three of his books. He is an excellent voice for ecumenical tolerance.
But the question remains - why does everything have to turn out to be Christian?

Re this so called emergent movement.
These "renewal" movements have been a feature of Christianity all along, and all over the world too. They appear like clock work ever 2 or 3 decades all over the world.
Billy Graham and his "crusades" was very big when I was a teenager.

There is of course a huge and politically powerful "renewal" movement among right-wing "catholics" too. A movement which would abhor both Fox and Spong, and which really has no tolerance for alternative interpretations of the Bible and its origins, or for any kind of real ecumenical dialog and understanding.
What is there to understand? The "catholic" magisterium is the only source of truth in the world!

But what about the Luminous Wisdom Teaching of the author of the essays I pointed you to?
He spent 35 years patiently considering quite literally everything, including the very important topic of Sacred Art.

Indeed His Divine Image Art IS His most important communication.

http://global.adidam.org/books/transcendental-realism.html
http://www.adidaupclose.org/Art_and_Photography/rebirth_of_sacred-art.html

He published over 60 books which described the Process that He engaged with His devotees. And the transformative Process (and its significance) that He was involved in too, which was signalled by the various names that he used during his life-time.

And yet He is completely ignored by every one, even by those who have some kind of sympathy with esoteric or "mystical" Spirituality.

"I find it hard to justify a set of beliefs on the basis of whether your family is happy or not. They could be happy for all the wrong reasons. Or what if they are not happy tomorrow? Does that mean you recant your atheism?"

If it ever became the case that theists were all well off, healthy and happy, and atheists were all poor, sick and miserable, then I expect my subconscious would be able to come up with convincing reasons for me to convert. But I don't expect it to happen any time soon.

I am an orthodox Catholic, and would find difficulty in agreeing with many of the ideas of Bishop Spong or Matthew Fox who deny so much that is essential to Christian belief. I appreciate that in the hallowed quarters of this debating forum I am unlikely to find many who would favourably agree with my understanding of what Jesus taught and who he was, but I ask your forbearance.

I accept Christ’s teachings of how we should love God, and that we should love our neighbour as ourselves; I do believe that Christ rose from the dead in the resurrection; that he established the institution through the apostles to carry on his teachings.

Unfortunately man being what he is, is a fallible creature, including popes, bishops, priests, and through all levels of society, from kings to paupers, as has been shown through the centuries. The Church as that institution, truly is made up of saints and sinners, it always has been and always will be. Right from the time of the Apostles with their human fragility in their difficulty in living as Christ called them to live, from the betrayal of Judas, the denial of Peter and the doubting of Thomas. It was from the Resurrection that they finally gained understanding of Christ and his message and the courage, to the point of martyrdom to go out preach it

Part 2
I do not disparage or disrespect people who genuinely hold other beliefs. I have amongst my friends believers who are other Christians, Buddhists, Moslem, agnostic and atheist. I believe that it is the spiritual nature of man to search for meaning and that this can be seen in the many religious and spiritual movements since man existed. I accept that an ethical ways of living between people can come from other spiritual and philosophical outlooks, indeed the socially applied nature of Christian teaching has drawn inspiration from such as the Greek philosophers. It was from this milieu that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights arose after one of history’s catastrophic conflicts. It certainly owes a lot to Judeo-Christian concepts of man but is also strongly influenced by other religious and philosophical human concepts of how man can live peacefully and fully in this world.

I do not see the alleged conflict that many who call themselves atheists allege exists between Christianity and Science. In fact my own background training was in Chemistry and the social sciences. I enjoy the sciences and for me the more man discovers about the universe and the complexity of the awesome glory of nature, the more I marvel at what I regard as the Intelligence who gave it being. For me I see the ‘finger prints’ of God. From the social sciences, although less precise, one can learn much about the nature of man and society and how it functions, which also can lead to deeper understanding of God and His creation.
Whether believers or non -believers, it would do all of us in the modern world to show a dose of humility. When arrogance reigns in human dealings we have a great tendency to lapse in to authoritarianism and worse still totalitarianism.

part 3
”. On the question of humility the lessons in the lives of truly great people, including the lives of Mother Teresa and a person I was very grateful to have as a friend, Father Joe Devlin of Boat People fame have taught me a lot. Humility (especially before God) and love can cure so many human social pains.

You cannot force people to become Christians (as has been done in the past, often with ethnic and political objectives) – a person must come to understand, believe and accept, and obviously this requires faith in the nature and the teachings of Christ. I might add that a belief in an intelligent and infinite God, from my perspective is more rational than a belief in an infinite matter giving rise to the life and intelligence out of chaos. Faith arises from the search for the meaning of what it is to be human, and that we have purpose over and above our material existence.

The skeptics, the ‘convinced and dogmatic’ atheist amongst you may drag all sorts of arguments against what I have stated as ‘my beliefs’, I just ask you to respect me and others like me, even where you disagree. In turn I will respect you and your right to your beliefs, and to that extent I value what is genuinely secular in our society, not as an ‘ism’ that can be authoritarian or totalitarian, but as a societal platform for society to live peacefully together. Certainly there will and should be debates as social values that arise from this cocktail of beliefs, but there must always be the search for truth.