Since about 1995 or thereabouts I have become an atheist after having grown up in a family of Christians. As a child, the two major books that I had access to were, the bible and a dictionary. From the time that I could read, I remember asking my mother questions about parts of the bible which I felt were contradictory to things that happened in the real world. For a long time I have thought that Christianity would have much more appeal if it forsook the idea that Jesus was the son of a God who in fact doesn't exist.

Recently I came across a long article by Valerie Tarico, https://valerietarico.com/2009/01/09/ancient-mythic-origins-of-the-christmas-story/
which should be required reading by anyone who has any doubts about Christianity and its origins.

It makes the New Testament in particular, read a bit like the Aboriginal stories of the dream time.

David

Speaking of heretical Christian-ism or Christian-ism as a power-and-control-seeking cult why not check out this reference

http://www.alternet.org/trump-bible-inauguration-edition

Some related books on the applied politics that created Trumpty Dumpty or the Tangerine Tyrant

Stench by David Brock
Opus by Gareth Gore
Fools On the Hill, and The Deconstructionists by Dana Millbank
When the Clock Broke - Con Men Conspiracies & How America Cracked

Wetiko psychotics all-the-way-down
http://www.awakeninthedream.com/undreaming-wetiko-introduction

Speaking of the benighted J D Vance why not check out these two references which describe the benighted company that he keeps.

Vance is of course closely associated with the deeply psychotic opus dei cult, the dark machinations of which are described in two of the books I referred to in my previous posting - Stench and Opus
Trumpty Dumpty gave an introductory rant at this gab-fest.

http://www.thenerdreich.com/unhumans-jd-vance-and-the-language-of-genocide
http://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2024/03/08/cpac-attendees-america-under-attack

Thanks Graham Young for the article. There's a lot to thin about. Maybe both Wokism and the Enlightenment and the Renaissance all came from Heretical Christianity, and both have/ are converged into Marxism

Hi David

Thanks for the link – an interesting perspective. I’m a practicing Anglican but have no significant disagreement with anything Tarico says. I don’t think the birth stories narratives are factual accounts of historical events. They are stories crafted to convey deeper messages about Jesus’ identity and place in the story of God’s relationship with humanity. I suspect that many of the public intellectuals that Graham cites who have adopted Christianity would share that view.

Within the churches there is a wide spectrum of views on how much of the bible is historically factual, and how much that matters. Fundamentalist literalists think the whole thing is historical fact: the world really was created in 7 days, and everything that biology, geology and astrophysics say about the origin of the universe and life on earth is wrong. Extreme liberals think that we cannot rely on the bible to provide any historically accurate information and that in any event the historicity of its stories is unimportant. I lean towards the liberal end of the spectrum, but not completely.

I think that people who think that authentic Christians must accept the bible as an accurate historical record mostly fall into two groups. Fundamentalist Christians insist that acceptance of the scientifically implausible bible stories is at the heart of faith – the “fact” that Jesus walked on water and raised the dead is proof of his supernatural credentials. Fundamentalist atheists gleefully seize on this as evidence of the credulity of believers and the absurdity of religion.

Both fundamentalisms are fairly recent ideologies that have their roots in post-enlightenment though that equates truth with fact and sees empiricism as the only legitimate path to reliable knowledge. Peter Sellick has written some interesting stuff on this for OLO, eg:

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=20167

I completely agree with the comment by the interviewer in your linked article:

“We need to be able to appreciate these stories as myths, rather than literal histories. When you understand where they come from, then you can understand their spiritual significance for the writers and for us.”

What a bunch of woo.
WTH is a "functional christian"? Either you believe in a magic superfreind in the sky and all the vile things it promises if you dont bow down to it or you dont. And since everything about the right wing is in direct opposition to ALL of jesus teachings it is obvious that conservatives have no belief other than control over others to satisfy their greed and selfishness and these days their perversions. As it has always been and always will be when any kind of religion is involved in anything.

WTF?

A three page opinion piece with "wokeism" but no indication of what "wokeism" is or what christian teaching have been corrupted by this said "wokeism".

It's all about the "vibe".

Oh, and the Magi.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary “woke” means – ‘…Aware, especially of social problems such as racism and injustice…’ Now the intellectual giants of the extreme right wing are trying to convince us that wokeism is really heretical Christianity. I’m constantly amazed at the knots these people tie themselves in attempting to justify their unjustifiable positions. I remember Sarah Palin (of the lunatic fringe Tea Party fame) once admitting that the Pope was too left wing for her.

Let’s take just a very fleeting glimpse at the horrific history of the Christian religion shall we. The Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, burning witches at the stake, selling indulgences, and the more recent treatment of unwed mothers, abuse of children by clergy, gay conversion therapy. A reign of terror, violence and guilt. The list goes on and on. Personally, give me awareness of social problems and injustice over that list of ‘Christian values’ any day.

But all is not lost. I am thrilled to read so many contributors here challenging the absurd notion that “wokeism is heretical Christianity”

Here is a bit more information if you are not already convinced about the authenticity of the Christian church.
https://www.pickle-publishing.com/papers/triple-crown-sixtus-v.htm

These were no more men of God than the man in the moon.
David

Thank you, Graham, for a thoughtful and challenging short essay that seems to me to be more about reimagining Christianity than seeing off cultural Marxism and the apparently fiercesome Woke, surely in this view the fifth horseman of the apolcalypse.

From the perspective of my now 80 years (yes, I know, I can't believe that either!) it would seem we share some parts of the journey you describe. For my sins (sic) I have long placed more faith in human collectivism - e.g., marxist theory; an animal quite distinct from the bureaucratic communism to which it gave birth - than in the biblical record of myths and antediluvian beliefs, the ancient aspic in which formal Abrahamic liturgies and beliefs are set.

It is possible to be an ethical member of the civitas without mystical beliefs. I hope that I have had some success in achieving that non-heretical balance. Epiphany is a wonderful thing. Happy New Year!