Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Common Moral Ground?

Last night my local Emergent Cohort group met with local "Free Thinkers" group. I must admit, I wasn't sure what to expect...why would a group of "Proud Atheists" want to meet with any group brought together by theistic beliefs...much less a Judeo-Christian Creator?

I must say that it was interesting and for sure, it was very enlightening. The moral aspect was an area that left me thinking well after I left the meeting. Here are my thoughts about "morals" that have proven to be the most problematic for me...in no certain order.

Atheist have morals. For example, they don't cheat on their spouses at a higher rate than christians. They actually have a lower divorce rate. The female atheist are 3% LESS likely to be sexual addicts or addicted to pornography.
It isn't surprising that atheists have morals. What is disappointing though is the fact that christians too often "build their case" on moral values. We wonder why people don't want to be christians when we think we have such a good moral case. The fact is, we have not proven some moral highroad. If anything we have proven the opposite as most people outside of our faith find us to be rude, closed minded and arrogant...it matters not to me if this is reality or not because the perception of others is important and is reality for them.
I am still thinking about this all and will write more later but it seems to me that the most compelling reason for someone to consider the christian faith is to see or better yet, experience a truly transformed life rather than being taught about a moral code that hasn't proven to be superior to the one they already have.

I can't wait to digest this more.

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