'Christian atheist' gets his time in the spotlight By John H. Adams The Layman Online Tuesday, March 14, 2006 If University of Texas Prof. Robert Jensen was looking for an Andy Warhol slice of fame with his disclosure that he had joined a Presbyterian Church despite his belief that there is no God, he got more than his 15-minutes' worth. Jensen, who describes himself as a Christian atheist, wrote a column titled "I am a Christian (sort of)" that was published on several Web sites. He responded to The Layman Online account of his joining St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Austin, Tex., by noting that the same column was posted on Alternet – and that it had generated hundreds of responses. He was right. Mostly anonymous Alternet readers cheered and booed him. A few of their comments: Is your real motivation to be controversial? Do you find uniqueness in the title of Christian atheist, an obvious contradiction? There is every opportunity to display and live by a decent code of behavior without the assistance of organized religion. I've been doing it for all of my life as have most of the atheists I've known. In fact, all the atheists I've known are head and shoulders above all the religious people I've been exposed to. Mr. Jensen will find there's absolutely nothing progressive about appearing to swallow a lie, and then having to justify his every political position by reference to an often morally wretched old book. One of the growing conflicts in American society is the one over the Christianization of our so far fairly non-religious state. If he thinks placing himself, an atheist, on the inside of one of the mainstream Christian churches is helpful to the tolerant churches, he should think again. So many are so afraid to be "out there" admitting that the whole religion thing is just so obviously bogus. You are right Christ was not a Christian. He was the beginning of Christianity and the Church with all its many denominations. But the stupidest thing I have ever heard is the claim to be a Christian atheist. You may appreciate the moral teachings of any faith but without the belief of the true core principal of a faith, i.e. that Christ was the son of God and that God is the true creator of everything, you may be as moral as you like, vow to follow all the teachings you like and that does not make you a Christian. What it does make you is either a very confused person or a moral coward without the personal integrity to practice your true belief without the legitimization of a church. A Christian believes that Christ was the Son of God before he or she can claim to be Christian. I can only hope that if you do attend your new church regularly, you will maybe get the message. Why choose a church that continues to be anti-gay? Why not go to a Unitarian Universalist church? Or find the Quakers? Or try a pagan coven? This is the goofiest thing I ever heard of. Considering the bloody and oppressive history of religion – especially the Christian religion – anyone who joins a church for the reasons you stated has to be an air-head. Apparently you can't exist without companionship. Try the Rotarians. Or get a dog. It's interesting to read the many criticisms of Robert Jenson coming from BOTH the traditional Christians and the non-religious atheists. I can personally relate to what he did though. Although I consider myself a humanist, I had very similar motivations for joining a progressive Unitarian Universalist congregation in our area several years ago. I think Robert Jenson's actions are part of a growing trend in our society, a response to what some people refer to as "a spiritual crisis" – a desire to become part of a supportive moral community based more on reason and compassion than on theological doctrine. You are not a Christian, no matter how you cut it. Your opening statement says as much. You affirm your lack of belief in God, then attest to swearing the opposite. A belief in God, and Christ, is required to be a Christian. Not a moral stance, and not a political one. You "joined" a church, to write an article, to wear a label, to use the congregation. This only makes you akin to Pat Robertson, or, anyone else who does such things, it does not make you a Christian. You rationalize your choice, trivialize the choices of others. I consider your move to be prudent but your advertising it to lack wisdom. You need to speak their language, quote their sayings, and live at least an outward show of what they preach. Become one of them and be the best at what they do and say. And then, slowly, and with great care begin to corrupt their young. Give to the few within their ranks, the ones who have doubts, the ones that have the ability to see beyond the rhetoric, and the sayings and "beliefs," a better and deeper meaning to their perplexity. Why are you wasting valuable time and energy on this nonsense? There are fewer real Christians in churches than diamonds in duck ponds and – if you really wanted a socio-politic religion, you should have joined the Methodists. The author has chosen to embrace the teachings (of Jesus) and culture (joining a church) of Christianity, without embracing the metaphysics (son of God and all). This is an unusual choice, but hardly unique. The James Dobsons of the world have chosen to embrace only metaphysics and culture, and ignore most of the teachings. I consider myself a Christian, a Buddhist, a Hindu, a pagan, and a myriad of other faiths. I do not find that to be hypocritical or wishy-washy. I do feel it is an expression of not only the multiplicity of explanations for the spiritual machinations of the universe, but also the commonality of all spiritual experience. There are many ways of looking at Spirit (God), who the heck are we to try to dumb down that eternal wisdom by stating that there is only one culturally specific way? All heresy in the church begins with a denial of the deity of Jesus Christ. Any church should welcome all who wish to come, but allowing non-believers to become members is crazy. The other great problem is that Jesus claimed to be not one way or a way, but the only way to a restored relationship with God, the primary purpose of the Church and Jesus' earthly ministry, death and resurrection. There is no allowance for mix and match religion. My partner, raised atheist, and I (former Christian, but agnostic for many years) went, on a whim, to our city's queer Christian church (MCC) for midnight mass this Christmas eve. We have gone back every Sunday night since. No, we didn't have a conversion experience, we weren't born again. But we find the church's message of social justice – its tireless work of feeding the hungry and clothing the poor, its genuine welcoming of all persons no matter where they come from or what they believe, its insistency that if we want to change our lives, we must change our practice i.e. commit social justice, care for and hold in regard the least among us – we weren't finding these messages put into action in such concentration any other place in our lives. It seems to me that Christianity is a category with defined attributes. It is not up to the author to decide whether or not he or she fits. The declared beliefs in the article are incompatible with the accepted definition of Christianity. (It should also be stated, again, that moral behavior is not an invention of Christ.) It doesn't matter what the name of the church is, joining (or going to) a church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going into McDonald's makes you a hamburger.

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