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It’s not "my personal brand of Christianity". It’s the Word of God.
Where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, from every single Christian who believes that they know the absolute truth. From the wikipedia article - apparently some Christian Atheists feel the same way.
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A person can call themselves anything that they want but that does not make them what they call themselves. In my view they are welcome to call themselves what ever they like. Likewise, I encourage people to discuss the ramification related to issues like these to help people better understand some of the future consequences.
Agreed about the first part. Future consequences are unknown and should be treated as such.
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I think that it is very interesting how some people resort to redefining words to change the way society views a particular subject. This is not a new approach but it is becoming more popular all the time. One draw back is that it generally takes a long time to enact and to become popular within culture. However, the World Wide Web is streamlining that process.
It's just using a word. The meaning might seem "changed" to you because you attach deep, personal feeling to your definition of the word.
I don't see how evolution of words is "popular" or "unpopular". It has never been any different. Language evolves. Christian Atheist is a new term and it separates them from other Christians. Just like there all those other words denoting denominations that separate Christians from each other. The groups think differently. That's why there are different terms.
I don't understand what the problem is. Nobody's going to confuse them with "the people who believe Jesus was God", because of the "atheist" part. And nobody's going to confuse them with regular atheists either. But everybody can have a pretty good idea of what their belief is all about just by reading the name, which wouldn't happen if they made up a completely new name.
I would argue with the assertion that “Nobody’s going to confuse them…”
Consider how confusing it is putting two completely opposite terms together to construct a label to assign to a group of people.
Look back through the ages and see how language, terms and the meaning of words have changed.
Maybe they could be identified as Religious Atheists.
To be a Christian (Christ follower) necessitates recognizing Jesus as the Son of God (God Incarnate). The simple fact that a persons’ views may coincide with those of Christianity does not identify them as Christian. Indeed, there are similarities across the spectrum of religion, cults and ism’s. This alone is not an defining factor.
I'm with Roloxan on this one. It is no coincidence that they chose to call themselves "Christian atheists" as they specifically follow the teachings of Jesus.
Moaning about the use of Christian in their title is petty IMO. What's interesting is that, whether, you agree that "Christian Atheist" is the right word to describe their views or whether we need another -ism to the list; from now on every time someone says "Hello, I'm a Christian Atheist" you'll already have a general idea of what they believe in.
I would argue with the assertion that “Nobody’s going to confuse them…”
Consider how confusing it is putting two completely opposite terms together to construct a label to assign to a group of people.
Look back through the ages and see how language, terms and the meaning of words have changed.
Maybe they could be identified as Religious Atheists.
That's not specific enough since they can easily be confused as those who follow Buhddist, Wiccan or other beliefs. They listen to Jesus teachings hence the "Christian" in "Christian Atheists".
Atheists who aren’t really Atheists because the identify themselves with religion.
Therefore they are: Agnostic or Religious Atheists.
If they are Religious Atheists they could more simply be identified as confused.
But that doesn't say which religion they like. Christian Atheism seems less vague. Christianity is the religion that they have chosen to emulate or whatever...
The interesting thing about these people is that they are not Universalist Atheists (as Religious Atheist implies), but ones who like to attach themselves to the idea of Jesus specifically.
It is no coincidence that they chose to call themselves "Christian atheists"…
You are correct; it is no coincidence that they choose the word Christian.
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Originally Posted by coosjoaquin
…as they specifically follow the teachings of Jesus.
Jesus commands His followers to be Baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, to go to all the nations teaching the people to observe His command. Would “Christian Atheists” follow this command?
Atheist. I'm a member of America's most despised and least trusted minority.
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I don’t believe the doctrine or belief systems of either one would consent to the other; which is what would be required to be considered a Christian Atheist. I know that it is not “politically correct” to say this but a person simply can’t be both. There goes my political career.
Case in point...
Politicains are required to feign belief in the christian creation myth and deity to have any chance at election in our society.
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