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I watched the debate last night and the last question was a real doozy. The audience member asked each candidate to tell the audience something about the other candidate that they admired. It was a great question that forced them to put down the pitchforks and end on a respectful note.
In the spirit of that exchange, I thought I would try the same thing here. So atheists, name a Christian you admire and why. And Christians, name an atheist that you admire and why. We are so divisive, let's see if we can say something nice about each other. I'll go first.
One atheist that I admire is Carl Barks. Barks was a comic book artist and painter, mostly known for creating the character of Scrooge McDuck and Donald Duck stories. These comics delighted me as a boy with stories of great adventures often on some archaeological quest for treasure. I loved all his characters like Gyro Gearloose and those rotten Beagle Boys. His art style was truly unique and one of a kind. I would love to revisit all those old stories, but it would cost a small fortune to buy those comics on Ebay. They are timeless classics. Thankfully, they started a reprint collection a few years ago, but the releases have been extremely slow. Interesting trivia bit, Lucas and Spielberg drew inspiration for Indiana Jones from those Bark stories.
Carl Barks is one of the respected comic book artists and deservedly so.
I admire my late wife's Aunt and Uncle who are devout Christians. They are active in all sorts of good works in their community, some supported / endorsed by their church, some on their own initiative. The uncle organizes local men to build ramps for the handicapped for example, providing them free of charge, and looks in on various widow(er)s in the community and sees to their home maintenance needs, also at no charge. He rebuilds lawn and garden equipment for people. They often are approached for advice by young people in the community, and the uncle / aunt mentor them generously. They take care of my late wife's mother and stepfather, and made it possible for them to live independently much longer than would have otherwise been the case. And they're actually a bit older than the parents.
Living as they do in an economically depressed area with a shortage of jobs, they do a lot to ease the want and suffering of their fellow citizens. Declining health has sidelined a lot of their activities lately but they are an example of good citizenship, compassion and kindness.
It's an open question of course how much this is because of their faith; I've always seen them as good people in their own right who deserve credit for their virtuous actions toward others, and they never cite their faith as a reason or motivation for what they do. They simply care for those around them and do what they can to help.
I watched the debate last night and the last question was a real doozy. The audience member asked each candidate to tell the audience something about the other candidate that they admired. It was a great question that forced them to put down the pitchforks and end on a respectful note.
Trying not to hijack the thread... I didn't watch the debate, but I'm curious as to what their answers were.
I'm still thinking about how to answer the question you posed.
You may be seeing walls were others don't but I'll answer. The humanist worldview puts labels behind the person not in front of them. Christian would be a small detail in my world.
Private Christians I admire are my hubby's parents and my youngest brother's wife. My in laws because they are the most balanced people I know and they taught my what healthy boundaries and family look like. From what I understand they had some pretty traumatic childhoods (my MIL lost both parents to a car crash at a young age & FIL quit school around 12 to help support family) I honestly was raised to believe it was my job to be responsible for my parents emotional well being. I finally figured out it is the parents job to worry about the kids not the other way around. My youngest brother's wife has parents that are probably Christian narcissists. Maybe because of this she is one of the most compassionate and forgiving people I have ever met.
Public Christian would be Jimmy Carter. In 2009 he broke with the Southern Baptist church over women's rights. People just seem to go along with abuse rationalizing it and even calling it love. He wasn't buying it. That is bad ass IMO to go against a church when they are doing things you just can't agree with. For me it was the equivalent of taking on God himself. He takes an active role in making the world a better place instead of trying to pretend that all people need is to be converted to doctrine and then God will save them. He improves the lives of people now. Did you know about the Guinea worm? It is a horribly painful affliction that used to affect millions of people.
Former President Jimmy Carter may be on the brink of celebrating the birthday wish he made last year: the global eradication of Guinea worm disease. This year, there are only two confirmed cases, compared to 3.5 million a year in the 1980s. It's a medical milestone that took a nearly 30-year effort by the Carter Center and its partners.
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