Ben Blogs

I struggle with the modern idea of autonomy. This idea of 'as long as your happy, I don't mind', and 'don't tell me what to do', and 'you should do what you want' seems to be an automatic sentence for many of us. Are we losing sight of the possibilty of bad decisions? Is choice so valued that we are willingly ignorant to unfortunte circumstances to our actions?

I am speaking as a church member, which some believe to be sapping the possibilty of people thinking for themselves. Yet, there is more than one Christian denomination, which came from people thinking differently, being moved by such thoughts and making big changes to their lives and beyond (Like Luther, Clavin, Wesley, et al)

Today, protecting property by force is applauded, the right to die trumps palative care, and Brits who break the law abroad, are commended for having 'a bit of fun'.

When recent debates are in action, the right to choose is the opponent to anything the other side brings: abortion; euthanasia; even the US health reform (if we ignore the unfounded claims of death panels - which don't exist in countries that have similar system -like mine infact!). The human right of autonomy trumps all other himan rights.

Now is the time to remember that choice is part - and not the only part - of what it is to live in a free society.

A supportive response to this blog by Philip Bell))

For the past couple of weeks, I have been using the bus from central Bristol home. I find this a reminiscence exercise, especially on the bus journeys I used to use sometimes twice daily.

What I am finding, though, is that the old buildings, mainly shops, are going, and some are not being replaced or taken over by anyone. What I am seeing is something that I regarded as always being there going.

Summer of 2005 carries on this theme. All of my school, all three schools, from ages 4 to 14, were tore down during that time. They are now empty wasteland or housing developments.

What am I hanging on to? Surely I'm not suppose to hang on to stuff like this? To live life to the full (John 10:10) I need to, because of God, become a new creation; because the old [ways have] gone, the new has come(2 Corinthians 5:17)! I need to not hang on to this stuff, and learn and grow from what I got from it all, and be defined by my future, not my past.

I have tried, for years, to be moved by the arguments from Atheist about the freedom and the openness of living without God. Unfortunately, I have yet to be moved by any writer or speaker on this subject.

My main point is that being anti-religion is all there is to Atheism seems to be. Just disliking a certain way to think and live is not the basis to a way of life. I heard Philosophy Bites (a podcast) which had A C Grayling talking about the subject of Atheism. Again, all I got from is ‘we don’t do that’; surely there’s more to it than that?

The attack on the history and current difficulties seem a little misguided; just pointing out what’s wrong is lame, showing what is better is far more positive and directive way of moving people to a new way of being human. The biggest attacks on the Christian faith have, actually, come from Christians, some even quite high up. If the main commentators on Christianity’s failures and reform come fro within - Rob Bell, Adrian Plass, Tom Wright, John Ortberg - then Atheism is failing.

The whole thing of putting down Christian leaders, of history and the present day, seems easy and, has to be said, emotion rather than evidence driven. The author Sam Harris is quoted in saying ‘If I could wave a magic wand and get rid of either rape or religion, I would not hesitate to get rid of religion‘. He has also said ‘there’s nothing more natural than rape.’ I know this is only one of a host of Atheism speakers, but the fact that others are willing to support such a statement is troubling. Surely the perceived view of repression of religion cannot be a greater evil to the physical, psychological, and emotional abuse that rape causes (for all parties). The view of we are brilliant beast, but fundamentally beasts, unable to hold back our urges seems confusing and unclear to me.

So, if you are an Atheist, or a former one, please tell me: what is the attraction of Atheism that does not include any reference to religion?