On Medium: Christendom’s Betrayal of Jesus's Counterculture
Read on to explore the Roman Empire’s grotesque co-optation of Jesus, which led to Christendom's neutralization and betrayal of the perennial countercultures.
Your evocation of Nixon dressed in dirty denim, a bandana wrapped around his aging face, smoking a joint sent the wine shooting from my nostrils! And yet, I have to admit it isn't half as egregious as Jesus Christ wrapped in nothing but an American flag brandishing an assault rifle. I think the difference is that hippy Nixon & black-face Bill are both, at least, funny, wheres Jesus 'The Man' just makes you want to puke. I'm an atheist, but that level of sacrilege still makes me see red.
That's what distinguishes the new atheists from the more philosophical ones: the latter are appalled by how Christianity fails to live up to religious standards. Christendom's co-optation of Jesus's counterculture is revolting from a spiritual/existential perspective (as well as being based on delusions). I have a few other articles on this theme that will be coming out within a couple of weeks.
Your description of hippies is better than mine. Hope you don't mind but I borrowed some of your description and placed it in the article towards the end.
The funny thing is I thought I was paraphrasing what you wrote. I guess even my short term memory likes to embellish things.
Yeah, the new atheists don't seem to relate to Jesus enough to be offended by the way he's portrayed by American Christians. My guess (and this is only a guess) is that most of them come from a secular upbringing & so they were never exposed to the gospels or church; whereas most old atheists, coming from older generations, probably had a religious upbringing & so are able to fully appreciate the dissonance.
Then again, old atheists tend to be more philosophical in their rejection of Christianity. Maybe this is because they felt they needed to justify their unbelief in a deeply religious society that equated atheism with antisocial behavior.
Hopefully you were able to see the comment I left on your previous post. I noticed that I hadn't actually clicked "publish" the first time I wrote it, which is a bit annoying.
Your evocation of Nixon dressed in dirty denim, a bandana wrapped around his aging face, smoking a joint sent the wine shooting from my nostrils! And yet, I have to admit it isn't half as egregious as Jesus Christ wrapped in nothing but an American flag brandishing an assault rifle. I think the difference is that hippy Nixon & black-face Bill are both, at least, funny, wheres Jesus 'The Man' just makes you want to puke. I'm an atheist, but that level of sacrilege still makes me see red.
ReplyDeleteThat's what distinguishes the new atheists from the more philosophical ones: the latter are appalled by how Christianity fails to live up to religious standards. Christendom's co-optation of Jesus's counterculture is revolting from a spiritual/existential perspective (as well as being based on delusions). I have a few other articles on this theme that will be coming out within a couple of weeks.
DeleteYour description of hippies is better than mine. Hope you don't mind but I borrowed some of your description and placed it in the article towards the end.
The funny thing is I thought I was paraphrasing what you wrote. I guess even my short term memory likes to embellish things.
DeleteYeah, the new atheists don't seem to relate to Jesus enough to be offended by the way he's portrayed by American Christians. My guess (and this is only a guess) is that most of them come from a secular upbringing & so they were never exposed to the gospels or church; whereas most old atheists, coming from older generations, probably had a religious upbringing & so are able to fully appreciate the dissonance.
Then again, old atheists tend to be more philosophical in their rejection of Christianity. Maybe this is because they felt they needed to justify their unbelief in a deeply religious society that equated atheism with antisocial behavior.
Hopefully you were able to see the comment I left on your previous post. I noticed that I hadn't actually clicked "publish" the first time I wrote it, which is a bit annoying.
ReplyDelete