A christian website that says sorry?

No 'true' scotsman fallacy aside, its actually interesting to read.

http://www.christians...

Under the 'Your say' part I offered my own response below.

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I drove home yesterday considering this website I just recently discovered. Periodically pausing to flip through a song on a Johnny Cash CD to get to a favorite before sitting back and form proper responses in my mind. Any number of responses are open to me both cynical and positive; should a offer to brutally lambaste everything I feel is wrong, should I appeal for a happy balance, or should I go straight to the meat of the percieved conflict.

Finding all of this terribly depressing I switch to,"Get Rythmn".

Trying to ignore the possible slight racial implications of what I'm listening too, it does encourage me to conclude upon identity. You see, a year ago next month ( may ), someone dear to me was murdered. I went to give my respects soon afterwards. A non-christian and a non-christian ceremony in a very non-christian environment. The identity of who or what group I was with was irrelevant to the loved one that was no longer there. They ( his family ) treated me no differently then I would have treated them. Infact, they had little care in the world beyond their loss.

Unfortunately, someone did care for my identity. This is the part where the dramatic music ( duh duh duuuuh! ) plays and I identify the cad as a christian evangelical. I was new to this group, maybe even a curiousity because of what I'm am and what I am not in any sense. He represented possibly the only christian there at the time and he was the only one that cared to assign identity to 'What I am' before wanting to know 'Who I am'. I often like to think of it as a predator and prey scenario, stalked into a quiet corner outside the hub bub of individuals paying their respect - the predator strikes!

'What are you?'

The question deserves contempt, even if I know the context of the question as it pertains to belief. The question itself is already laying the lines of divisiveness inherent in a system of belief that offers to define the ingroup from the outgroup.

Alittle melancholy, deciding to flip through to "The Wanderer" ( I believe written by U2 and Johnny Cash ).

I'm sure my lip curls visibly as I briefly considering scratching out his eye balls. The inner voice chuckles at my own scathing mental response, before deciding to play the game.

Me: 'I am a secular humanist.' ( the brief desire to identify myself as simply,"a human" comes and goes )

Him: 'So you're an atheist?'

Me: 'Sure, in the scheme of things I can be identified as an atheist. However, atheism only tells you one aspect about me and only an aspect that I lack. Secular humanism details far more about my ethical background and personal beliefs.'

The reason I call it a game, is because that is essentially what it becomes beyond this point. The individual in question has a series of set definitions he uses to associate with the 'Out Group' ( 'Out Group' meaning non-christians ). I also carry a set series of definitions for all the terms involved. Trying to offer a more detailed explanation as to what atheism means in comparison to what secular humanism means was my attempt to offer my definition of those terms.

Him: You know, you cannot have all the knowledge in the universe so you cannot be an atheist?

The game is on! First serve? Ad-hoc christian apologetic response! I'm sure my eye bulging response and spurt of laughter doesn't come across very well. I'm not in the mood for this sort of nonsense, especially in the situation I find myself in. I off handedly explain the typical response to such a ridiculous and self damaging claim. I remark on the particular apologetic he begans to quote in detail. I know virtually everything he's going to state word for word.

Someone steps outside quietly beckoning me back in, the jews come to save the day! I'd like to think other people have an interior monologue with themselves, but at the time mine was cackling at the irony of the exchange and the resulting jewish savior.

Now, this incident isn't really there to illustrate what a 'big bad christian' did to me one day'. It isn't meant to demonstrate, although it does in a way, the hypocracy of christians because that in itself would be a generalization. It also isn't meant to relate an experience that,'Christians caused harmed so I cannot believe in god!'

What this is supposed to do is teach. To offer a story where identity of,"What are you" is put forth in such a limited spectrum that anyone that doesn't comply with X is therefore excluded. The real issue isn't what the bible teaches, but how it teaches it. Meaning, no amount of,"Thats not a true christian." "That wasn't what jesus taught." will patch, fix, mend, heal, or eradicate the division that is already there. That division is a necessary requirement in the belief your trying to put forth. The christian above is as much a believer in christ as you might be, objectively speaking his rationale for his actions are no different from the method for which you choose yours. Atleast, nothing is provided to draw a different conclusion other then both of you concluding on the same rationale,"The bible says X" - "Jesus says X".

This is not offered to dismiss you or to be cynical in my own response. This website and general response is much appreciated, but I can do nothing but wince everytime someone says,"I'm sorry someone twisted jesus's message." or "I'm sorry we've assigned labels" because in primarily in the perception of the 'outgroup' labeling, divisiveness, negative ingroup/outgroup mentality, are just "Par for the course".

The only thing I can offer would be to say to keep up the good work on this site, but I would also state you MUST become more active politically and publically vocal about opposing fundamentalist christianity. Historically speaking, social change within religion has always began from the minority left and progressed through belief until it becomes 'part of belief.' ( Slavery in america would be a good example ) If the minority left is only interested in telling non-christians that the other christians arn't really christians, then you'll go no where.