Some of my closest friends are Christians, and even though they may differ on certain theological issues or approach the issue of spirituality differently, the common denominator among them is a conservative Christian faith. By "conservative" I don't mean that they necessarily reject evolution (although at least one of my Christian friends does), and I don't mean that they all vote Republican (although a few of them do). By "conservative" I mean that they view the Bible as "God's Word," and see the stories therein as literal. By "literal" I mean they believe Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the world, the second person of the Trinity, the logos, the Son of God who became a human and actually died on a cross to pay for the sins of mankind, who rose from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father.
These are my Christian friends... and I've been trying to get several of them to write. Here's why:
I want my Christian friends to write (i.e., blog) because I was once one of them. When I started writing online, I was a Christian. I was also a minister and an online Christian apologist. Regular readers of this blog might know that I once created and maintained a rather large Christian apologetics website, and while I wasn't one of the heavy hitters, I had a fairly respectable following. Had I not started writing, I might not be where I am now. My early "blogging" (I didn't realize back then that this was the word for it) led to more interactions with atheists and other non-theists, which forced me to think critically about the arguments I used in my writings. I want my Christian friends to write because it will open up for them the same opportunities. And who knows where that might lead?
Life in the atheist contra theist section of the blogosphere consists of copious amounts of ideas and arguments to inspire critical thinking and genuine truth seeking. I want my Christian friends to be a part of this. They are intelligent, and have the ability to at least attempt rational thought. If they were to become part of this world, they could both contribute to the discussions and be motivated to think deeply about what other bloggers are talking about.
My Christian friends, being both intelligent and fairly articulate, could provide clarification and insight, so that atheists don't end up attacking straw men at the end of the day. They could possibly challenge our thinking as well, lest we become lax in our own intellectual responsibilities. Sometimes, even atheists have a few Buddhas to kill. And my friends are nice people. I wouldn't want them to start writing if I thought they were douchebags.
The goal is to encourage and promote intelligent dialogue and critical thinking in an environment of respect and empathy. And as always, I encourage everyone to play by the rules so we can have a real discussion.
Two of my Christian friends created blogs a while back, but aren't very active on them currently. I think they created the blogs just to shut me up for a little while. They should know, however, that I don't stay silent for long.
Dead-Logic.com
Why I Want My Christian Friends To Write
Why I Want My Christian Friends To Write
Posted by , Published at 5:00 AM and have
