A prominent atheist author argues that America needs to embrace more Christian values to get back on track, but that the church is failing to represent Jesus. Jonathan Rausch, an avowed atheist and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, also writes in his new book: Differences in purpose: The failure of Christianity and democracy,among them He says the modern church is too worldly, too fearful and lacking in true faith.
Mr. Rauch summarized his arguments in the following interview. matter of opinionna New York Times podcast.
“what Really What we need to put our country on a better trajectory is not for Christianity to become more secular or freer, but for it to become more Christian and more authentically Christian. '' Rauch said.
Mr. Rausch argued that the “three fundamentals of Christianity” corresponded well with “Madison's liberalism.” He defined these three fundamentals as 1) imitating Jesus, 2) not being afraid, and 3) forgiving one another.
“These things are very similar to what you want in a constitutional republic,” he said. “Don't be afraid to lose all the time. Sometimes you have to let the other team win. You have to trust the system.” We must believe in traits like basic dignity. and equality and even the humanity of every person, people you object. And don't be so critical that you think if you lose the next election, it's all over, the bad people have won, and you have to somehow get them out of the country. And when I saw it, I thought, Okay, this is it. It's in the Bible. So why don't Christians do that? ”
Rauch said the nation's founding fathers believed Christianity was the foundation of a healthy nation.
“Christianity is the load-bearing wall of democracy, and our founders told us so,” he said. “While they did not explicitly state that it had to be Christian per se, our free and secular constitution… depended on virtues such as truthfulness, legality, and the equal dignity of all individuals. And they understood that they had to be realized.''The constitution is not something that comes from outside.'' and the source is that It was religion that they primarily relied on to teach them these things. to Build and transmit those values. And for most of our history, Christianity turned out to be very good at that. ”
But when a church becomes less Christian, he says, “people start looking elsewhere for their values.”
“They go to wokeness and QAnon and MAGA, and it turns out those aren't those values.” you can be used to support democracy,” he said. “And that's the situation we're increasingly stuck in.”
Too many Christians, he said, embrace one kind of “thin version of Christianity.”” or “Sharp Christianity.”
Diluted Christianity is “when Christianity becomes secular, becomes a consumer good, a commodity.””
”And the thing is, many of the benefits that faith brings to the soul and to the republic come from taking faith seriously, participating, engaging in community, giving of ourselves to others, rather than treating faith as just a consumer good. That means you can get it.” he said. “…when religion, especially Christianity, becomes diluted, people go elsewhere in search of their faith; for A sense of meaning in their lives. And they go to politics, and those are the sources of terrible values. They do not preserve the republic. They undermine it. ”
Sharp Christianity, says Rausch“Increasingly we find ourselves at war with the cultures around us.”
“This is a Christianity that is afraid that it is losing its dominant cultural role in American society, that the next election is the election that will end Christianity as we know it, and so The future is growing smaller, more paranoid, and more fearful of their Christianity.”” he said. “And as you do that, it can become more political.”
of The late Pastor Tim Kellersaid Rausch. This greatly influenced his views on Christianity. Rauch further said: ”The so-called Religious Right was onto something when they talked about family values. ”
”If Christians can work to rediscover and enhance our democracy and the elements of the Christian faith that underpin it, it will only do good, not harm, to the country and to the Christian witness. I think it brings. What we support teachings of christ,” Rausch said. “I can't see that any harm may occur; after that. etc. what I teeth He said to his Christian brethren: “Why not try Jesus?””
Photo provided by: ©YouTube/Reason TV
michael faust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His articles have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, Christian Post, Leaf Chronicle, Toronto Star, and Knoxville News Sentinel.
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