I am reading a really interesting book right now called I Sold My Soul On eBay: Viewing Faith Through An Atheists Eyes by Hemant Mehta which is absolutely fascinating. No, I am not reading it for any class but because when I heard about it I absolutely wanted to read it and I am kind of needing something I want to do after the kind of week that I have had!
The premise is that an atheist put himself on eBay to have someone send him to church. A pastor was the one who bought him for quite a lot of money. The pastor was actually interested in the way an outsider would perceive church. Some of his research is on http://www.otmatheist.com/ although the book goes into a lot more detail. http://www.friendlyatheist.com/ is his main blog which is interesting too.
It is an absolutely fascinating read. I have always thought that doing good works and bringing justice to the world is on one hand what the gospel calls us to do but I do not think that you have to beleive the gospel to be a moral human being either. And some of the websites and the reading I am doing in this book really seems to bring that point to life for me. Not only that, I have felt like things dont always make sense or feel right to me as someone who just wants to understand what I am doing in church. And I think an outsider can bring that stuff to life.
And I do think that its probably important that I understand other ways of thinking about faith and spirituality that is not necessarily progressive christianity in the world that we live in today. While its nice that I am around progressive christians all the time, I do like how significant differences help me understand both more of the surrounding world and myself. Maybe for now its easiest to find this kind of stuff through books and the internet considering all of the demands on my time.
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I think it's great you are exposing yourself to other ways of looking at the world. I do not think one way of interpretting the world is sufficient to take in the human experience. We can learn from other people as they are part of God's creation as well. (though athiests would find that last comment offensive).
However, we are called to stand for what we believe in as well. That is what makes this world so interesting.
blessings,
Uncle Wayne
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