If you want further evidence of the hostility and condescension that very liberal Christians have toward Christian orthodoxy, you need only look to the latest comment posted in support of Gretta Vosper at her blog article: “The reason I’m an atheist … in case you missed it.” Here’s the comment, coming from a fellow named “Robert”:
Hi Gretta
Your situation reminds me of the line from Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and celebrate, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.” The irony is that when heresy-hunters persecute non-conformist Christians like you for not believing in literal heaven, they are falsely saying evil against you because of Jesus. The blessing of Jesus is for those with integrity.
Jesus goes on to say in Matthew 23 that religious leaders are hypocrites. Like whitewashed tombs they are outwardly beautiful, but inside they are decayed and impure. The idea of a supernatural interventionist God is obsolete, a decayed hypocritical belief that is incompatible with scientific knowledge. Church efforts to hold onto this primitive myth are doomed to fail because it is untrue. This throwback prevents Christianity from having any credibility among a wider modern audience, and actively supports unethical and unchristian behaviour, such as the persecution of you for the sake of the name of Christ.
I replied:
Robert, your comment nicely illustrates the utter contempt that folks like yourself have for orthodox Christianity. Gretta Vosper has actively been promoting atheism within the UCC for years, and now that the church has undertaken an inquiry you label them “heresy-hunters” and “hypocrites” and “white-washed tombs”. It’s clear that you just want orthodox Christians with their “primitive myth” to shut up.
Your modernistic condescension calls to mind Bultmann’s infamous words: “It is impossible to use electric light and the wireless and to avail ourselves of modern medical and surgical discoveries, and at the same time to believe in the New Testament world of demons and spirits.” It is true that Bultmann’s attitude was trendy back when electric lights and the wireless were a big deal. But it is now thoroughly outdated. Orthodox Christians are well represented in fields like academic analytic philosophy (where I am active) and natural science. To note an example of the latter, a colleague at my church, Aksel Hallin, is a physics professor at the U of A specializing in dark matter and as of last year, a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize. And yes, he’s also an evangelical Christian. And a couple years ago I had the privilege of meeting Francis Collins, one of the most influential scientists in the world and yes, another evangelical.
While your appeal to a secular force majeure may have impressed the Vienna Circle, today it merely illustrates your own dated irrelevance.
I don’t know if Robert is a member of the United Church of Canada, but I would expect that he is. Certainly his views are well represented within the denomination. And that is a good example of just how dated and increasingly irrelevant this church is. For further discussion see this 2012 Globe and Mail article on “The Collapse of the Liberal Church.”
