People with no religious affiliation have risen from 8% in 1990 to 21% in 2013.* Chances are you’re going to meet an atheist or someone who claims no religion sooner than you think.
If you visit the American Atheists, Inc Facebook page you’ll read, “Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is to skip church! I’m too old for fairy tales” a slogan that the American Atheists posted on billboards in five cities this last Christmas. I first learned about the billboards from this WSJ article on “Dueling Displays in Capitols” where the Satanic Temple group displayed a booth to counter a Nativity scene in the Florida Capital.
Fresh evidence of the culture war between people of faith and atheists tells me something. There’s combat going on, snarky, snide, insulting combat. And Christians do not have to respond in kind. We must respond, certainly, but we must hold to the primacy of Jesus and our apprenticeship to him without punching those who call our faith a pack of “fairy tales”.
When I hear cruelty and straw-manning from Christians, I start thinking We’re becoming more afraid than we are devoted to listening to Jesus’s ideas about truth setting us free. Our ‘bumperstickering’ of “Keep Christ in Christmas” while making perfect sense to us, looks to the atheists like we’re donning SWAT gear. They hear us saying “You don’t get any goodies of Christmas (i.e. joy, presents, family time, peace, love) if you don’t bow the knee to our Christ.”
Translation: You don’t get the goodies unless you kiss my God’s butt. I’m not exaggerating (watch Kiss Hanks’ Ass). And often, this is what our kids hear us saying as well.
There is a reason we’re losing the culture war. We no longer know how to talk with someone with whom we deeply disagree (about abortion, Jesus, politics, or the primacy of organic food). But we must keep talking, keep trying out our empathy muscles. That’s why I wrote Coffee Shop Conversations. That’s why I film the Emerald City conversations.
Join me for several cuttings from my most recent Emerald City with atheist, Vyckie D. Garrison. We disagreed to be sure (keep up the month of January to watch the entire debate), but we never lost our common ground.
Watch “The Man Behind the Curtain” here http://www.soulation.org/content/the-man-behind-the-curtain-good-news-without-tricks-2/
Meet Vyckie Garrison
I met the activist and atheist, Vyckie Garrison, first on twitter. Our Facebook and then face-to-face conversation confirmed my hopes. Vyckie cares about thinking, open-mindedness, and honesty. At first, these qualities led her to Christianity, but they couldn’t keep her. For more than 16 years, Vyckie was a prominent member of the Quiverful, a Christian fundamentalist group that bans birth-control (think Dugger family). But for the sake of her own mental and physical health and that of her children, she divorced her husband and left Christianity. Drawing from what she calls the “extremism” that fueled her fundamentalism she now works at No Longer Quivering (@NoQuivering) where she rescues women who are disenfranchised from Quiverfull living. At No LongerQuivering.com you’ll find her team faithfully writing against spiritual abuse.
On a personal note, the day of our interview recording, Vyckie wrote this on her Facebook wall (see pic at right). Hugely complimented, I was also a little daunted to talk with Vyckie. You see, for all her openness, Vyckie also says things like “Jesus is the Big Guy who exemplifies the abusive bully” and “The entire Bible is out of context and has no place in the 21st Century.” To hear these statements in context, check out her Easter presentation to the American Atheists, Inc. “Escape from Duggarville: How Playing the Good Christian Housewife Almost Killed Me“. 240,671 people liked her speech.
Here you can see us beginning to determine if we can trust one another even as we find common ground. The opening minutes are all about listening well and gaining trust. What common ground do you see us identifying?
If reading in email, view here. Watch my “The Man Behind the Curtain” talk for Biola in which I quoted Vyckie’s advice.
* According to surveys by Trinity College and the Public Religion Research Institute a nonprofit, non-partisan group.
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Next, I’ll ask for the reasons Vyckie left Christianity. If you’ve never heard an atheist explain why they left their faith, this is your chance. Stay tuned.
I’ll be teaching a creative eCourse at the end of January on how to have spiritual conversations without losing your friends. Find out more by clicking this image or go to soulation.org/spiritualtruth
In the comments, I’d like to particularly hear from those of you who relate to Vyckie’s (and my) background.
All respectful comments (from any faith or non-faith background) welcome.
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