Christian Atheism

I "lost" my faith at roughly age thirteen. Later, I came to worry I had "thrown the baby out with the bathwater." I continued to feel alienated from religions but not from the idea of God. I love the idea ofgod, but I cannot "believe." I wish, in a way, I could believe but it is impossible. However, the subject of faith in a rational world has intrigued me all my life.

I found a fabulous working society of faith with no religion in Auroville, neat Pondicherry in India. I have had to build a place like it in my mind here. That part of me found information on Christian Atheism interesting (even though I could never be Christian). It is from a page in the BBC website archived in 2006.

NOTE: There is an image on the web on the subject of Christian Atheism that bears a subtitle: "Believing in God, but living as though he doesn't exist." That is NOT me. I am far, far more of this frame of mind: "Not believing in God, but living as if He does exist."  

On the essentials of non-realistic Christianity:

• Religion is about internal spiritual experiences, and that is all.
• There is no world other than the material world around us.
• There are no beings other than the living organisms on this planet or elsewhere in the universe.
• There is no objective being or thing called God that exists separately from the person believing in him.
• There is no 'ultimate reality' outside human minds either.
• We give our own lives meaning and purpose; there is nothing outside us that does it for us.
• God is a projection of the human mind.
• "God" is the way human beings put 'spiritual' ideals into a poetic form that they are able to use and work with.
• "God" is simply a word that stands for our highest ideals.

On Worship and Prayer:

If there is no God, it might seem pointless to go to church, or to pray. Christian Atheists would disagree. They see worship as a beneficial activity; group worship is good way for a community to:

• communicate with each other
• share ideals and ideas
• explore the meaning and purpose of their individual lives, and the life of their community

On the Benefits of Christian Atheism:

• Humanity is forced to take responsibility for everything.
• Human beings are seen as powerful and able to do things for themselves.
• Religion no longer has to try to explain many difficult issues that go with believing in supernatural things.
• Religion is no longer in opposition to scientific progress.

Read more here.