Discussion Forums

So, I was watching some trash on BBC3 about the last ten years and the top one hundred ‘moments’. Somewhere between 80-100 was the ‘God probably doesn’t exist - go enjoy yourself’ bus ad. The young lady who had started the campaign that got that poster on buses, and subsequently the backing of Dawkins and co, had previously seen an ad on a bus by a evangelical/pentacostal church and when she visited the site advertised it told her all non-Christians would burn in hell - my groans to my non-Christian wife were audible.

Is anyone else as frustrated as I that the message of the Christian right seems to be taken as what Christianity is? That their intolerent approach is drowning out the simple, loving, and all encompasing message, of Jesus. Is it time to ‘fight’ back?

I share your groans, and it happens all the time. The trouble is that the public sees only one view of Christianity and it is the “burn in hell” brigade with their certainties that win out in the noise stakes over the more thoughtful and open facets of Christianity. The trouble with us liberals is we are just too liberal, maybe? I spend an awful lot of time saying we are not all like “that” and trying to present another side. All I can say is that when the message gets through, it is appreciated (but it does earn me some interesting mail from my Christian “brothers and sisters”.

John, we have travelled the same road and are crossing the same bridge at the same time! Respect for difference and dialogue between all people, regardless of religious label, are critical for the survival of humankind. Religion is often accused of being the cause of war and terrorism, but it can and should be a means of solving the problems of the world. Dialogue is the way forward especially if it helps release us from being slaves to the religious dogma that divides. Genuine, listening dialogue should then encourages us to be bold enough to make religions serve all the people. This is where the Charter for Compassion has much to offer.