Here’s an interesting new weave in America’s changing religious fabric: in addition to the “Spiritual But Not Religious” (the SBNR’s), we now have the “Religious But Not Theistic” (the RBNT’s, I guess). That’s right. At Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a growing congregation who call themselves the “Humanist Community” meets every Sunday, sings songs, listens to a message, and takes up a collection. They look remarkably like a church, and in fact are not averse to be called a church, but they do not worship God. Instead, they focus on the importance of building community.
The creator of this venture, Greg Epstein, is the humanist chaplain at Harvard. He insists to his fellow atheists that traditional religion has its good points. “We can learn from the positive while learning to get rid of the negative,” he says. As a community-builder, Epstein understands the power of a religious congregation for nurturing a communal ethic.
As it turns out, the Humanist Community at Harvard is not unique. A similar congregation exists in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, led by former evangelical pastor-turned-atheist Jerry DeWitt. It’s called “Community Mission Chapel.”
So whereas most “SBNR’s” have rejected institutional religion but still pray to God and seek authentic spirituality, the “RBNT’s” affirm many aspects of traditional religion but reject spirituality and belief in God.
Those of us who continue to worship God within a religious community cannot help but see how these two movements represent two halves of the same whole. The two great commandments, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself,” have been torn asunder.
Marcus Borg relates a frequent conversation he has with his students at Oregon State University. They tell him that, even though his lectures are interesting to them, they have trouble with his use of the word “God” because they don’t believe in God. Borg always responds the same way: “Tell me about the God you don’t believe in.” Invariably, he says, they describe a distant, judgmental God who only intervenes in response to certain prayers. “I then tell them I don’t believe in that God, either” (The Heart of Christianity, pp. 68-69). I chuckled when I read those
On the other hand, the SBNR’s are rejecting a distorted version of church, just as the RBNT’s have said no to a distorted image of God. When I ask young adults who have snubbed all institutional religion to tell me about church, they nearly always describe an oppressive institution that tells people what to believe, rejects science, condemns homosexuals, and claims that all non-Christians are going to hell. To paraphrase Borg, I don’t believe in that church, either. But when I tell them there are many church communities that welcome diversity and are not afraid of questions and doubts, they look incredulous. They simply don’t believe such churches exist.
Such is the current state of religion in America. A growing number of people are rejecting images of God that have become idols in our culture, but they haven’t yet discovered the God who is really with us. And an even greater number of people are dropping out of church because it’s too narrow and prudish, but haven’t yet discovered that there are many other ways of being church.
I don’t have any doubt that God will be around long enough to wait out this cultural transition and be discovered again. The fate of churches is less clear, though we must not forget Jesus’ promise that “the powers of hell shall not prevail against it.” I doubt Jesus was referring to any particular institution. He was speaking of “church” in its essence – the assembly of those called (the literal meaning of the New Testament word for church). Whether or not my particular congregation or any specific denomination survives, “church” will persist. The RBNT’s, I think, are proving that point. Even atheists are singing hymns and passing the plate.
Copyright 2013 by J. Mark Lawson
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