Theology

(old)

As a practical Christian, I am not particularly excited about taking Intro to Theology this semester.  I am, however, happy to have started the first textbook and find that it intends to address the space between folks like Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and Bill Maher and that of the Religious Right.  

I have long been frustrated with secular extremists, despite agreeing with most of their criticisms of religion, because I find their tone and argument equally as extreme as the religious adherents they criticize.  I feel like secularists are prone to criticize religion for “starting” all of the world’s problems, violence, and war without acknowledging that science has created the means by which religious violence is carried out.  They are essentially arguing that “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people” without realizing it.  They also fail to recognize that the most powerful force against unrestrained scientific “advancement” of weapons technology and genetic engineering is religion.  

I’m excited to engage the space in between because it is where I find myself living most of the time, trying to convince people that science is not blameless and religion is not the root of all evil.  Not every church looks like that one you grew up in and many of them don’t require the dogmatism that many believe is inherent to religious bodies.

Maybe theology won’t be terrible.