Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed and the Disillusioned

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Over these years, we’ve seen the Religious Right become more strident and powerful, creating alliances with white supremacists, climate change deniers, and more recently, anti-masker/anti-vaxxer insurrectionists. I didn’t know whether agreeing to speak under those conditions was an act of humility or folly on my part, but I did know that the term heretic was loaded. Historically, it empowers those who apply it and disempowers those to whom it is applied. In part one, McLaren lays out ten reasons for abandoning Christianity. Arguments include historic (and current) antisemitism; the church’s habit of crushing dissenters; a history of “Christian colonialism” including support of slavery, white supremacy and white Christian nationalism; toxic institutionalism; financial greed; white patriarchy, rigid theology; the inability of Christianity to transform lives; an anti-intellectual streak that rejects science and encourages poisonous politics; and an aging demographic that trends toward regressive views. Other arguments could be added, including traditional theistic theology which no longer rings true for a growing number of people in the twenty-first century. I would not be religious as an adult if I hadn't read Brian McLaren growing up. I often joke that he's a great gateway drug to progressive/emergent/adaptive Christianity, but that's a very flippant statement and his work is super important. His writing is very accessible and easy to understand. There is a way to say both yes and no to the question of staying Christian, McLaren says, by shifting the focus from whether we stay Christian to how we stay human. If Do I Stay Christian? is the question you’re asking—or if it’s a question that someone you love is asking—this is the book you’ve been waiting for.

Do I Stay Christian?” Book Review of Brian McLaren’s “ Do I Stay Christian?”

I loved what the author said about the false dichotomy of choosing between defiantly leaving, or compliantly staying. You can defiantly stay! I also appreciated that McLaren added that you can (and should) be gracious and kind while being defiant within your religious tradition. I loved how he said that some traditionalists think that doubters like me "won't" believe but the truth is we "can't" believe.Part I is divided into ten chapters providing ten reasons to say no. The chapter titles provide short descriptions of their contents. I've provided the ten chapter titles (i.e. ten reasons to say no) in the following spoiler. 1. Because Christianity Has Been Vicious to Its Mother (Anti-Semitism) Readers of McLaren’s other books will recognize here a vintage McLaren “new kind of Christian” fare. So it is for reasons of moral integrity that I must ask myself: might it be necessary to turn off the religious network that turned so viciously on its own mother, and that continues to put her under threat? Might a religion that could make me a worse father also make me a worse neighbor or citizen? Don’t I owe it to my neighbors, especially my Jewish neighbors, to seriously reconsider my involvement in a religion that has been so cruel to them for so long? In a world dominated by selfish patriarchal societies and cultures, it is essentially divine for devoted men to love and care for their wives and families. This truth applies to brothers regarding their sisters as well. And in the same way this old grandfather senses divine responsibility for his own daughter and her children. In a broader sense compassion and care for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC neighbors as modeled by the Christ of Divine LOVE in the one called Jesus of Nazareth. “Love God, love others.” I recently sat down with Brian McLaren to discuss what might be one of the most important questions each of us will need to ask ourselves at some point in the deconstruction journey. Do I stay Christian or walk away from this faith movement altogether?

Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters, the Dis… Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters, the Dis…

Part III strives to encourage readers, regardless of their answer to the question in the title of this book, to be better humans. The author defines this as being "the most just, kind, and humble version of ourselves that we possible can, day by day ... to lean with others into a new humanity, a new generation or new kind of humanity, open to every good resource that can help us, explicitly Christian or not." He then moves to vintage “new kind of Christian” Brian McLaren fare. “I have found the permission and freedom to be a new kind of Christian, a progressive Christian, a contemplative-activist Christian, a Christian humanist, or whatever you want to call me. I am learning to be content whatever I am called, as long as I remain passionately eager to embody a way of being human that is pro-justice, pro-kindness, and pro-humility. You have that permission too, if you would like it.” McLaren helps people who are rightly frustrated with the state of American Christianity understand that there are so many more possibilities... This book gives me a map for finding what lies beyond—a Christianity that's bigger, wiser, and more powerful than I dared to dream.” Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, author of The Universal ChristMore reasons could be added, including the reality that traditional theistic theology no longer rings true for a growing number of people. But the section is compelling as it is, and if readers finish it with the thought, “Case closed, I’m done with Christianity,” it would be difficult to fault them. As McLaren clearly spells out, there are many good reasons for giving up on the Christian faith and the institutional church. It’s not hard to see how this kind of vicious rhetoric, smoldering deep in the German Christian psyche, caught fire in the Nazi death camps, gas chambers, and mass graves four centuries later. The historical reality of Christian empire, like Christian anti-Semitism, is bathed in irony. Jesus was an oppressed brown Palestinian Jew, living in a Middle Eastern nation that was occupied by a European empire centered in Rome. Jesus challenged the empire of Rome by proclaiming an alternative empire, the empire of God. The similarity of the terms highlighted the radical contrasts between the two empires: We’ve seen repeated reports of sexual scandals and revelations of widespread sexual abuse and coverup that have eroded the moral authority of Christian leaders in the minds of everyone except many of those leaders themselves. And we’ve watched those same leaders further squander their dwindling reserves of moral authority as they lined up to support — or refused to denounce — big lies, wild conspiracy theories, authoritarian conmen, anti-science fantasies, and other expressions of moral and intellectual decay.

Do I Stay a Christian? ProgressiveChristianity.org : Do I Stay a Christian?

In fact, this is a big part of McLaren’s argument to Christians “on the fence” about whether to leave or stay: “how could we give up now?” So much has been accomplished; there is so much yet to do; and there is so much for those who are Christian to contribute to the becoming-better-human-beings enterprise.

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Brian also encourages us to stay Christian because of our love for Jesus and because all religions (like all humans) are imperfect. And while traditional theistic theology (“that old Big White Guy on a Throne in the Sky”) has to go, he believes Christianity can evolve into something far more beautiful. If we stay, we can participate in that evolutionary movement toward a more enlightened faith. Several other reasons to stay Christian are also included. And more could have been added, especially the deeply felt human need for the friendship, support, and belonging of Christian community. Frankly, I am among them. Some days, I think the “brand” of Christianity is unsalvageable, and I suspect that the religion’s ugliest, most dangerous days are ahead of us, so it’s best to get out now. Other days, I think things may finally be getting bad enough that more Christians will be ready to face and embrace the changes we need, so I should stay in the struggle as an insider.

ANNOUNCING: Do I Stay Christian? (May 2022) - Brian McLaren

However, he is not yet finished. Next he lays out ten reasons for remaining Christian. He argues that leaving Christianity hurts the people who are trying to transform it into something better, that they need our help rather than our abandonment. If we stay, he continues, we can fight for a better faith from the inside, providing critique and energy for reformation. Also, rather than going it alone, we need the help of a global network of like-minded people to make the world better. He notes that Christianity is still young, historically speaking, and needs more time to mature and improve. In Part 1, I answer the title’s question with a firm “No.” I survey the ten strongest reasons I’ve encountered to leave the faith. In Part 2, “Yes,” I explore ten reasons why some Christians are choosing to stay, even in light of the problems we faced in Part 1. Then in Part 3, I ask the question “How?”— whether we stay or go, how are we going to live? In Do I Stay Christian?, McLaren wrestles the scandalous theological questions and conscientiousness objections that keep so many of us awake at night—and he does so with the courage and grace that have become his trademark. If you're wondering whether it's time to shake off your sandals and walk away from Christianity, I beg you to read this book before making up your mind." I was born a decade after the Holocaust, at a time when fundamentalist Christians like Jerry Falwell, Sr., seemed to embrace Judaism as Christianity’s equal partner in creating the West in general and the United States in particular. Falwell constantly spoke of the “Judeo-Christian tradition.” (A rabbi friend of mine noted, with appropriate skepticism, “Judeo-Christian usually just means Christian.”) Falwell’s son carried on the pairing.11 Along with TV preacher John Hagee and many others, the Falwells became fervent supporters of the nation of Israel, offering further evidence, to some at least, of their anti-anti-Semitism. It’s clear, however, that their brand of Christian Zionism bears only superficial resemblance to Jewish Zionism. In the end, Christian Zionism reduces Jews to the status of pawns in the fulfillment of end-times prophecies that many Christian preachers love to speak and write about. It was healing to put myself in the context of a shared Christian history, even though that history is messy, and often times horrifying. I have been so caught up in Mormonism's complicated and often upsetting history, that it felt liberating to realize that a) Mormonism did not spring out of thin air; it is an offshoot of a long Christian tradition and b) Mormonism isn't the only religion with baggage and doubters who are desperately trying to find a way to stay.What lies ahead is speculative, but it involves change both institutionally and personally. Any change, however, will rest on the foundation that proceeds from an honest assessment of what is. And that assessment is the most valuable contribution by McClaren..." McLaren ends the book by calling for a radical redefinition of Christianity to match his humanist vision: “I could not stay a Christian if my only option was the old way, the old way of white Christianity, the old way of patriarchal Christianity, the old way of Theo-Capitalistic Chris­tianity, the old way of violent, exclusive, and authoritarian Christianity with its suppressed but real history of cruelty.” Lest his readers begin to lose hope at this point, he moves forward into a positive vision for Christian faith: Since I have included the chapter titles of Parts I and II, I have also included chapter titles for Part III in the following spoiler. However, I found these chapter titles less descriptive of their contents than was the case in the other parts. 21. Include and Transcend I would recommend this book for anyone doubting within their religious tradition. However, it lost a star for me because despite his promise that he wouldn't try to convince you either way, the last third is him trying to convince you to follow his brand of enlightened living (which you can do from within or without Christianity, so he did keep that promise). While his ideas for a way forward had merit, I thought he came on a little too strong, especially in a book where he promised to let you reach your own conclusions.