Xarker Manifesto: Religion

On religion

1. Spirituality and religion are not synonymous.
2. Textual inerrancy is a losing proposition that inevitably leads believers into bitterness, isolation and jealous anger.
3. The modern concept of "conservative Christianity" as a political and cultural force is less about Christ than it is about defending cultural norms that have absolutely nothing to do with anything Jesus ever taught.
4. For (many) white political conservatives, the great lesson of the 1960s and 1970s was how to pervert the profound moral rhetoric of the Civil Rights Movement into an umbrella of victimization for their own cultural and religious pluralities.
5. If a church wants to ignore the disenfranchised, celebrate materialistic greed, play politics for the sake of gaining power, ban women from the clergy and condemn homosexuality, that's the church's business. On the other hand, what goes around, comes around. If a church wants the respect of others, it should start by respecting the rights of "the least of these my bretheren."
6. We need more separation between church and state, not less.
7. Xarkers do not believe any one way about religion, but in general accept the idea that "God is a target so big you can't miss it."

Editor's Note: The original Xarker Manifesto was published on this site on June 29, 2005. Subsequent changes and additions appear with a date attached.

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