Where are the Christian skeptics?

[DrZoidberg]

My girlfriend is Christian. We get a lot of laughs from sending skeptic memes to eachother. She's part of a bunch of atheist and skeptic groups on Facebook. She's an engineer. She's very scientifically minded. A skeptic. She's very smart. She has a belief in belief. She'd never claim to have faith in that God exists. Because she knows the limits of human knowledge. She also thinks the Bible was written by humans. She thinks it was devinely inspired in the same way humans get inspired by anything. All she knows is that when she prays and goes to church it makes her happier, and helps her cope with life's difficulties. Belief in God works for her. And that's why she's a Christian.

Which I think is a very sensible way of being Christian. But she can't be unique.

Where are the skeptic groups on Facebook for people like her? Where are the skeptic groups of scientifically minded sensible Christians? I find nothing out there. Just looking at the numbers of Christians in USA, shouldn't Christian Skeptic groups be more common than Atheist skeptic groups? There's more of them.

I refuse to believe that all Christians are stupid. Any theories that can explain where the Skepic Christians are hiding?

 

[skepticalbip]

I think maybe the problem here is in what the word Christian means to your girlfriend as opposed to Christians in the U.S. From your description, those who think like your girlfriend in the U.S. would not call themselves Christian but would maybe claim to be 'spiritual'. In the U.S. Christian means acceptance of the divinity of Jesus.

As far as prayer "makes her happier, and helps her cope with life's difficulties", I have no doubt that this is so. Prayer is a form of meditation. Meditation, even meditation not associated with religion, does indeed calm and clear the mind and is quite beneficial mentally and physically.

 

[DrZoidberg]

I think maybe the problem here is in what the word Christian means to your girlfriend as opposed to Christians in the U.S. From your description, those who think like your girlfriend in the U.S. would not call themselves Christian but would maybe claim to be 'spiritual'. In the U.S. Christian means acceptance of the divinity of Jesus.

As far as prayer "makes her happier, and helps her cope with life's difficulties", I have no doubt that this is so. Prayer is a form of meditation. Meditation, even meditation not associated with religion, does indeed calm and clear the mind and is quite beneficial mentally and physically.

I think her form of Christianity is pretty standard in Scandinavia. In Sweden most people identify as atheist, while in Denmark (she's Danish) most people identify as Christian. But this is the kind of Christianity they mean. Her type of Christianity. Exceedingly liberal.

Don't get me wrong. Scandinavians are about as into magical thinking and woo as anybody. Our atheism and skepticism doesn't seem to make us more sensible than other people. It's just that our form of woo isn't typically Christian. So I'm not saying that all Christian Scandinavians are scientifically litterate. Only that Christians like she is.

 

[Tharmas]

Check out Unitarian Universalists or Quakers for nominally Christian religions that don't necessarily believe in the divinity of Jesus and who welcome atheists and skeptics. Admittedly they don't comprise a large percentage of the churches in the U.S.

 

[Politesse]

My girlfriend is Christian. We get a lot of laughs from sending skeptic memes to eachother. She's part of a bunch of atheist and skeptic groups on Facebook. She's an engineer. She's very scientifically minded. A skeptic. She's very smart. She has a belief in belief. She'd never claim to have faith in that God exists. Because she knows the limits of human knowledge. She also thinks the Bible was written by humans. She thinks it was devinely inspired in the same way humans get inspired by anything. All she knows is that when she prays and goes to church it makes her happier, and helps her cope with life's difficulties. Belief in God works for her. And that's why she's a Christian.

Which I think is a very sensible way of being Christian. But she can't be unique.

Where are the skeptic groups on Facebook for people like her? Where are the skeptic groups of scientifically minded sensible Christians? I find nothing out there. Just looking at the numbers of Christians in USA, shouldn't Christian Skeptic groups be more common than Atheist skeptic groups? There's more of them.

I refuse to believe that all Christians are stupid. Any theories that can explain where the Skepic Christians are hiding?

We're not hiding, just not as big on proselytization, which leads to much smaller congregations and less of a public voice for the same reason that the Walmart on the edge of town is easier to spot than the Mom and Pop shop downtown. Conservative churches get enormous because their brand of bullshit sells. Turnover is also enormous and their faith is shallow as hell (can you really claim to "believe" something you've never bothered to question?), but they bring millions to the thousands party. A genuine path to enlightenment has never had mass appeal, not in any faith tradition. The bullshit version, which gives little but also asks little, will always be more popular. As Jesus himself put it, "small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to Life, and only a few shall find it".

Skepticalbip doesn't know what he's talking about, by the way, there are plenty of people akin to your girlfriend in the US, and plenty of those would consider themselves Christian. I doubt the Democratic political party would even exist if that weren't so, there aren't enough atheists in this country to meaningfully promote a pro-science, anti-authoritarian agenda without any assistance from the faithful.

 

[ronburgundy]

My girlfriend is Christian. We get a lot of laughs from sending skeptic memes to eachother. She's part of a bunch of atheist and skeptic groups on Facebook. She's an engineer. She's very scientifically minded. A skeptic. She's very smart. She has a belief in belief. She'd never claim to have faith in that God exists. Because she knows the limits of human knowledge. She also thinks the Bible was written by humans. She thinks it was devinely inspired in the same way humans get inspired by anything. All she knows is that when she prays and goes to church it makes her happier, and helps her cope with life's difficulties. Belief in God works for her. And that's why she's a Christian.

Which I think is a very sensible way of being Christian. But she can't be unique.

Where are the skeptic groups on Facebook for people like her? Where are the skeptic groups of scientifically minded sensible Christians? I find nothing out there. Just looking at the numbers of Christians in USA, shouldn't Christian Skeptic groups be more common than Atheist skeptic groups? There's more of them.

I refuse to believe that all Christians are stupid. Any theories that can explain where the Skeptic Christians are hiding?

Interesting. So, if she doesn't have faith that God exists, and (assuming she actually is a rational skeptic) doesn't think God's existence can be based upon evidence-based thinking, then I'd argue she doesn't actually believe in God but rather enjoys the act of pretending she believes in God, which maybe is what you mean by "believes in belief". Belief psychologically requires some basis, and the two general categories of basis are faith (aka wishful thinking or emotional preference) and some form of evidence based thinking (even when it's execution is flawed with honest error). IOW, I'd argue that she doesn't actually believe in God in the sense that a person believes in gravity and thus doesn't violate it whenever it really matters. It sounds like she says "I believe in God", but never actually makes decisions that presume that it's true, when those decisions might harm herself of loved one's.

And if she doesn't believe in God is objectively real, then to say she's "Christian" is a bit like saying that a parrot is Christian if it's taught to say "I am a Christian." I don't intend to demean her by implying she's a parrot. It's an analogy highlighting the actual states of mind and not just words that define being a "Christian" or "theist" in any meaningful psychological sense.

Is she also in Sweden? That would make more sense. In a culture were so few people are sincere Christians and it rarely enters into substantive social and political issues and policies, then being a "Christian" is like harmless cosplay and a kind of hobby like making sourdough. In a country like the US, it's a whole different ball of maggot infested wax, where rational ethical people don't want to give cover and a veneer of legitimacy to sincere believers who have real and almost always harmful influence on ethics and political policy.

 

[Politesse]

My girlfriend is Christian. We get a lot of laughs from sending skeptic memes to eachother. She's part of a bunch of atheist and skeptic groups on Facebook. She's an engineer. She's very scientifically minded. A skeptic. She's very smart. She has a belief in belief. She'd never claim to have faith in that God exists. Because she knows the limits of human knowledge. She also thinks the Bible was written by humans. She thinks it was devinely inspired in the same way humans get inspired by anything. All she knows is that when she prays and goes to church it makes her happier, and helps her cope with life's difficulties. Belief in God works for her. And that's why she's a Christian.

Which I think is a very sensible way of being Christian. But she can't be unique.

Where are the skeptic groups on Facebook for people like her? Where are the skeptic groups of scientifically minded sensible Christians? I find nothing out there. Just looking at the numbers of Christians in USA, shouldn't Christian Skeptic groups be more common than Atheist skeptic groups? There's more of them.

I refuse to believe that all Christians are stupid. Any theories that can explain where the Skeptic Christians are hiding?

Interesting. So, if she doesn't have faith that God exists, and (assuming she actually is a rational skeptic) doesn't think God's existence can be based upon evidence-based thinking, then I'd argue she doesn't actually believe in God but rather enjoys the act of pretending she believes in God, which maybe is what you mean by "believes in belief". Belief psychologically requires some basis, and the two general categories of basis are faith (aka wishful thinking or emotional preference) and some form of evidence based thinking (even when it's execution is flawed with honest error). IOW, I'd argue that she doesn't actually believe in God in the sense that a person believes in gravity and thus doesn't violate it whenever it really matters. It sounds like she says "I believe in God", but never actually makes decisions that presume that it's true, when those decisions might harm herself of loved one's.

And if she doesn't believe in God is objectively real, then to say she's "Christian" is a bit like saying that a parrot is Christian if it's taught to say "I am a Christian." I don't intend to demean her by implying she's a parrot. It's an analogy highlighting the actual states of mind and not just words that define being a "Christian" or "theist" in any meaningful psychological sense.

Is she also in Sweden? That would make more sense. In a culture were so few people are sincere Christians and it rarely enters into substantive social and political issues and policies, then being a "Christian" is like harmless cosplay and a kind of hobby like making sourdough. In a country like the US, it's a whole different ball of maggot infested wax, where rational ethical people don't want to give cover and a veneer of legitimacy to sincere believers who have real and almost always harmful influence on ethics and political policy.

And confusion from people like Ron here is a commonplace experience, I will say!

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

My girlfriend is Christian. We get a lot of laughs from sending skeptic memes to eachother. She's part of a bunch of atheist and skeptic groups on Facebook. She's an engineer. She's very scientifically minded. A skeptic. She's very smart. She has a belief in belief. She'd never claim to have faith in that God exists. Because she knows the limits of human knowledge. She also thinks the Bible was written by humans. She thinks it was devinely inspired in the same way humans get inspired by anything. All she knows is that when she prays and goes to church it makes her happier, and helps her cope with life's difficulties. Belief in God works for her. And that's why she's a Christian.

Which I think is a very sensible way of being Christian. But she can't be unique.

Where are the skeptic groups on Facebook for people like her? Where are the skeptic groups of scientifically minded sensible Christians? I find nothing out there. Just looking at the numbers of Christians in USA, shouldn't Christian Skeptic groups be more common than Atheist skeptic groups? There's more of them.

I refuse to believe that all Christians are stupid. Any theories that can explain where the Skepic Christians are hiding?

This seems to be what is referred to as spiritual but not religious, which can be sort of a grab bag with a wide range of belief. There is a forum I know of that might fit your requirement called Roll To Disbelieve. Possibly. It is a bit weird in some ways. Lots of subject about watching toxic Christians but suffering a great deal of topic drift. Lots of cat pictures. It is rather laid back and fairly non-judgmental.

 

[DrZoidberg]

My girlfriend is Christian. We get a lot of laughs from sending skeptic memes to eachother. She's part of a bunch of atheist and skeptic groups on Facebook. She's an engineer. She's very scientifically minded. A skeptic. She's very smart. She has a belief in belief. She'd never claim to have faith in that God exists. Because she knows the limits of human knowledge. She also thinks the Bible was written by humans. She thinks it was devinely inspired in the same way humans get inspired by anything. All she knows is that when she prays and goes to church it makes her happier, and helps her cope with life's difficulties. Belief in God works for her. And that's why she's a Christian.

Which I think is a very sensible way of being Christian. But she can't be unique.

Where are the skeptic groups on Facebook for people like her? Where are the skeptic groups of scientifically minded sensible Christians? I find nothing out there. Just looking at the numbers of Christians in USA, shouldn't Christian Skeptic groups be more common than Atheist skeptic groups? There's more of them.

I refuse to believe that all Christians are stupid. Any theories that can explain where the Skepic Christians are hiding?

We're not hiding, just not as big on proselytization, which leads to much smaller congregations and less of a public voice for the same reason that the Walmart on the edge of town is easier to spot than the Mom and Pop shop downtown. Conservative churches get enormous because their brand of bullshit sells. Turnover is also enormous and their faith is shallow as hell (can you really claim to "believe" something you've never bothered to question?), but they bring millions to the thousands party. A genuine path to enlightenment has never had mass appeal, not in any faith tradition. The bullshit version, which gives little but also asks little, will always be more popular. As Jesus himself put it, "small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to Life, and only a few shall find it".

Skepticalbip doesn't know what he's talking about, by the way, there are plenty of people akin to your girlfriend in the US, and plenty of those would consider themselves Christian. I doubt the Democratic political party would even exist if that weren't so, there aren't enough atheists in this country to meaningfully promote a pro-science, anti-authoritarian agenda without any assistance from the faithful.

Hmm... It's not proselytization. These groups are built around funny memes making fun of pseudo scientific fluffheads. It's just humour groups. Me and my girlfriend laugh at the same things. The humour is the same.

Skeptics aren't proselytizing. They're at best just being dicks making fun of stupid people. To convert other people to something you need to be for something. Skeptics aren't for anything. They're only against something. Just like skeptical Christians are against religious stupidity and pseudoscience.

Unless Christian skeptics have no sense of humour (which my gf proves they do have) I can't see how your comment explains why those groups don't exist?

 

[DrZoidberg]

My girlfriend is Christian. We get a lot of laughs from sending skeptic memes to eachother. She's part of a bunch of atheist and skeptic groups on Facebook. She's an engineer. She's very scientifically minded. A skeptic. She's very smart. She has a belief in belief. She'd never claim to have faith in that God exists. Because she knows the limits of human knowledge. She also thinks the Bible was written by humans. She thinks it was devinely inspired in the same way humans get inspired by anything. All she knows is that when she prays and goes to church it makes her happier, and helps her cope with life's difficulties. Belief in God works for her. And that's why she's a Christian.

Which I think is a very sensible way of being Christian. But she can't be unique.

Where are the skeptic groups on Facebook for people like her? Where are the skeptic groups of scientifically minded sensible Christians? I find nothing out there. Just looking at the numbers of Christians in USA, shouldn't Christian Skeptic groups be more common than Atheist skeptic groups? There's more of them.

I refuse to believe that all Christians are stupid. Any theories that can explain where the Skeptic Christians are hiding?

Interesting. So, if she doesn't have faith that God exists, and (assuming she actually is a rational skeptic) doesn't think God's existence can be based upon evidence-based thinking, then I'd argue she doesn't actually believe in God but rather enjoys the act of pretending she believes in God, which maybe is what you mean by "believes in belief". Belief psychologically requires some basis, and the two general categories of basis are faith (aka wishful thinking or emotional preference) and some form of evidence based thinking (even when it's execution is flawed with honest error). IOW, I'd argue that she doesn't actually believe in God in the sense that a person believes in gravity and thus doesn't violate it whenever it really matters. It sounds like she says "I believe in God", but never actually makes decisions that presume that it's true, when those decisions might harm herself of loved one's.

And if she doesn't believe in God is objectively real, then to say she's "Christian" is a bit like saying that a parrot is Christian if it's taught to say "I am a Christian." I don't intend to demean her by implying she's a parrot. It's an analogy highlighting the actual states of mind and not just words that define being a "Christian" or "theist" in any meaningful psychological sense.

Is she also in Sweden? That would make more sense. In a culture were so few people are sincere Christians and it rarely enters into substantive social and political issues and policies, then being a "Christian" is like harmless cosplay and a kind of hobby like making sourdough. In a country like the US, it's a whole different ball of maggot infested wax, where rational ethical people don't want to give cover and a veneer of legitimacy to sincere believers who have real and almost always harmful influence on ethics and political policy.

We both live in Copenhagen. She goes to church every Sunday. She prays. She takes her worship very seriously. But yes, you nailed her belief well. She's a scientifically minded engineer. She'd never claim to have faith in something with a vague definition. She knows the paradoxes of Christian theology well. She understands the difference between feeling something being true and something being objectively true. As far as she is concerned her degree of belief is as strong as is possible, given the available evidence. She thinks that anybody more sure of the existence of God than her is just deluding themselves. To her that is good enough. She's very intelligent. Much smarter than me.

She grew up in an athiestic family. Her parents make fun of her religion all the time. They're actually dicks about it. In Scandinavia making fun of religious people is a fairly safe hobby. We're not nice to the religious. Denmark is better than Sweden though

 

[DrZoidberg]

My girlfriend is Christian. We get a lot of laughs from sending skeptic memes to eachother. She's part of a bunch of atheist and skeptic groups on Facebook. She's an engineer. She's very scientifically minded. A skeptic. She's very smart. She has a belief in belief. She'd never claim to have faith in that God exists. Because she knows the limits of human knowledge. She also thinks the Bible was written by humans. She thinks it was devinely inspired in the same way humans get inspired by anything. All she knows is that when she prays and goes to church it makes her happier, and helps her cope with life's difficulties. Belief in God works for her. And that's why she's a Christian.

Which I think is a very sensible way of being Christian. But she can't be unique.

Where are the skeptic groups on Facebook for people like her? Where are the skeptic groups of scientifically minded sensible Christians? I find nothing out there. Just looking at the numbers of Christians in USA, shouldn't Christian Skeptic groups be more common than Atheist skeptic groups? There's more of them.

I refuse to believe that all Christians are stupid. Any theories that can explain where the Skepic Christians are hiding?

This seems to be what is referred to as spiritual but not religious, which can be sort of a grab bag with a wide range of belief. There is a forum I know of that might fit your requirement called Roll To Disbelieve. Possibly. It is a bit weird in some ways. Lots of subject about watching toxic Christians but suffering a great deal of topic drift. Lots of cat pictures. It is rather laid back and fairly non-judgmental.

Thanks for the tip. But I don't agree on your spiritual/religious distinction. A religion is an organisation. If you're active in the organisation you are religious. Regardless of what you believe. I'm primarily thinking about all the atheistic Jews active in temple. There's a lot of them.

Being spiritual just means you are doing spiritual work. That's praying, meditating, reading self help books, "working on yourself", or just getting your shit in order. Whether it happens within a church or not is not the important bit.

I think that's the common usage of the words. Because unaffiliated "religious" types do say "I'm spiritual but not religious" to emphasize how they're not part of organised religion.

She's very active in the Church of Denmark, Denmarks state religion. Denmark is not a secular state. When we go to Sweden we attend the Church of Sweden's services. Yes, I go to church with her. Because I love her. Her activity in the church makes it hard to claim she's not religious.

 

[bigfield]

Just goes to show that one's religious affiliation is more about what church you attend than what goes on in your head.

I am sure that churches around the world are full of people who profess beliefs that they don't believe and participate in religious rituals they don't believe in, because they just enjoy being there and having a sense of community. After all, the priest can't read your thoughts.

 

[DrZoidberg]

Just goes to show that one's religious affiliation is more about what church you attend than what goes on in your head.

I am sure that churches around the world are full of people who profess beliefs that they don't believe and participate in religious rituals they don't believe in, because they just enjoy being there and having a sense of community. After all, the priest can't read your thoughts.

Christianity and Islam are weird religions. They are the only religions that care about what you believe. Judaism doesn't work that way. God cares about you following ritual. God doesn't give a shit about what a Jew is thinking. Jews don't seem to care whether people in their congregation are true believers. My Jewish ex wife lived in Israel was an atheist and was constantly nagged to join in temple activities. They didn't care she was an atheist. When I'm in India I take very opportunity to join in temple services. Because I love the spectacle of them. I have never been asked about my beliefs.

Yeah, there's churches all around the world with members like this. It's common. For us in the west it's easy to use Christianity as a template for how all religion is. But Christianity is an odd one out.

There's loads of atheists married to a religious partner who join in their services. Just yesterday I spoke to a Christian friend with a Muslim girlfriend. When they're together he joins her in prayer and attends mosque. Since in Islam both are faiths of the book, this is a non-issue.

Religions are very open and welcoming to worshippers... in general. Only weird psycho sects aren't.

I'm speaking from a non-American perspective.

 

[Angry Floof]

My girlfriend is Christian. We get a lot of laughs from sending skeptic memes to eachother. She's part of a bunch of atheist and skeptic groups on Facebook. She's an engineer. She's very scientifically minded. A skeptic. She's very smart. She has a belief in belief. She'd never claim to have faith in that God exists. Because she knows the limits of human knowledge. She also thinks the Bible was written by humans. She thinks it was devinely inspired in the same way humans get inspired by anything. All she knows is that when she prays and goes to church it makes her happier, and helps her cope with life's difficulties. Belief in God works for her. And that's why she's a Christian.

Which I think is a very sensible way of being Christian. But she can't be unique.

Where are the skeptic groups on Facebook for people like her? Where are the skeptic groups of scientifically minded sensible Christians? I find nothing out there. Just looking at the numbers of Christians in USA, shouldn't Christian Skeptic groups be more common than Atheist skeptic groups? There's more of them.

I refuse to believe that all Christians are stupid. Any theories that can explain where the Skepic Christians are hiding?

If she remains in that kind of environment, she'll eventually recognize and admit her atheism. Christianity is a group effort. No one, not one single person, has ever been a Christian without other human beings around them reinforcing the idea.

 

[DrZoidberg]

My girlfriend is Christian. We get a lot of laughs from sending skeptic memes to eachother. She's part of a bunch of atheist and skeptic groups on Facebook. She's an engineer. She's very scientifically minded. A skeptic. She's very smart. She has a belief in belief. She'd never claim to have faith in that God exists. Because she knows the limits of human knowledge. She also thinks the Bible was written by humans. She thinks it was devinely inspired in the same way humans get inspired by anything. All she knows is that when she prays and goes to church it makes her happier, and helps her cope with life's difficulties. Belief in God works for her. And that's why she's a Christian.

Which I think is a very sensible way of being Christian. But she can't be unique.

Where are the skeptic groups on Facebook for people like her? Where are the skeptic groups of scientifically minded sensible Christians? I find nothing out there. Just looking at the numbers of Christians in USA, shouldn't Christian Skeptic groups be more common than Atheist skeptic groups? There's more of them.

I refuse to believe that all Christians are stupid. Any theories that can explain where the Skepic Christians are hiding?

If she remains in that kind of environment, she'll eventually recognize and admit her atheism. Christianity is a group effort. No one, not one single person, has ever been a Christian without other human beings around them reinforcing the idea.

She started out atheist. Without devulging too many personal details. She had a serious accident that gave her a long term crippling condition. She spiralled into depression and eventually became suicidal. Her family and boyfriend (at the time) was not suportive to the degree they needed to be. Out of sheer desperation she turned to the church. And they were awesome. She got the help and support she needed and they helped her through it. She has given me the impression that at no point did her beliefs change throughout all this. To quote her on why she goes to church "it just works for me".

At each service if she doesn't understand a Biblical message she will come up to the priest and ask him. She takes this shit very seriously. She just doesn't seem to worry so much about whether God exists or not.

For example, she doesn't believe in Heaven, or the afterlife. She thinks it's just something we tell children to make them less upset about granny being dead. She thinks that sensible Christians must surely understand, on some level, that that part is all bullshit.

The official stance on the Bible in the church of Denmark is that it's full of flaws and a product of it's time. It's not a fundamentalist denomination. She shares this belief. Which gives believers a lot of lattitude on faith.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

Just goes to show that one's religious affiliation is more about what church you attend than what goes on in your head.

I am sure that churches around the world are full of people who profess beliefs that they don't believe and participate in religious rituals they don't believe in, because they just enjoy being there and having a sense of community. After all, the priest can't read your thoughts.

Uhm, yes. Because sometimes people who have no belief, to keep peace at home, accompany SOs to church. Some churches have become a sort of poor man's country club, where the kids have their soccer teams where all their friends play. So one accompanies wife and kids to church, at least occasionally.

 

[DrZoidberg]

Just goes to show that one's religious affiliation is more about what church you attend than what goes on in your head.

I am sure that churches around the world are full of people who profess beliefs that they don't believe and participate in religious rituals they don't believe in, because they just enjoy being there and having a sense of community. After all, the priest can't read your thoughts.

Uhm, yes. Because sometimes people who have no belief, to keep peace at home, accompany SOs to church. Some churches have become a sort of poor man's country club, where the kids have their soccer teams where all their friends play. So one accompanies wife and kids to church, at least occasionally.

I know several of these. I have a friend who I'd label as anti-intellectual. The question on God's existence wouldn't ever enter into his head. He doesn't care. I know him well. He's not an atheist. He's an apatheist. His best friend is a priest. His wife is Christian. Not of the same denomination. They all hang out and go to eachothers religious functions. My anti-intellectual friend likes it. He also benefits from the networking at the church.

 

[Politesse]

Hmm... It's not proselytization. These groups are built around funny memes making fuCn of pseudo scientific fluffheads. It's just humour groups. Me and my girlfriend laugh at the same things. The humour is the same.

Liberal Christian humor tends not to be quite as biting. But if you just mean meme-sharing groups and the like, those do exist. The Unvirtuous Abbey, the UU Church of Oak Cliff, etc. In Radio Days, there used to be the Prairie Home Companion. And then there's the same sort of skeptic pages you're talking about, which we are just as likely to enjoy really.

 

[ronburgundy]

My girlfriend is Christian. We get a lot of laughs from sending skeptic memes to eachother. She's part of a bunch of atheist and skeptic groups on Facebook. She's an engineer. She's very scientifically minded. A skeptic. She's very smart. She has a belief in belief. She'd never claim to have faith in that God exists. Because she knows the limits of human knowledge. She also thinks the Bible was written by humans. She thinks it was devinely inspired in the same way humans get inspired by anything. All she knows is that when she prays and goes to church it makes her happier, and helps her cope with life's difficulties. Belief in God works for her. And that's why she's a Christian.

Which I think is a very sensible way of being Christian. But she can't be unique.

Where are the skeptic groups on Facebook for people like her? Where are the skeptic groups of scientifically minded sensible Christians? I find nothing out there. Just looking at the numbers of Christians in USA, shouldn't Christian Skeptic groups be more common than Atheist skeptic groups? There's more of them.

I refuse to believe that all Christians are stupid. Any theories that can explain where the Skeptic Christians are hiding?

Interesting. So, if she doesn't have faith that God exists, and (assuming she actually is a rational skeptic) doesn't think God's existence can be based upon evidence-based thinking, then I'd argue she doesn't actually believe in God but rather enjoys the act of pretending she believes in God, which maybe is what you mean by "believes in belief". Belief psychologically requires some basis, and the two general categories of basis are faith (aka wishful thinking or emotional preference) and some form of evidence based thinking (even when it's execution is flawed with honest error). IOW, I'd argue that she doesn't actually believe in God in the sense that a person believes in gravity and thus doesn't violate it whenever it really matters. It sounds like she says "I believe in God", but never actually makes decisions that presume that it's true, when those decisions might harm herself of loved one's.

And if she doesn't believe in God is objectively real, then to say she's "Christian" is a bit like saying that a parrot is Christian if it's taught to say "I am a Christian." I don't intend to demean her by implying she's a parrot. It's an analogy highlighting the actual states of mind and not just words that define being a "Christian" or "theist" in any meaningful psychological sense.

Is she also in Sweden? That would make more sense. In a culture were so few people are sincere Christians and it rarely enters into substantive social and political issues and policies, then being a "Christian" is like harmless cosplay and a kind of hobby like making sourdough. In a country like the US, it's a whole different ball of maggot infested wax, where rational ethical people don't want to give cover and a veneer of legitimacy to sincere believers who have real and almost always harmful influence on ethics and political policy.

We both live in Copenhagen. She goes to church every Sunday. She prays. She takes her worship very seriously. But yes, you nailed her belief well. She's a scientifically minded engineer. She'd never claim to have faith in something with a vague definition. She knows the paradoxes of Christian theology well. She understands the difference between feeling something being true and something being objectively true. As far as she is concerned her degree of belief is as strong as is possible, given the available evidence. She thinks that anybody more sure of the existence of God than her is just deluding themselves. To her that is good enough. She's very intelligent. Much smarter than me.

She grew up in an athiestic family. Her parents make fun of her religion all the time. They're actually dicks about it. In Scandinavia making fun of religious people is a fairly safe hobby. We're not nice to the religious. Denmark is better than Sweden though

So, it would seem that to qualify as having "Christian" beliefs in any meaningful sense one would need to at least sincerely believe that it is more likely than not that the character and words of Jesus are more likely to be true than not. Which in turn entails believing that the God of Abraham as described in the Old Testament (who Jesus believed in endorsed all his "laws") are also true. Is that the case for your girlfriend? If so, that would mean she thinks that position can be rationally defended, which it cannot be, so that would imply that she does not make any honest effort to think rationally about her religious beliefs. And if she doesn't believe that but still calls herself a Christian, then it implies she not being rational about whether she is really a Christian and playing a kind of semantic con on herself.

 

[Politesse]

We both live in Copenhagen. She goes to church every Sunday. She prays. She takes her worship very seriously. But yes, you nailed her belief well. She's a scientifically minded engineer. She'd never claim to have faith in something with a vague definition. She knows the paradoxes of Christian theology well. She understands the difference between feeling something being true and something being objectively true. As far as she is concerned her degree of belief is as strong as is possible, given the available evidence. She thinks that anybody more sure of the existence of God than her is just deluding themselves. To her that is good enough. She's very intelligent. Much smarter than me.

She grew up in an athiestic family. Her parents make fun of her religion all the time. They're actually dicks about it. In Scandinavia making fun of religious people is a fairly safe hobby. We're not nice to the religious. Denmark is better than Sweden though

So, it would seem that to qualify as having "Christian" beliefs in any meaningful sense one would need to at least sincerely believe that it is more likely than not that the character and words of Jesus are more likely to be true than not. Which in turn entails believing that the God of Abraham as described in the Old Testament (who Jesus believed in endorsed all his "laws") are also true. Is that the case for your girlfriend? If so, that would mean she thinks that position can be rationally defended, which it cannot be, so that would imply that she does not make any honest effort to think rationally about her religious beliefs. And if she doesn't believe that but still calls herself a Christian, then it implies she not being rational about whether she is really a Christian and playing a kind of semantic con on herself.

In a spirit of helpfulness, I have bolded your unwarranted assumptions for you.