Well, today is a big day for me and my friend Neece. We are both bloggers living hundreds of miles from one another collaborating to launch a new blog; one we feel may be fairly unique in all of blogging history. When else have two people with diametrically opposed worldviews had the courage to take one another by the hand and boldly step into the public arena with their thoughts? If you know of such an effort, I’d love to hear of it so I can take notes! Until then, I’m going to assume we’re breaking some fairly uncharted territory with this. It’s a bit scary, but incredibly exciting as well. Neece and I have been talking for four months through email. We’ve worked through a lot, including ways to respectfully approach one another even with our vastly different ideas about many things. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished so far and have been delighted at how we’ve collaborated in the past four days in particular.
That’s right, four months to work through our relationship to the point of considering each other friends, and four days to come up with a concept for and design a blog together. The whole process went extremely smoothly as we worked out color scheme, header details and what our blog would be called, among other particulars. I’m very impressed with Neece’s skills and I think she was happy with my input as well. It was a lot of fun putting this together. Now all we need are a few readers!
We’re trying to keep this reasonable. To that end, we’ll post just once a week each Thursday. Our respective words will be distinguished by text color. And our comment policy, due to the potentially volatile nature of our having such different viewpoints, will be fairly strict. We do want to engage with readers and we’ll accept disagreement, but we will expect that it be done in a respectful way.
This is a bit of an experiment, so bear with us. If you know of anyone who might be interested in learning with us, please send them here: http://www.atheistcatholic.com/
Our introductory post, which went live the other day with only a few people knowing, explains more about how it was that we came together. And our launch post explaining our journeys and hopes should be up by the time you read this.
Thanks in advance for your interest in An Atheist and a Catholic. We look forward to its potential, and to our continued explorations of our worldviews, as well as our commonalities, hopes and dreams.
Q4U: So what do you think? Are we out of our minds, or do you find this as intriguing a concept as we do?
I just had an Atheist vs. a Catholic conversation today with a dear friend. This is my take. I am not Catholic. I am Christian though. If Atheists are right and my faith means nothing then I don’t think I am out anything. In the end I have lived a life full of a higher calling. But I truly KNOW there is a God and I KNOW I am going to heaven. Therefore I don’t think it’s going to be a happy ending for Atheists who don’t choose to believe in God. This debate on your blog will be one that certainly is a great read!
Katie
I just left a comment there – good wishes on this endeavor!
Fran, got it! Thanks much. 🙂 For your interest and encouragement.
Katie, interesting! What was the nature of the discussion? We might use it for a post. 🙂 Also, I agree that there’s nothing to lose in believing. Some atheists, though, truly have a difficult time believing in something they can’t see. They also feel there are poor examples of Christianity so it’s easy to discount. It seems so simple but it’s very complicated as I’ve come to find out. I’m glad you’ll stop in and join the discussion. The only caveat, we’re going to try really hard to make it more a discussion than debate. Wish us luck! 🙂 And thanks for your early interest.
This could be a very electrified discussion site. Best wishes!
I think this is amazing. What a wonderful way to show everyone that two people with vastly different views can be friends AND respect each other so much that they can work on something creative together! I wish more people were like the two of you. It seems like differing religious and/or political views tear people apart, but it’s bringing you two together. This is really awesome, and what a terrific life lesson for your children. I’m looking forward to your blog posts!
Hi Roxane,
What a great writeup about our new blog. I really love working with you and I look forward to our interesting and thought provoking conversations with each other and our readers. 🙂
See you over there, my friend. 🙂
Well I know I belong in this discussion. I have published on my blog Glebewise two recent articles on the common ground of humanity, ethics. No one is excepted from the basic human capacity to choose to do the right thing. Some perhaps have dismissed Adolph Hitler as an atheist or worse as an example of the worst of Christians. Well neither the Christian or atheist commuities can absolve themselves of this one: Adolph was human. The range of human conduct provides categories. With no prospect of heaven, an atheist who acts unselfishly for the greater good, knows the God of love. With a prospect of heaven, a Christian who acts unselfishly for the greater good, knows the God of love. Redemption of the human race does depend on all of us rising to be the best we can be. As a Christian I believe the burdens of ethical conduct are the same regardless of our prospect of heaven. How about you?
Rick, I’m so glad you found me/us! I hope you will pop over to An Atheist and a Catholic. I would love to have you as a regular contributor. Yes, I do believe that as human beings, we are all bound to the same standards; absolutely! Thanks again for your thoughts and I hope to hear more from you soon.