Why
is Ex-Minister needed? The secular vs. faith divide has a long
destructive history. We
are all familiar with the ongoing conflicts but rarely stop
to consider the price that is paid by society and how this
affects the common good. While some see conflict as
inevitable, we think those tensions are often preventable
and could be avoided when both sides learn how to better communicate and start
working together to achieve common goals through mutual interest projects.
Ex-Minister's organization proposal seeks to "unplug" factions from
areas of tension and to channel that energy into constructive cooperation. To
accomplish these goals, one must fully understand both positions and be able to
skillfully and effectively communicate how to transcend the divide. Select
former clergy are perfect for this! For an
itemized listing of targeted areas that the
proposed organization will focus upon, please see “What
will the organization do?” Ex-Minister
is a decidedly secular organization consisting of men and
women that were once church leaders, missionaries, or former
clergy members. We understand and support post theism clergy and encourage them to use their
talents in a constructive manner to build a better
world. The
organization goes back into the world we left behind
(frequently in areas of conflict) with the perspective and
knowledge taken from the best that both worlds can offer to
find elusive solutions for complex issues. How will we work? There are both good and bad elements within religion and plenty of “chameleons” amongst the ranks. Although there are thousands of Christian sects, we can simplify Christianity by pointing out that there are basically two types of Christians. You have the troublesome Fundamentalists contrasted by a Philosophical or Cultural (PC) Christian whom are basically good people. Ex-Minister distinguishes between the two and approaches them accordingly. Fundamentalism often stands in the path of societal progress. Ex-Minister counters non-progressive fundamentalism and challenges them in a variety of ways. Our approach seems to be somewhat of a paradox. We challenge fundamentalism through rational means while warming up to and seeking to work with PC Christianity! Overall, we seek the common good and desire to help bring it about through understanding and cooperation between secular and religious interaction. To be sure, Ex-Minister is seeking to construct a new paradigm in which people negotiate matters of faith and religion which redounds to the common good. The
common good doesn’t have a theology; it is what both of us
have in common. We discover that the “other side” isn’t
as bad as we had imagined them when we start working
together. Ex-Minister gets them together through mutual
interest projects. Religious
history is replete with failed examples of proposals seeking
compromise or demanding change that have resulted in
division. Issues such as liberalism, doctrine,
ecumenicalism, gay clergy acceptance, etc., etc. etc.
results in a “winning” side while the minority group
that cannot accept the changes parts company because they’re
not receptive to the alternatives. Ex-Minister
knows better than to demand change or compromise because it
draws contempt and is doomed to failure. We understand
religious folks. We don’t need to change them, we just
want to work with them.
We have done our homework and
continually
seek to perfect our methods through study and projects
designed to remove obstacles to the common good. (Religious
vs. Religious Conflict) The
approach to religion vs. religion conflict is a bit
different, we prefer to build humanity rather than fight
theology. When these “in house” conflicts spill over
into the secular arena and involve human rights; this is
where an “unplugged” specialist
with
a theology background like Ex-Minister would enter into the
picture as a peacemaker. Clergy frequently distrust other
clergy or clergy peacemakers. This hampers dialogue and
often reinforces a harder line position to be taken that
exacerbates the problem.
Our PhilosophyAs a humanist organization, we would rather trumpet reason and not be distracted from our pursuit of the common good with unnecessary strife. Unfortunately, a number of individuals that leave the faith desire to wage warfare against it. Suddenly those that were once allies quickly become adversaries in the “god wars.” We don’t understand this type of thinking. People of faith shouldn’t be viewed as our enemies but as co-laborers for the better world that we seek. Things work best when we continue practicing our humanism, check our egos and focus upon what we have in common, rather than where we differ. Thank you for having taken a few moments to get acquainted with our dream. We are ready and willing to get things started! What we need is funding. We are asking for your financial support and desire to hear from those of you that are friendly with what we are seeking to do! Sincerely, Brian Worley
Brian Worley Ex-Minister.org last update Feb.23, 2010 All rights reserved.
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