Responsible Theism

Hands of God:
Responsible Theism believes that knowledge comes in one of three forms. First Hands knowledge comes directly from the mind, by way of the mind observing reality directly. One plus one equals two, things of that nature. First hand knowledge is important because first hand knowledge cannot logically be denied.

Second Hand knowledge comes through the senses, what we see, hear, smell and taste, etc.

Third Hand knowledge is information we get from other people or sources but have not experienced ourselves. Rumors, news, the internet, neighbors, etc.

Rationality often gets a bad name among religious people because they easily equate it with sophistry and materialistic philosophy from their atheist opponents. But the truth is that Rationality equals Epistemology: what you know and how you know it. Winning arguments and using reason all rely upon it as their foundation.

Responsible Theism:
Responsible Theism states that no religion, regardless of their claims to infallibility, undergo numerous changes over time. Even the Bible has undergone several, often dramatic changes. This does not automatically counter the value of a religion, it is possible to use the Bible and its stories as sources of inspiration and to study the scriptures to uncover more of the original writing.

Scriptures are real historical documents and it is entirely reasonable to use them as what they have always been before they were blown up by priests: as the written testimony of people who had encounters with The Divine.

Applying Responsible Theism is simple: do not practice or endorse teachings whose origins you cannot articulate clearly and extensively. If you cannot reasonably demonstrate that a teaching is both historically accurate, ethical and constructive: then don't do it.

Cafeteria Christians?:
Because of Responsible Theism, a possible criticism is that they are 'cafeteria Christians' who pick and choose what they want too from the Bible and Christian tradition. The often unstated accusation is that proponents of Responsible Theism are reprobates seeking to justify living a sinful lifestyle.

The problem is that Responsible Theism is meant to cure the inherent flaws in organized religions. People in America today often score the lowest in Biblical literacy, yet people publicly demand that the Bible be used to determine cultural norms and laws. The fact that scripture holds different viewpoints on the same subject is often rationalized away under the guise of spirituality. The fact that Christians themselves cannot agree on what exactly the Bible says proves that organized religion in and of itself is flawed.

Proponents of Responsible Theism are just being honest, not practicing anything unless they have a valid reason too. The Bible is good for inspiration, but it was not meant to be a rule book (even Martin Luther didn't use it for that, he often changed it).