Some time ago I mentioned the beginnings of a ‘blogalogue’ between Sam Harris and Andrew Sullivan over this whole issue of ‘Religion: Why?’
They are still going at it. The discussion has been more civil than any that I have seen so far. As always, Andrew is a voice of sincere, thoughtful belief. Sam behaves himself, avoiding the type of ad-hominem attacks so popular amongst the activist atheist set (Dawkins and of course the ur-soldier Madelyn Murray O’Hare) but he pulls no punches.
It will come as no surprise that I find Sam’s contributions to be overwhelmingly more persuasive than Andrew’s. What I like about Andrew’s role is that I find myself kinda hoping he’ll find some good argument to support his belief in god, because he is so eloquent and moving when writing about the good that can and should come from religion. The problem for him, of course, is that his best arguments for the existence of god are simply arguments in support of the beneficial aspects of faith.
Andrew does lead one to ponder about how man created god.
Of course, his inadvertent-point may have been best stated in the Velveteen Rabbit:
They are still going at it. The discussion has been more civil than any that I have seen so far. As always, Andrew is a voice of sincere, thoughtful belief. Sam behaves himself, avoiding the type of ad-hominem attacks so popular amongst the activist atheist set (Dawkins and of course the ur-soldier Madelyn Murray O’Hare) but he pulls no punches.
It will come as no surprise that I find Sam’s contributions to be overwhelmingly more persuasive than Andrew’s. What I like about Andrew’s role is that I find myself kinda hoping he’ll find some good argument to support his belief in god, because he is so eloquent and moving when writing about the good that can and should come from religion. The problem for him, of course, is that his best arguments for the existence of god are simply arguments in support of the beneficial aspects of faith.
Andrew does lead one to ponder about how man created god.
Of course, his inadvertent-point may have been best stated in the Velveteen Rabbit:
Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
It’s just that somewhere along the line humans turned a concept into an entity. And they can't let go.
Even today so many people who I know say "Well, I don't believe in an 'old man in a beard up in heaven' but I think 'we are all connected' ......" OK, that's not a belief in god. Own up to that. It's an embracing of a philosophy. Just let your culturally indoctrinated view of 'god' remain that 'old man' and acknowledge that you don't believe in it.
Let's make 'love' or 'compassion' or Rock and Roll' real and stop propping up a primitive myth.
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