Sam Harris & Reza Aslan
Harris & Aslan (author of No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam) had a debate at the Los Angeles Public Library recently for CSPAN2 Book TV. You can see their exchange here. One particular weakness of Harris' argument, which you will see him address in detail here and more fully during the wonderful Beyond Belief: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival symposiums, is the cultural significance of religion and its related necessity to human tradition. Harris, being wholly non-religious, can fully distance himself from all of religion while struggling to understand the historical, cultural and traditional mores which people relate to religion. He might be factually correct, but at ...Sullivan & Harris Continued
Their exchange continues, most recently by a contribution from Harris: The endurance of religion in general, and Christianity in particular, is not much of a mystery--and it is certainly not so mysterious as to lend credence to ancient miracles. No doubt there are many factors that have contributed to Christianity's success. The problem of sunk-cost is surely one: just look at how much attentional, emotional, and financial resources people have invested in this religion. No one is eager to realize he has been wasting his time. Realizing that the core claims of Christianity are illegitimate would be tantamount to a Christian admitting, "I have been wrong all these years." It is no surprise that people keep their shoulder to the door, ...A Christian Agnostic
From the 1965 classic by Leslie Weatherhead, The Christian Agnostic: " ... [a Christian agnostic is someone] who is immensely attracted by Christ who seeks to show his spirit, to meet the challenges, hardships and sorrows of life in the light of that spirit, but who, though he is sure of many Christian truths, feels that he cannot honestly and conscientiously ’sign on the dotted line’ that he believes certain theological ideas about which some branches of the church dogmatize.”Faith’s Betrayal
The particular brand of Christianity I was raised in made an almost conscious decision to avoid the difficult questions. We wallowed in rules in order to prevent the penetrating light of reality force us to answer hard questions, many of which would have required admitting the limits of human knowledge and experience. Consequently, the really big questions, what most people view as matters of individual faith – believing in a singular God you could know personally, this God creating the universe, sending Jesus to die for your sins – did not require faith, but the smaller issues did. Somehow it was profoundly relevant to have your hair 1” off all collars and ear cartilage as it was ...Andrew Sullivan & Sam Harris … Continued
Andrew Sullivan's most recent post in response to Sam Harris' last letter is up and worth reading. My thoughts on their correspondence can be read after the link.Carl Sagan’s Infinite Apprecation of a Finite Question
Recently having finished Carl Sagan's The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God, I was profoundly moved to read the recent coverage of the book in the New York Times: Some of the books that resulted, such as Richard Dawkins’s “The God Delusion,” have been criticized as shrill, but Ms. Druyan said: “People like Carl and Dawkins are more serious about God than people who just go through the motions. They are real seekers.” ... Near the end of his book, Dr. Sagan parses the difference between belief and science this way: “I think if we ever reach the point where we think we thoroughly understand who we are and where we came from, ...Dante
I saw this yesterday while touring the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC: The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality. - DanteRichard Dawkins: Either His Way or the Highway?
My most recent article on spirituality, If Dawkins Makes Sense to Me, Does That Make Me an Atheist?, has been published at SOMA: The Society of Mutual Autopsy, a Review of Religion and Culture. This is an on-line site run by John Spalding, author of the very good A Pilgrim's Digress: My Perilous, Fumbling Quest for the Celestial City.Andrew Sullivan & Sam Harris in Dialogue
The author of The Conservative Soul: How We Lost It and How To Get It Back, Andrew Sullivan, and the author of The End of Faith, Sam Harris, are having a fascinating conversation at BeliefNet. Their dialogue has much to offer in shaping our understanding of how faith and secularism can and should interact. Most recently from Sam: I think we basically understand one another, and yet we disagree on many points of importance—so we're off to a good start. You are right to say that my view of faith doesn’t really allow for “solid distinctions within faiths,” while yours “depends on such distinctions.” This summarizes our disagreement very well. I recognize, of course, that there ...Book Review – The God Delusion
Perhaps it is the biologist within Dawkins that leads him to believe a parallel exists between biological cancer and similarly suspicious malignant ideological growths. While many of us wish to overlook fundamentalists with the hope they will simply go away, Dawkins fears this might not only be naďve, but irresponsible. History is full of moments when society has regressed, labeling dissent the path to eternal damnation instead of earthly wisdom. While it might be that the inherent practical nature of the American people will be offended by the objectives of religious fundamentalism, rebel and find our historical balance, we easily forget that this balance is many times found only because of the clarion call from those who ... « Previous Entries Next Entries »About MysteriousFaith
“If anyone can show me, and prove to me, that I am wrong in thought or deed, I will gladly change. I seek the truth, which never yet hurt anybody. It is only persistence in self-delusion and ignorance which does harm.”
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