All That Free Time

You might be thinking, "Whatever am I to do with all this free time I've got on my hands?"

Or you might not.

If you are, you are probably a lurker and not a regular reader, for the WiHW readers I know tend to be busy, busy people, but there's a good exchange over at beliefnet between gay Christian conservative Andrew Sullivan and moderate, meditatin' atheist Sam Harris (don't know his sexual orientation--I mention it for Sullivan because he has made it an issue and has had it made one for him rather notoriously).

Anyway, these guys are pretty smart, despite Harris's naive faith in a stable Newtonian reality , despite Sullivan's naive confusion of religious dogma for historical fact, and despite both men's knuckle-headed stances on the "war on terror." And their duologue (start with the most recent entries; they're the best) is way the hell smarter than what usually passes for religious dialogue, especially on beliefnet and kindred sites...ever notice how every writer on beliefnet seems compelled to write far more about celebrities and fads than about Jesus and fasting? I dunno, maybe it's just me...

both Harris and Sullivan make some excellent points, and both make unsupportable and illogical ones, but they have the courage to really hash out their ideas, not just trade clichés, and that is so refreshing.