The other day I read a transcript of a debate between Rick Warren (of The Purpose Driven Life mega-fame) and Sam Harris (author of The End of Faith and one of the so-called “new atheists”). I’ve never been a huge Warren fan (although I think the work he and his wife do in Africa with the AIDS crisis is amazing and commendable). I like Harris in small doses, but he starts to grate on me after too long. Trent is a big fan of his.
You can read the entire transcript of the debate here. But here’s the part that makes me want to jump out of my skin:
WARREN: You're more spiritual than you think. You just don't want a boss. You don't want a God who tells you what to do.
HARRIS: I don't want to pretend to be certain about anything I'm not certain about.
Rick, last thoughts?
WARREN: I believe in both faith and reason. The more we learn about God, the more we understand how magnificent this universe is. There is no contradiction to it. When I look at history, I would disagree with Sam: Christianity has done far more good than bad. Altruism comes out of knowing there is more than this life, that there is a sovereign God, that I am not God. We're both betting. He's betting his life that he's right. I'm betting my life that Jesus was not a liar. When we die, if he's right, I've lost nothing. If I'm right, he's lost everything. I'm not willing to make that gamble.
[Picture me here, banging my head against the wall.] Let's review some of those thoughts, along with what in my opinion, are the clear implications of them:
Thought One: “You're more spiritual than you think. You just don't want a boss. You don't want a God who tells you what to do.” Implication: The truth of Christianity is crystal clear, so I implicitly distrust your motivations for questioning.
Thought Two: “Altruism comes out of knowing there is more than this life, that there is a sovereign God” Implication: Implication: Only people of faith are capable of kindness and good works.
Thought Three: “We're both betting. He's betting his life that he's right. I'm betting my life that Jesus was not a liar. When we die, if he's right, I've lost nothing. If I'm right, he's lost everything. I'm not willing to make that gamble.” Implication: This life is not what matters, only the next. The ultimate motivation to have a faith in God is to avoid inevitable eternal damnation.
I'm having a hard time with this entry. I keep writing stuff and then deleting it because it sounds so caustic. So I am scrambling to find some balance here. I will say that those three arguments epitomize so much of what frustrates me about Christianity. I think those are sentiments (stated in both subtle ways and more overtly) are very prevalent within Christianity ....
So much to say about those three comments … so I need to break it down into separate posts. My next entry will start from thought one.
