Rick Warren debates Sam Harris on the existence of God
By California Conservative Posted in Culture — Comments (3) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
For those of you who are avoiding Newsweek for any of several valid reasons, there is a reason to check out an article in this week's edition.
Newsweek reporter Jon Meacham sat down with Rick Warren of "Purpose-Driven Life" fame and Sam Harris, author of two, dare I say it, anti-Christian apologies, to moderate a debate between them on the existence of God.
Here's the link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17889148/site/newsweek/
The debate had some memorable moments. Pastor Warren took Harris to task for his reactive atheism. Warren challenged Harris to name a single atheist who wasn't angry by nature.
Harris notably demurred on that challenge.
Warren also took some moderate positions on issues like Biblical inerrancy while drawing a firm line against the possibility that humans evolved from apes.
Harris hit Warren with predictable atheist attacks which were deftly countered by Mr. Warren.
Warren was very clear about the fact that he supports reason. Harris seemed to be caught off guard by the fact that Christians do in fact embrace reason. I guess Harris had assumed that Christians and other theists were all part of some lunatic fringe that believed that the crazier an argument is, the more likely it is to be true.
I encourage you all to read it for yourselves. You will not see many opportunities in which a theist and an atheist, both of noticeable intellect and prestige, debate each other in an environment that is conducive to a meaningful exchange.
Christians have generally read the book that both sides are arguing about whereas atheists have not.
Now you tell me: who's smarter, someone who reads the book he's arguing about or someone who doesn't?
What I'm saying is that the quality of your opinion is diminished by your ignorance about the subject. Atheists should read the book before they declare it to be false.
I like Rick Warren and he's great at what he does, but after reading the transcript he was the wrong guy for that debate.
If you ever want to have someone debate an atheist or agnostic give Lee Stroebel a call. He usually talks in his opponents terms and has an incredible background/knowledge in science and fact.
I guess Harris had assumed that Christians and other theists were all part of some lunatic fringe that believed that the crazier an argument is, the more likely it is to be true.
I agree with the belief that Christians fall in the lunatic fringe, but in general they seem to think that Christians are spoon fed everything, and rather than thinking for themselves just march in lock step to whatever they are told.
The reality is very different.