Worth the Read

The Times summary of the Sharpton-Hitchens debate. One of my favorite points:

"Mr. Sharpton also aimed a barb at Mr. Hitchens, who has broken with left-wing commentators through his staunch defense of the war in Iraq and President Bush’s policies there.


“At the end what is refreshing is that you are a man of faith,” Mr. Sharpton told Mr. Hitchens, to much laughter, “because any man that at this point has faith that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has more faith than any religious person I know.”"

The thing that's most enlightening to me about this debate is that Sharpton, a protege of the church, is never questioned by the media about his religious beliefs, but they may be the most liberal, and intelligent thing about him, especially when he can make such inspired rhetorical remarks as:

"We are sitting in a room that because of lights, we assume that there is electricity in the building. Electricity can light the room or burn it down; it does not mean electricity does not exist because it burns a building down, or that it is inherently wicked. Clearly people have misused God, as they have misused other things that are possibly positive, but its existence is not in any way proved or disproved by you giving me a long diatribe on those that have mishandled and misused God."

And:

"I would say that many people, I among them, in our own lives have had experiences that make me believe that there is a God. And make me believe that my seeking God and seeking the guidance of a supreme being is real to me. I’m not going by Moses, I’m not going by Peter, I’m not going by the man that you said was a legend, Jesus of Nazareth. … I’m not here to defend Scriptures. I didn’t write those Scriptures. I live my life, and in my life the existence of God has been confirmed to me in my own personal dealings and in my own faith being vindicated and validated. That has absolutely nothing to do with Scriptures, whether they are right or wrong."

Seems to me that Sharpton's ideas of religion are almost libertarian (if such a thing is possible) in the way that he's so divorced from scripture. It seems to be about his experiences with the spiritual without the need for doctrine. This might be a relatively new idea to you, but for us poor black folk it's sorta how the Baptist church works. You can worship God on your own time in your own way (usually with alot of good food, music, and dancing) but make sure the plate is full at the end. I can dig that. Maybe Sharpton might return to his roots someday and come out with a religious text. As mentioned before, the fight against religious radicalism can use all the allies it can get and his ideology seems pretty incompatible with fanaticism.

Hat Tip: Sully