October 2008: Letter to a Christian Nation (Harris)

Post date: Jan 07, 2010 10:38:24 PM

Going around Betsey's living room on the mild evening of October 16, 2008, 13 introductions by class year jumped from '05 to '65 to '95 to '55, from '93 to '03 to '46. One of the best selling points for making the effort to go to bookclub, people say, is for the community of thinking women of all ages. This month in particular, at peak election season, readers were eager to discuss religion and politics, why philosophic works haven't replaced the bible, how Palin can be touted as an expert on autism, that Sam Harris' book Letter to a Christian Nation was reactionary to some but for others provided welcome arguments. We're not convinced that religion should be abolished, as he proposes, but his point about stem cell research being done on embryos with 150 cells doing no harm was well taken. He did not discuss spirituality outside of organized religion.

Considering alternatives to mindlessly following bible-based church teachings, we heard about local Buddhist and Unitarian communities, discussed how schools play a role in teaching morality to children, and went off on a tangent about language requirements and No Child Left Behind (testing only in English). People shared their stories of being raised with and without religion, how they rebelled or not against what they learned. We acknowledged the value of the music in many practices, how the repeated rituals provide structure and a sense of community, if not beauty and mysticism.

Religion provides tradition and community for many people... what are the other ways to teach right and wrong, to gather people together, to share information? Is it possible to cherry-pick sections of the bible, of tradition, of ritual? Should spirituality be separate from our government? How can we truly separate church and state in the United States while honoring many cultures and religions? Is tolerance enough?

Keep talking about it! Take the conversation out of our living rooms and into the newspapers, the grocery line, the bus, and all the way to Washington.

Don't forget to vote November 4th!