Free Things to Do in San Francisco

I came in about half-way through this discussion between a religious guy (Alan Jones, Dean of Grace Cathedral) and a science guy (Dr. Kevin Padian of UC Berkeley, who testified in the Dover School Board trial, which resulted in a strong decision against the teaching of intelligent design in public schools.)

The discussion was meandering and amiable. Coming in as I did in the middle, I wasn’t always sure of the context, but I enjoyed listening to these two very articulate voices.

Jones spoke of the need for narratives in a way that reminded me of Karen Armstrong, whose name he did mention. He talked about how we are in a difficult time because the old myths no longer work, but we don’t yet have new ones to take their place. People are afraid of nihilism, he said, and fundamentalism arises to fill the vacuum.

He had interesting things to say about atheists — he thinks some atheists are the most religious people he knows. He asks his students if they worship God or if they worship their own idea of what God is like. The latter would be idolatry, and so religious faith requires cycles of belief and breaking down belief, when belief becomes too hardened.

It was all very interesting and made me want to check out his books.

I just found a video of a program the two gave last year. I haven’t watched it yet, but from the description it looks like it’s very similar to the program I saw today (except maybe the one from last year stuck closer to the title topic).

———————
I’ll be back in December. Have a great Thanksgiving!