Quote

I regularly go to the site, http://www.islamicate.com. Last week, this quotation was referenced:

What would happen if religious ideas were subjected to such a debate? I want to conclude with some speculations. A robust, critical discussion of religious ideas might encourage popular faiths more consistent with modern standards of plausibility, more conscious of the historicity of all faiths, and more resistant to the manipulation of politicians belonging to any party. The long moratorium on sustained, public scrutiny of religious ideas has created a vacuum in which easy god-talk flourishes. Religion has no monopoly on foolishness and ignorance, but our convention of giving religious ideas a “pass” has made religion a privileged domain for wackiness in the United States.

This quotation was taken from: Hollinger, David A. “Civic Patriotism and the Critical Discussion of Religious Ideas.” In Debating the Divine: Religion in 21st Century American Democracy, edited by Sally Steenland, 9-15. Century for American Progress, 2008, p. 14.

Obviously, the reference to "such a debate" looks at the way every other proposition in our culture is debated.

So, what would happen if our religious ideas were subject to such a debate? First, it would mean that we who hold religious ideas must think about what we believe and why we believe it. Then, we must be willing and able to engage in dialogue with those who disagree with us. Finally, we have to be willing to consider that some of what we espouse may not really be part of the divine revelation we claim.

I wonder whether any of us is willing to look that closely.