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Original Essays | December 12, 2009

The Courage of Others

0 comments By Alexander McCall Smith

I have recently written a novel about life in England during the Second World War. I felt some concern before I tackled this theme — the War... Continue »

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jimreed, March 22, 2008

I haven't read Chris Hedges' book as yet but I do hope to find time to do so. It's a subject that has always interested me. (Can one comment on a book one hasn't read?)

I have read his essay on Alternet and that's how I arrived here in this comment box.

Mr. Hedges is quite correct to say that a debate is going on and that it is between the extremes: Atheists on the one hand and Religious Fundamentalists of whatever stripe -Christian, Muslim, Jewish - etc. on the other. None of these big groups - by the way - has a great deal to be proud of.

Mr. Hitchens represents one extreme and the God-fearing fundamentalists, the other...but most of us are somewhere in between, on a kind of belief/faith spectrum.

I agree with the proposition that each of the extremes believes that humankind can reach, or at least strive for a moral pinnacle. That goal can be achieved only by accepting Jesus Christ as your personal saviour - if you're a religious fundamentalist;

For the Atheist, the pinnacle can be reached only by employing science and not by relying on the beneficence of God. Each group does seek a kind of human and/or spiritual "utopia".

In the middle is the vast and overwhelming number of human beings - billions of us, I suspect - who are neither completely faithless, nor fully faithful. We - whether we are regular or occasional churchgoers - or just good people who don't bother much with church, are the ones who watch this "debate" in awe.

We are in awe at the wasted words and the pointless arguments made by each side. We wish that both would calm down and get on with loving their fellow human beings.

Nevertheless, when the debate is rational, it's healthy. It makes us think. And for those of us in the majority, it helps us realize that Aristotle was right to advocate moderation in all things.

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