{"id":888,"date":"2014-06-01T10:30:45","date_gmt":"2014-06-01T15:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/soapboxredemption\/?p=888"},"modified":"2017-01-19T23:38:40","modified_gmt":"2017-01-20T04:38:40","slug":"debate-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/soapboxredemption\/2014\/06\/debate-recap\/","title":{"rendered":"Debate Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>It was a sight to see. Catholics, Christians, deists, agnostics, and atheists \u2013 all sharing a Saturday afternoon together at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Central \u00a0Nassua in Garden City, NY \u2013 wrestling with big questions in a spirit of civility. It was a rare gem.<\/p>\n

I was greeted by my friend Adam Lee and had the pleasure of spending some time with him, his wife, parents, and in-laws. They were so warm and welcoming \u2013 I felt like I had known them for years.<\/p>\n

I then met our moderator Charles who had a fascinating perspective with a background in the Jewish and Catholic faith traditions, actually attending Catholic seminary for quite some time and in his skepticism ultimately forgoing priesthood. A teacher and principle with a masters in philosophy, having a profound respect for theology, yet holding a skeptical lie \u2013 he challenged Adam and I equally on a number of points.<\/p>\n

Our \u201cdebate\u201d (which I prefer the term \u201cforum\u201d) began with Charles giving some history on Unitarian Universalism. After the introduction, Adam and I gave brief biographies and a 30,000 foot view of our positions. What was interesting about this debate was that were no \u201ccanned\u201d questions from our moderator. He immediately opened up questions from the audience to shape the agenda.<\/p>\n

A number of questions and topics were put forward, a few of which included:<\/p>\n