{"id":683,"date":"2010-10-14T22:04:00","date_gmt":"2010-10-14T22:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/10\/harris-vs-oppenheimer.html"},"modified":"2010-10-14T22:04:00","modified_gmt":"2010-10-14T22:04:00","slug":"harris-vs-oppenheimer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/10\/harris-vs-oppenheimer.html","title":{"rendered":"Harris Vs. Oppenheimer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
Much like the post I wrote about Rabbi Yoffie, the debate between Sam Harris and Mark Oppenheimer is between two people who share many values.\u00a0 It\u2019s Harris, the atheist, versus Oppenheimer, the pro-religious academic.\u00a0 Here are some highlights of Oppenheimer\u2019s opening statement with my comments:<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
First, religion responds to a deep, satisfying human need for ritual. Throughout human history (and certainly among my three young daughters, who are the nearest evidence at hand), people have liked occasion, routine, ceremony\u2026.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
As a proud Secular Humanistic Jew, I am deeply committed to adapting ritual and ceremony for non-theists.\u00a0 I celebrate holidays and bat mitzvas.\u00a0 Does that make me religious?\u00a0 Well, I\u2019m a declared atheist, so I don\u2019t think so. \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Yesterday I had a nice conversation with a rabbi who felt that Secular Humanistic Judaism and non-theistic Unitarianism can rightly be called religions.\u00a0 I can\u2019t agree.\u00a0 To me, religion always has a theistic element.\u00a0 In any case, I agree with Oppenheimer on the importance of ceremony.\u00a0 It has nothing to do with faith. \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Second, religion often organizes the human quests for ethics and meaning. To think about the common good, the purpose of life and how to live, it has proven useful to use religious stories or theology.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
I disagree profoundly with Oppenheimer.\u00a0 Religious stories and theology can be used to make any point.\u00a0 Traditionally religious people usually use it to make points that help to oppress other people.\u00a0 To the extent that religious moderates are feminist, pro-gay and so forth, they most certainly did not learn it from their religions.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Finally, religion is fun!<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
A lot of things are fun.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t make them true.\u00a0 Besides, as I\u2019ve already pointed out, nothing is stopping people from taking the good stuff from religion and leaving behind the supernatural nonsense.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Harris\u2019 opening remarks were great.\u00a0 Here\u2019s the best bit:<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
There is no denying that religious faith sometimes moves people to act with extraordinary probity and compassion. In that sense, I must admit that religion is, on occasion, a force for good. The important question, however, is whether religion is ever the best force for good at our disposal. And I think the answer to this question is clearly \u201cno\u201d\u2014because religion gives people bad reasons for being good where good reasons are available.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Bullseye.\u00a0 But this was the money line as far as I\u2019m concerned:<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
What a person believes about the nature of reality matters\u2026.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
The truth actually matters!\u00a0 It matters that we follow a moral code based on reason and not superstition or ancient texts.\u00a0 It matters that we uncover the mysteries of life by science and not through fiction.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Why don\u2019t people like Oppenheimer understand that?<\/span><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Much like the post I wrote about Rabbi Yoffie, the debate between Sam Harris and Mark Oppenheimer is between two people who share many values.\u00a0 It\u2019s Harris, the atheist, versus Oppenheimer, the pro-religious academic.\u00a0 Here are some highlights of Oppenheimer\u2019s opening statement with my comments: First, religion responds to a deep, satisfying human need for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[6,25,27],"class_list":["post-683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogentries","tag-atheism","tag-liberal-religions-and-theologies","tag-morality"],"yoast_head":"\nHarris Vs. Oppenheimer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Much like the post I wrote about Rabbi Yoffie, the debate between Sam Harris and Mark Oppenheimer is between two people who share many values.\u00a0 It\u2019s\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/10\/harris-vs-oppenheimer.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Harris Vs. Oppenheimer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Much like the post I wrote about Rabbi Yoffie, the debate between Sam Harris and Mark Oppenheimer is between two people who share many values.\u00a0 It\u2019s\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/10\/harris-vs-oppenheimer.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Atheist Rabbi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-10-14T22:04:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey L. Falick\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeffrey L. Falick\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/10\/harris-vs-oppenheimer.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/10\/harris-vs-oppenheimer.html\",\"name\":\"Harris Vs. Oppenheimer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-10-14T22:04:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-10-14T22:04:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#\/schema\/person\/fc95554b64c99ed45146c32bf5cd2372\"},\"description\":\"Much like the post I wrote about Rabbi Yoffie, the debate between Sam Harris and Mark Oppenheimer is between two people who share many values.\u00a0 It\u2019s\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/10\/harris-vs-oppenheimer.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/10\/harris-vs-oppenheimer.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/10\/harris-vs-oppenheimer.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Harris Vs. Oppenheimer\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/\",\"name\":\"The Atheist Rabbi\",\"description\":\"The blog of Jeffrey L. Falick, Secular Humanistic Rabbi.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#\/schema\/person\/fc95554b64c99ed45146c32bf5cd2372\",\"name\":\"Jeffrey L. Falick\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4f93646f1bdd3c145883cb358ed21b6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4f93646f1bdd3c145883cb358ed21b6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jeffrey L. Falick\"},\"description\":\"Jeffrey L. Falick is the Secular Humanistic Rabbi of The Birmingham Temple Congregation for Humanistic Judaism in Michigan. He is also certified as a Senior Humanist Celebrant by the American Humanist Association and is president and founder of Humanists of Southeast Michigan.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/author\/jfalick\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Harris Vs. Oppenheimer","description":"Much like the post I wrote about Rabbi Yoffie, the debate between Sam Harris and Mark Oppenheimer is between two people who share many values.\u00a0 It\u2019s","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/10\/harris-vs-oppenheimer.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Harris Vs. Oppenheimer","og_description":"Much like the post I wrote about Rabbi Yoffie, the debate between Sam Harris and Mark Oppenheimer is between two people who share many values.\u00a0 It\u2019s","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/10\/harris-vs-oppenheimer.html","og_site_name":"The Atheist Rabbi","article_published_time":"2010-10-14T22:04:00+00:00","author":"Jeffrey L. Falick","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeffrey L. Falick","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/10\/harris-vs-oppenheimer.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/10\/harris-vs-oppenheimer.html","name":"Harris Vs. Oppenheimer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-10-14T22:04:00+00:00","dateModified":"2010-10-14T22:04:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#\/schema\/person\/fc95554b64c99ed45146c32bf5cd2372"},"description":"Much like the post I wrote about Rabbi Yoffie, the debate between Sam Harris and Mark Oppenheimer is between two people who share many values.\u00a0 It\u2019s","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/10\/harris-vs-oppenheimer.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/10\/harris-vs-oppenheimer.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/10\/harris-vs-oppenheimer.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Harris Vs. Oppenheimer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/","name":"The Atheist Rabbi","description":"The blog of Jeffrey L. Falick, Secular Humanistic Rabbi.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#\/schema\/person\/fc95554b64c99ed45146c32bf5cd2372","name":"Jeffrey L. Falick","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4f93646f1bdd3c145883cb358ed21b6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4f93646f1bdd3c145883cb358ed21b6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jeffrey L. Falick"},"description":"Jeffrey L. Falick is the Secular Humanistic Rabbi of The Birmingham Temple Congregation for Humanistic Judaism in Michigan. He is also certified as a Senior Humanist Celebrant by the American Humanist Association and is president and founder of Humanists of Southeast Michigan.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/author\/jfalick"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2281"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}