IraceBLOG

Also presented at www.thisisby.us.

This evening over dinner at our local pub I had occasion to reacquaint myself with the back of a one-dollar bill. Did you know how thoroughly the number thirteen permeates the symbolism of our nation’s currency? This is of course to honor the thirteen American colonies, which in 1776 had the courage and temerity to declare independence from England. Yet I have discovered a terrible imbalance on the back of the buck, which must be corrected immediately in order to uphold traditional conservative values and preserve our nation’s great heritage. Up with thirteen!
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I was interviewed for author Stephen Gibson’s podcast, and the episode in question was released today. We discussed the events leading up to my decision to launch www.differhonestly.com.

Stephen’s podcast page: Link.

Direct MP3 download: Link.

Stephen’s summary of our conversation:

Will Irace has created a forum for theists and non-theists to come together in an intellectually honest and civil fashion. Find out how it is going as Will and Steve discuss the issues and origins of the idea. Differhonestly.com was born after Will was asked to leave a Christian forum, where he was allegedly welcomed, then un-welcomed (which was certainly the right of the forum admin to do).

I realized within the last couple of years that I am an atheist. The more I read and thought about religion and politics, the more I worried about the issues which divide us humans from each other. It seems to me that many of these divisions–whipped up and exaggerated by dastardly and manipulative forces or not–are derived from faith.

So I went on an online pilgrimage just over two months ago. I set out in search of real conversation with real people, in hopes that I would find someone with whom to have a real conversation about our differences. Would we be able to communicate and understand each other? Would we agree about our differences? Could we ever begin to resolve them?

I achieved mixed results. The short version is that I learned that A. J. Leibling was right when he said that “freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.”

Well, thanks to Brian, I do own one, and it’s available to you too. Come join me at www.differhonestly.com where you can read the rest of my story and reach out to people who are different from you.

Spblat’s Pit Parable
Inspired by None
June 12, 2007

Alice is on her morning stroll through the forest.

Bob: “Be careful! This is a covered pit! Step around it, please.”

Charlie: “That guy is crazy, there’s no pit there. Move on through.”

Alice: “I don’t see the pit. Or the cover.”

Charlie: “Of course you don’t. It’s not there. I was just doing my morning calisthenics in that clearing.”

Bob: “It’s there. And it’s very, very dangerous–bottomless in fact. You need to go around it. And if you only open your heart, you will understand that it was there all along.”

Alice: “I don’t know. I don’t see it, but I feel in my heart that you might be right. Just to be safe, I’m going around.”

Bob: “Good plan.”

David: “Big mistake.”

Alice, Bob, Charlie: “Where did you come from?”
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I recently enjoyed Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion. Uncompromising, logical, compelling, convincing; great stuff. But there’s something exquisite about Carl Sagan’s The Varieties of Scientific Experience. Sagan’s magic—in the words of his wife and collaborator, Ann Druyan—“was his extraordinary combination of principled, crystal-clear advocacy coupled with respect and tenderness toward those who did not share his views.” (p. xiv) This is a tremendously important book, and I think everyone should read it. And everyone can read it. There’s no heavy physics or math here, just a very smart guy who’s studied a great deal on a wide range of subjects telling you what he thinks about truth. Naturally, I think he’s spot-on.
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