Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Uncomfortable truths

This is simply one of the bravest things I've ever heard. It's a Thanksgiving sermon by a certain Jim Rigby of Austin, Texas.

It begins with some readings from scripture, so skip ahead 10 mins or so if that bores you.

I read a lot of shrill condemnations of religion and its adherents on the net. Some of them may be justified. But too many just sound like the bigotry their writers perceive in others. A certain saying about beams and splinters comes to mind.

I myself have abiding problems with religion. But I have also met enough people who were devoutly religious, often in idiosyncratic ways, to know that many religious people are good, kind, generous, and tolerant of fundamental disagreement.

And for an example of the courage to face up to uncomforable truths, and in public, listen to Jim Rigby's sermon.

2 comments:

Chris said...

Great find, I just wish you had a transcript instead of a recording. I can absorb text so much faster than I can listen to a reading. :) On the other hand, listening to this allowed me to hear the emotion in his voice.

And in Texas, too? That's quite something.

Theophrastus said...

It was Austin - that state's liberal oasis (or I suppose cess-pool, depending on your point of view). Still, I wonder if he was wearing a bullet-proof vest.