The Birth of “On Faith” November 26, 2006
Posted by Steve in : Weblog, Breaking News, The Cultural Conversation , trackbackThe WashingtonPost.com has recently debuted a new internet column called “On Faith”, which hopes to provide “a new global conversation about what is perhaps the most pervasive and least understood force in human affairs: religious faith. It is a subject about which many people have strong opinions, about which many people care passionately-but about which there is, in our view, far too little constructive discussion and debate. “
It is a collaborative, moderated, blog-like site dedicated to encouraging “intelligent and respectful conversations on religion and faith” among people around the world. It looks like a good place to hear the various voices in the dialogue on some very contentious issues.
Led by Sally Quinn, of the Washington Post, and Jon Meacham of Newsweek, two veteran journalists, the point of On Faith is “to provide a forum for such sane and spirited talk. They pointout that Hebrews 11 puts it best when it asks, “What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead.” The two journalists will host interactive discussions with a panel of theologic luminaries like Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel, Mohammad Khatami, Dr. Rick Warren and other “diverse and prestigious thought leaders from around the world.”
Every week, Quinn and Meacham will pose questions to the site’s contributors, whose responses will be posted online. Topics for discussion will include from the nature of evil, the morality of fetal stem-cell research, and how to raise kids in multi-faith households. The project went live on Wednesday, Nov 8, and the first question sure got the conversation moving:
If some religious people believe they have a monopoly on truth, then are conversation and common ground possible? If so, what would be the difficulties and benefits of such a conversation? Initial contributors included Luis Palau, Lyle Dukes, Albert Mohler Jr., CAl Thomas, Ellen Pagels, William J. Byron, Salman Ahmad, and Madeleine Albright, among others.
What do you think? Is this a good forum for dialogue?
Comments»
Yeah, it definitely will be an interesting forum for dialogue. There are a lot of interesting folks who will be posting.
My only concern is that it may be too much. There are too many responses to keep up with. How will we find the most interesting items? Also, will different responders be able to respond to each other?
I wonder if the end goal is a book…