tony jones has written an excellent post on this subject. this is, i believe, how we are called to live.
[addition]
this funny video seemed a good example, in a silly way, of what tony refers to as the “lowest common denominator” approach.
(ht to the wittenburg blog)
I wasn’t able to read all the comments, so maybe you who know him can tell me (when you aren’t writing like crazy) – so, is Tony saying that we should embrace other beliefs, even if they disagree with our core beliefs (e.g. Jesus is God vs just another god), or is he saying that we should pursue understanding in an effort to simply understand, even if we disagree? In so doing, it seems to me that we could not only disagree more lovingly (which I think is something we as Christians need to do better), but we could also understand better why they believe, and thus address their concerns and questions about Christ and Christianity. I think Tony’s saying the latter, but I’m not sure. Thoughts.
yes, paul, the latter. tony is saying we should totally hold to what we believe, but we should:
a. do so lovingly
b. not be afraid of questions posed to us (and should respond with love)
c. not be afraid of asking questions (and do so with a genuine interest and lovingkindness).
that’s the kind of real dialogue — not talking past each other (one extreme) or settling for lowest common denominators (the other extreme) — that is called for in a pluralistic culture.
the colbert/carell bit, i think, showed both extremes — they started with one, then — with stewart’s suggestion — moved to the other.