[Vision2020] Local Media Celebrity

Sat Oct 31 13:48:27 PDT 2009

Joe,

I didn't think anyone was against a respectful discussion here - I said I wasn't expecting a whole lot of respectful discussion between Hitchens and Wilson in the film.  However, the press on the film makes it sound like they may develop a certain affection and respect for one another over the course of the film, which would sure be interesting to watch unfold.  

I'm not a Christ Church member.  I'm a non-denominational deist who studied to convert to Reform Judaism in college, but ultimately opted not to ally myself with any particular organized religion.  In college a friend of mine joked that my religion was "Democrat" - I told she'd better take that back because I don't want the Big Guy getting hacked off and going all Old Testament smite-happy on me.  (So I do joke about these things, sometimes in ways some folks may not appreciate.  I try to be sensitive to other's views and faith, but you can't please everybody all the time.)  Now in my mid-30s and the sudden adoptive parent of a 6-year old, I'm revisiting Christian theology to see whether there might not be a Christian viewpoint that meshes with my own worldview and understanding of God's will for us ... I've realized that perhaps I was too quick to write it off as a teenager because the teachings that I was exposed to as a child and teen didn't work for me.  

I find religion and politics fascinating.  Our values and belief systems play extraordinarily important roles in our lives - sometimes for good, sometimes for ill.  But I am always willing to listen to folks discuss their beliefs and thoughts in their own words, and to listen charitably and ask questions when needed to help me understand where they're coming from.  I'm a pretty serious-minded person who enjoys exploring ideas about our world (and other times I'm a dang goofball).  

So that's a bit about where I'm coming from.

I'd be happy to grab lunch with you sometime, Joe.  Just don't be disappointed that I'm not giving you a chance to finally dine with a Christ Church member.  Can't meet up this afternoon - I'm lit-dropping for Mayor Chaney's re-elect.  But maybe on a weekday after the election is done.

- Selina Davis

Mom, attorney (licensed in WA & ID), Democrat, Gen-Xer, proud feminist, supporter of civil rights for ALL of God's children, and believer in the transformational power of love for God and for our fellow man

From: philosopher.joe at gmail.com
To: selinadavis at hotmail.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Local Media Celebrity
Date: Sat, 31 Oct 2009 10:04:28 -0700
CC: thansen at moscow.com; vision2020 at moscow.com

You think I'm against "respectful" debate on the V because I don't want to listen to two people, each of which thinks the other is an idiot, talk about a delicate topic like religion!?! LOL! 

You have the wrong impression of me, Selina! Let's talk about it over lunch, I'll treat.

I think it is ironic that I have asked every single Christ Church supporter that has posted on the V out to lunch, and not one has accepted my offer. Yet I'm the one who is against open debate!?! You hate my politics so much that you won't even join me for lunch, yet I'm close-minded!?!

Be the first, Selina! Actually, today a late afternoon beer at the Silos would work best given my schedule. My son has a soccer game at noon, 2-4 is good.  

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 31, 2009, at 9:08 AM, Selina Davis <selinadavis at hotmail.com> wrote:

Naw, I wasn't expecting a mutually respectful debate on the screen.  I meant a mutually respectful discussion among those of us in the audience afterward.  I'm familiar with Chris Hitchens' work and his persona as a conservative, boozy intellectual/writer given to throwing rhetorical bombs.   That's his charm.  It sounds like the film might be entertaining and fodder for good discussion, though.

I enjoyed the Newsweek religion editor's take on it ... but I expect that I will feel compelled to watch the movie anyway.  http://www.newsweek.com/id/219009

- Selina

> Date: Sat, 31 Oct 2009 07:59:43 -0700
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Local Media Celebrity
> From: thansen at moscow.com
> To: philosopher.joe at gmail.com
> CC: selinadavis at hotmail.com; vision2020 at moscow.com
> 
> I simply write this whole debate thing off as some kind of theological
> soap opera, Joe.
> 
> Holy Rapture, Batman!
> 
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
> 
> > Mutally respectful discussion from Hitchens and Wilson? You haven't
> > really followed the debate, have you. Hitchens thinks that
> > fundamentalists like Wilson are dangerous idiots. He also thinks that
> > ALL Christians are fundamentalists. Thus, religion in general is
> > nothing more than dangerous idiocy.
> >
> > Wilson, of course, thinks that Christianity allows for slavery -- that
> > some slavery is permissable -- and has written -- well, at least wrote
> > part of since the original work was partly ripped if from a
> > discredited academic source -- a revisionist history of American
> > slavery, where it turns out that the best race relations in the
> > country happened when we kept blacks in chains!
> >
> > This is not an academic debate -- they have exactly one MA between
> > them. This is a circus, where difficult issues about religion are
> > glossed over in favor of insulting generalizations. Of course, this
> > kind of crap has always sold well!
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> > On Oct 26, 2009, at 10:10 PM, Selina Davis <selinadavis at hotmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> And here's the link to info about the movie:
> >> http://www.collisionmovie.com/
> >> and a link to Pastor Wilson with Chris Hitchens for an hour on the
> >> nationally-syndicated Laura Ingraham Show today (haven't listened to
> >> it yet): http://right-mind.us/blogs/blog_0/archive/2009/10/23/70483.aspx
> >>
> >> It's always intriguing when someone around here gains a degree of
> >> notoriety beyond our region. Can we anticipate a showing and
> >> spirited (yet hopefully mutually respectful) discussion at the Nuart
> >> and/or Kenworthy sometime soon?
> >>
> >> - Selina
> >>
> >> Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:41:30 -0700
> >> From: rforce2003 at yahoo.com
> >> To: vision2020 at moscow.com
> >> Subject: [Vision2020] Local Media Celebrity
> >>
> >> fighting words
> >> Faith No More
> >> What I've learned from debating religious people around the world.
> >> By Christopher Hitchens
> >> Posted Monday, Oct. 26, 2009, at 11:21 AM ET
> >>
> >> This week sees the opening on various cinema marquees of the film
> >> Collision: a buddy-and-road movie featuring last year's debates
> >> between Pastor Douglas Wilson, who is a senior fellow at New St.
> >> Andrew's College, and your humble servant. (If I may be forgiven,
> >> it's also available on DVD, and you can buy our little book of
> >> exchanges, Is Christianity Good for the World?)
> >>
> >> Newsweek's reviewer beseeches you not to go and see the film,
> >> largely on the grounds that it features two middle-aged white men
> >> trying to establish which one is the dominant male. I would have
> >> thought that this would be reason enough to buy a ticket, but
> >> perhaps she would have preferred the debate held in London last week
> >> featuring me and Stephen Fry (two magnificent specimens of white
> >> mammalhood) versus a female member of Parliament who is a Tory
> >> Catholic convert and the Roman Catholic archbishop of Abuja,
> >> Nigeria. It filled one of the largest halls in the city, and many
> >> people had to be turned away. For a combination of reasons, the
> >> subject of religion is back where it always ought to beâ€”at the very
> >> center of any argument about the clash of world views.
> >>
> >> Continues at: http://www.slate.com/id/2233586/
> >>
> >>
> >> Windows 7: Simplify your PC. Learn more.
> >> =======================================================
> >> List services made available by First Step Internet,
> >> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
> >> http://www.fsr.net
> >> mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> >> =======================================================
> > =======================================================
> > List services made available by First Step Internet,
> > serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
> > http://www.fsr.net
> > mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> > =======================================================
> 
> 
> "The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
> and the Realist adjusts his sails."
> 
> - Unknown
> 
> 

Windows 7: It works the way you want. Learn more.  		 	   		  
_________________________________________________________________
Windows 7: Simplify your PC. Learn more.
http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/windows-7/default.aspx?ocid=PID24727::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WWL_WIN_evergreen1:102009
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20091031/fc5b1fd0/attachment-0001.html 