Okay, let me just come out and say it: I have a blogcrush on Hemant Mehta of Friendly Atheist fame. He’s charting a good path in the atheist blogosphere, and doing some damn important work. I love how he engages with Christians and other religious folk. He is, frankly, one of the best voices in the atheist blogosphere. Thanks, Hemant.
Case in point: today he posted his interview with Candace Chellew-Hodge, an LGBT Christian activist, who has a book coming out soon for gay Christians. You owe it to yourself to read the interview, which you can find here: Interview with Candace Chellew-Hodge, Gay Friendly Pastor.
She has a lot of wisdom to share in this interview. And not just on the LGBT issue: what she says about dealing with the other side is something that we atheists could learn a thing or two from. Lordie knows that I’m fully aware of how easy it is to get angry in the face of stark, ugly hate and prejudice. But she has some practical points about that, and there’s the one at the start of the interview, which weirdly synced with my vegan explorations a bit: I want to live my life in a way in which love and compassion are the primary impulses. It was good to hear that reminder.
It’s given me a lot to think about in terms of how I engage, especially in light of a few comments I had here on Atheist A Go-Go! in the early going that made it too tempting for me to jump to the snark.
There’s other thinkie thoughts brimming in my head right now, some of which get tied up in some stuff from Daniel Dennett’s Breaking the Spell. Maybe that will be another post soon.
3 Comments
31 July 2008 at 8:48 pm
I appreciate the support. And blog-crushiness
I promise there are more good things to come!
31 July 2008 at 9:09 pm
Thanks for stopping by! And I know you’ll continue to do cool things.
*goes and quietly fanboys in the corner*
1 August 2008 at 3:11 pm
i dig this bit from the interview: “I love pagans because their rituals are rich with meaning. They don’t have a “god” that they worship, but they have a deep sense of the holy — a deep sense of awe at being alive. That is a deeply spiritual connection — deeper than most Christians I know.”
“…a deep sense of awe at being alive.” that is what i strive for, and respect in others.
cool linkage — thanks for sharing.
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