"A little ignorance goes a long way!"

If religion were just a matter of listening to soothing music in a beautiful cathedral while humbly pondering the unknowable, I'd be all for it. Unfortunately, the picture Mr. Cares paints is far from the reality of real world religious belief and practice. I'm sure there are millions of believers around the globe who would be shocked to hear their deeply held faith (for which they would kill or die) is merely a form of benign navel-gazing.

"The earth as a whole is getting more and more religious. But it has nonetheless become more and more preoccupied with conflict."

Nonetheless?

“if a concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more loving. If God cannot do this, then it is time we got rid of him.”

James Baldwin

Here's a good place: I don't care how good the poetry is, I'm not gonna worship it. No matter how good the poetry is, it does zero to prove that there is a god.

Here's another place: "To be an atheist, you have to be very clear about what god you're not believing in."

Well, no, actually.

Yet another: "[R. Dawkins and S. Harris are]very smart people, but they are not historians or scholars of religion. Therefore, it's too easy for them to pass off a quick notion of what religion is."

Dude. DUDE! Carse dodged the "what is religion" question on each page this interview. You want 'em to define something you trumpet as undefinable before they can criticise it? C'mon! The history and scholarship of the ancient Greeks in no way shape or form lends credibility to thier gods.

Here is a delicious irony: Right after the "scholar and history" comment, Carse says this: "To be an atheist is not to be stunned by the mystery of things or to walk around in wonder about the universe." Clearly showing his ignorance of the scholarship and history of athiesm.

That's like a pot throwing kettles at a house made of black glass.

There is more that can said, of course, but this is a pretty good place to begin.

I studied with Professor Carse many years ago at NYU and it was an experience I continue to treasure. I can tell you that the scene he describes, of a room full of students not breathing, was probably due as much to Carse as to Aquinas. He not only illuminated the poetry in religious texts for his students, he created plenty of it himself. I greatly look forward to reading his book.

...They're getting elected to office, sitting on the Supreme Court, getting their own television shows, and marginalizing religion everywhere.

Oh, wait a minute...NO, THEY ARE NOT.

Being an atheist is an instant death sentence to any political, entertainment, or public service ambitions.

So - STFU. Atheists are still the one group it is politically correct to persecute into silence.

Until *that* injustice is taken care of, religion isn't the one that needs rescuing.

If you don't like what "true believers" are doing to your religion, start your own, and leave them to their own devices.

No compromises needed, thanks.

People like Tobbar are idiots. Learned idiots, perhaps, but idiots nevertheless. If you read Finite and Infinite Games, you can achieve a better idea of the kinds of mystery that are at the heart of James Carse's thinking. Here, while somewhat oblique in his answers to the interview questions, he nevertheless makes some powerful points about how the great religions are aligning more with rival political systems than providing any kind of meaningful religious experience to their adherents.

For my part, I am ashamed to admit I didn't know he had a new book. Both Finite and Infinite Games and Breakfast at the Victory were some of the best reading I've found. Best I can tell he is one of the most brilliant minds of his generation. His writing is mysterious, mystical, and yet well-grounded. His ideas about politics and the environment, in particular, are worthwhile, for people seeking insight and understanding, though they may be anathema to dogmatic believers such as Tobbar. Theologians who don't believe are probably a dime a dozen, but Carse is something special. I'll certainly give his new book a close read.

Hamlet is poetry. Religion is a group of people convinced that Hamlet is not only the greatest play ever written, but a true and accurate account of Danish history. Religion is also another group of people who plant bombs in theaters showing Hamlet, in the name of Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Good one.

Now there's a meme that needs to die a quick death...

This appears to be yet another variation on the common criticism that folks like Dawkins, Harris, Dennett, etc just don't understand religion well enough to criticize it.

The Minnesota biology professor PZ Myers calls this the "Courtier's Reply" argument:

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/12/the_courtiers_reply.php

I'll admit that I have great appreciation for the stories and myths in the religion of my childhood and other religions.

But I would also politely suggest that these stories are important because they say something about the humans who created these stories and who still find meaning in them. These stories and myths are not important because of any divine connection.

As a Christian I find the comment about the dwindling of Christianity very interesting and agree to a great extent. So much of "Christianity" is cultural christianity -- the megachurches being a prime example. The megachurches are American, not Christian. The same goes for military chaplains blessing the war in Iraq, "christian" weight loss programs and fashion shows. True Christianity will always be counter-cultural and will always be a minority faith. In Africa, true Christians will stand with gay people who are being persecuted, and ethnic minorities. In America and Europe they will stand with poor people and against multinational corporations. In the middle east they will stand with women. Etc. They will always be persecuted. That is central to Christianity because Christianity is God becoming flesh and standing with those who are afflicted.