This week we decided to take on one of the BIG topics – religion and faith. We wanted to talk about intolerance on both sides of the equation and why we feel it’s worth listening to the other side – whether you believe in God or not.

There are two TED videos that we thought were particularly good at discussing the middle ground – or pissing off both sides (whichever way you want to think about it):
 

This talk by Tony Jack is particularly interesting in the last half, where he talks about the fact that people who hold religious beliefs have a longer life span (by 7-10 years), have better psychological health, better emotional regulation and higher emotional intelligence – even those that hold to fundamentalist forms of religion.

 

 
Michael Dowd suggests that we shouldn’t waste time arguing about whether religion or science are correct but use an approach of sacred realism or factual faith. He says “reality is my God, evidence is my scripture, big history is my creation story, ecology is my theology, integrity is my salvation, and ensuring a just and healthy future is my mission.” If we could all describe our beliefs so succinctly it would be much easier to have a conversation about it.