Our family enjoyed a huge celebration this past weekend when our older daughter graduated from college. She and I made a trip to New York for a long weekend to honor her achievement (and the tuition savings I now look forward to!). As a part of that weekend, we attended the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. Frankly, I had no real expectations for what we would see and was delighted at the extravaganza of dancers, 3-D imagery, and shock and awe special effects. Most pleasantly surprising was that the final 15 minutes were devoted to a dramatic reading and portrayal of the Christmas story itself from the Gospel of Luke. Unabridged and unabashed. It was wonderful. In an era where NPR commentators like Nina Totenberg apologize for using the phrase "Christmas party" on air, it was heartening to know that some folks fully celebrate Christmas as CHRIST-mas. After all, that is the holiday's name. Even at Radio City Music Hall. Merry Christmas!

Great column in Forbes this week by British historian, Paul Johnson, regarding Pope Benedict's recent visit to Britain. I highly recommend it. His point: the Pope's visit reminds the world, and the West in particular, that the Christian faith can hold its own in the realm of reason. And do so with grace even in the face of cold skepticism or outright hostility. I love this paragraph most: And when the people begin to think about nonmaterial issues - about the spiritual significance of death, the possibility of a future life, the notion of eternity and the meaning of personal morals - they tend to lean toward the view that a life totally without God is not enough. The Pope's visit was powerful, made all the moreso by the fresh reminders this week of the non-ending assault from the Islamic world on Western freedom. A secular worldview is poorly equipped to understand what that assault is all about and why it cannot simply be wished away or warred away. This week, a Muslim male was arrested in Hawaii on terrorism charges, and a Virginia man of the religion of peace was charged with plotting jihad on Washington train systems. Not to mention the present cargo plane issue regarding planes coming here from Yemen. Or the mysterious shootings on federal government locations which still have not been attributed. All the while, the number one name for newborn males in Britain? Mohammed. British secularists are ill-equipped to deal with the threat that is Islam to the ideals of equality, freedom, and tolerance. May the Pope's visit remind them that the quest for truth and eternity, meaning and significance, cannot merely be discarded as silly and irrelevant.

So Ginny Thomas calls Anita Hill at 7:30 in the morning on a Saturday morning. The only people I call at that time are the police. And even then, I apologize for disturbing them. 20 years after Anita Hill's testimony about alleged sexual harassment during Clarence Thomas' confirmation hearings? 20 years? Sounds like Ginny has been stewing and percolating for a long time to say the least. And then asks Anita Hill to consider issuing an apology "for what you did." This is an olive branch? An olive branch is an invitation to dinner just to smooth over the past. An olive branch is an apology. An olive branch is not an invitation to you to consider giving me an apology. 20 years later. That is a thumb in the eye. However, apologies are tough no matter who you are. Apologies can be the most powerful words in a relationship. They can be life-transforming. On the other hand, a poor apology can make matters even worse. Significant, meaningful apologies contain 4 A's Admit that you did something wrong. "I messed up. I said something that I should not have said (or I did something inappropriate)." Acknowledge that your behavior or words hurt someone. "I know that I hurt you." Do NOT say IF or BUT. "I am sorry IF your feelings were hurt" makes it sound like the problem is the hurt person's sensibilities rather than your own error. "I know I hurt you BUT you need to understand the circumstances" makes you sound defensive and less than sincere. Ask for forgiveness. "Please forgive me." Assure that you will try to learn from the mistake and not repeat the harmful action again. "I realize that I made a mistake and I will work hard not to do it again." Good apologies are short, clear, and about the hurt person's healing rather than about the offender's need to explain.

Very interesting. A new study by Georga Barna shows that 88% of Americans now say that "religion is very important to my life." That is a shocking figure. Particularly given that the most recent Gallup poll showed only 54% of us say "faith is very important" to me. The Gallup poll has hovered around 60% for the past 15 years and is at its lowest point right now. Weird. What gives? Is religion different from faith somehow? Is faith life seeing a new resurgence? The recession is pushing some of us to re-evaluate what is really important in our lives. But that cannot be the whole explanation for such a large disparity between these two studies. Barna's research also reveals that 3 out of 4 say that we are open to experiencing God in new ways and prefer to develop beliefs on our own rather than accept the beliefs in sum from a particular church or institution. We Americans are pure individualists. We like it our way. That is not always good - sometimes we need the help of others in order to discover what is true. When it comes to spirituality, the more wisdom you can gain from the wise counsel of others the better. I'd love to hear what you think.

For those who enjoy or would like to hear the remaining portions of my interview with Christopher Hitchens, author of "God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything," here it is. As I have shared previously, I learned a lot from this interview. Mainly that I need to learn to ask questions better. He simply took off in his own direction with his own agenda - that should not have surprised me. But I managed it poorly and the twenty minutes got away before I really accomplished what I had hoped. So, my responses to the key areas have already been posted. Here is the rest. Enjoy!

As promised, more of the Christopher Hitchens interview. I had three primary areas I wanted to hear from Hitchens about. Two were posted earlier. Two more posts today from my conversation with a leading anti-theist and author of "God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything." First, I am always curious how atheists view the origin of the universe. Beyond evolution, matter had to come from somewhere. Either, matter was created by God, or it simply appeared out of nowhere. Physics can take us back to that point but cannot explain the original creative burst (bang). I see no other real options. Both require a step of faith to explain the beginning of the universe. Either matter appeared out of nothingness (Poof! It's magic), or a Creator, who always has been, created it (or spoke it into existence as Genesis and John suggest). Hitchens refuses to acknowledge that and says we simply don't know although we eventually may.
I am reminded of the old joke Scientist approaches God a little cockily – “We’ve just cloned a sheep. That proves it.” God: “Proves what?’ Scientist: “Proves that we can do everything these poor people on earth attribute to you.” God: “Everything?” Scientist: “Everything. Now we can even create life out of nothing. Look at this sheep. Test me – I can do it all.” God: “Make a man.” Scientist scoops up some dirt God: “Wait a minute there, fellow. Get your own dirt.” And that really is a point isn’t it? The old philosopher was right – if you wanna make an apple pie truly from scratch, first you have to make the universe. Second, my nemesis and friend, Erik, suggested I ask Hitchens about the recent ARIS results. American Religious Identification Survey. It showed that fewer Americans call themselves Christians as opposed to 20 years ago; however, those former Christians have not become atheists. They have largely become "Do it Yourselfers" when it comes to spirituality. They make it up for themselves. The number of self-declared atheists has remained largely constant over the years at between 1 and 2% of Americans. Why is that so? As we become increasingly secular and educated, does this not show that there is some inherent part of us humans that yearns (and indeed is created for) God and a higher purpose? Why are we not evolving to become more atheistic if there really is no God whatsoever. I had a hard time getting Hitchens to understand the question - or perhaps he had no real answer.
Finally, much of our "interview" was his simply ignoring the question (or my phrasing it poorly), so later in the week, I will post his comments without commentary since he wandered off the areas I was most curious about.

As I mentioned on the show on Sunday, I spoke with Christopher Hitchens (author of God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything) last week. I find Hitchens fascinating, partly for his intellectual capacities and partly for his dark, brooding, angry demeanor. So much so, that I actually bought his book about a year ago in hard copy. Paid full price for it too. Dang it - now they send me a free paperback edition of it! Hitchens is an ardent anti-theist. He not only denies the existence of any God; he also blames religion, namely Christianity, for most of the evils that have ever happened in world history. An amazing position, and often one that is disingenuous at best, dishonest at worst. Dark, brooding and angry. My goals for our conversation were simple. I was allotted 20 minutes, so I aimed to ask a few directed questions and get his honest reactions. As modest as my goal was, I still failed! I barely uttered a half-question before he took off with the answers he wanted to give. Still interesting and worth the effort but a bit disappointing nonetheless. Two of his answers most merit discussion- if just for the astonishment they produce. First, I asked him what he hopes for. As a person who does not experience hope through faith, God, resurrection, or eternity, what does one hope for? Hitchens' answered surprised me - and depressed me. In sum, Hitchens hopes for a day when all humans are completely free from any sense of concern about God, free to do whatever they choose however they choose. That strikes me as really odd. And not much to hope for. Feels a lot like hoping for anarchy. When we can do whatever we wish, what will that be? How will that be much different than how we live right now - at least in America? If that is all there is to hope for, then let's eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. Perhaps Hitchens should aim lower and just embrace hedonism. Second, I am fascinated at how Hitchens can insist that religion is evil in every way, a deception that breeds sociopathic behavior. So I asked about the goods done by religion in history and how he reconciles his own convictions with the simple facts of the destructive power of atheistic regimes - e.g., the mass murders of Stalin (20MM), Mao (70MM), and Hitler (10MM). More than 100MM murdered in one century by atheistic regimes. Not to mention Lenin, Krushchev, Pol Pot, et al. And these atrocities were committed in peacetime and on their own fellow countrymen! The Crusades, the Inquisition, and witch burnings, in contrast, killed approximately 200,000 people (adjusted for population = 1 MM deaths today). Hitchens tries to dodge the issue by claiming that communism is really a religion and cannot be categorized as atheistic. Are you kidding me? That is the whole of your response? Finally, I do highly recommend his book. That is important to say - because I think it does stretch people of faith, like myself, to see things and hear things in new ways. And to engage with persons who differ from us. As I said, I bought the book long before I was asked to interview Hitchens, a man who benefitted from the Christian underpinnings and education of Britain and ironically is unable to see it. But a fascinating man nonetheless.

On Tuesday, I experienced "Bi-Polar Day." On the show, we rarely do interviews. We get dozens of requests each week from authors and persons desiring to be on the show, but that is not what our show is really all about. However, this week I decided to do interviews with Christopher Hitchens (prominent anti-theist and author of the best-selling God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything) and Max Lucado (well-known Christian pastor and author of dozens of books including his new one, His Name is Jesus). Talk about complete opposites! A real bi-polar experience. I will share a few snippets of each interview as part of the show live this Sunday night. Next week, we will also post larger portions of the interviews here on the site for you to enjoy. I have long appreciated Lucado for his masterful story-telling and creativity. His vantage point on real life and faith stimulates me regularly. He was gracious and warm, as is his wont. His new book is a coffee table style devotional re-telling of the life and experiences of Jesus. In particular, my time with Hitchens was interesting. I was given only 20 minutes so I tried to ask some directed questions and let him respond. I was not particularly effective at keeping him on subject- in fact, I was terrible at it! Nevertheless, I appreciated the opportunity to engage with someone who sees things so radically differently from myself - especially during the days of Holy Week. I have read his book and found it to be angry and belligerent but also exceptionally thought-provoking and faith-stretching. He and I do not agree on much, although there are some points we hold in common (like the threat of Islamic fascists whose views leave no room for anyone who disagrees). I find him to be intellectually sloppy, even partially dishonest, on many things, but he is a fascinating person and a provocative thinker. The conversation grew me forward. I look forward to sharing some of Hitchens and Lucado with you on the show this weekend. May your Holy Thursday be rich and blessed.