In fact it’s no longer as though everyone has to participate in each dialog. i do know that. yet don’t atheists have anything to give a contribution to discussions approximately “God’s function in human affairs”? Jacob: evidently. the concept atheists aren't welcome in discussions of faith could be a wrong artifact of an easy assumption, namely—if you're not non secular, then you definately haven't any belief of God or theology. yet you do have such conceptions, don’t you, Phil? Phil: Hmm . . . Is trick query, intended to transform me? My belief is that God is a legendary being most folk think in, no matter if the tips they've got approximately God range generally. additionally, I comprehend theology because the theories humans have approximately God, the divine, and so forth. And, simply because i don't think “God” truly exists, I’m no longer (I confess) all that drawn to discussing conceptions of theology. yet you’re correct that if one frames a talk as concerning the perception of God instead of approximately even if a given establishment really displays God’s will, then i would have much to assert. shall we, for instance, speak about which conceptions of God, and which non secular associations, do extra to serve the great, in comparison to others. Is that what you’re getting at? Jacob: convinced. That’s simply what I’m pondering. Why now not open the dialog up?! Brigham younger taught primary precept of precise faith is to just accept fact from no matter what resource it comes. during the last couple of years, I fell in love with my evangelical acquaintances’ clean exuberance for his or her religion. extra lately, I even have came upon titanic reservoirs of peace and extra aid through meditative suggestions of the Buddhist mindfulness culture. And so instead of seeing somebody such as you, Phil, as beside the point to a dialogue of spirituality and religion—why no longer provide position as spiritual conservatives to questions, insights, and issues from you and others with a purpose to train us extra approximately ourselves? You’ve performed loads of that for me up to now. as well as instructing us extra approximately ourselves, maybe this sort of an open dialog might make clear stereotypes within the opposite path (e. g. , “Wow, those conservative parents aren’t the goons the media makes them out to be”). Phil: great. Jacob: To sum up, the discussion we suggest may possibly foster larger collective information of (a) particular stipulations found in non secular corporations that result in fit person progress and overall healthiness and (b) different stipulations that result in the opposite. Phil: I agree once more. perhaps this can be a sturdy time for us to speak about one other establishment which may get liberals and conservatives scorching less than the collar: the mass media. I’ll choose the hole query. Is the mass media ruled via a “liberal elite”? Phil: i believe pressured to make a speech: Many conservatives, like James Dobson, Robert Bork, Rush Limbaugh, and William J. Bennett, argue that the worlds of journalism, leisure, better schooling, and artwork (“the media”) have for many years been ruled by means of liberals who're, to exploit Bennett’s phrases, “nihilist,” “hedonist,” “atheist,” “relativist,” and “ideological.