THE QUESTION

Rally for reason?

Editor's note: At Saturday's rally, religious references abounded, including a benediction by Father Guido Sarducci, the awarding of a reasonableness award to 'Dude you have no Koran's' Jacob Ison, a spirited debate between Colbert and Stewart, "Reason is how mankind advances," Stewart said, and an appearance by Muslim basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: "A real friend understands that no matter what religious position someone plays, we're all on the same team."

Stewart closed by insisting that his event "was not a rally to ridicule people of faith," but added, "We live now in hard times, not end times." He referenced recent debates about Islam: "The inability to distinguish terrorists from Muslims makes us less safe, not more."

In the final monologue, Stewart said that while Americans' beliefs are often in opposition, we find away to get along 'concession by concession.'

"There will always be darkness and sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel isn't the promised land. Sometimes it's just New Jersey. But we do it anyway, together."

Our weekly question:

The "rally to restore sanity" took place two months after Glenn Beck's religion-infused "Restoring Honor" rally. Beck said he was called by God to hold the rally. Now atheist groups are planning to use Stewart's event to promote "reason." Are "reason" and "sanity" the opposite of religious belief? Is taking religion out of the political debate the answer for restoring reason? Or do we need more faith?

Read more Washington Post coverage of the Stewart/ Colbert rallies here.

Posted by Elizabeth Tenety on October 25, 2010 3:28 PM

FROM THE PANEL

The heart too has its reasons

You will never succeed in taking religion out of political debate, because man doesn't live by bread alone.

Posted by Thomas G. Bohlin, on November 1, 2010 4:57 PM

We need more faith in our politics

We need more faith in our politics and in our public discourse. We need a faith that allows us to imagine a better world. Faith begins where reason ends

Posted by Valerie Elverton Dixon, on October 29, 2010 2:28 PM

Glenn Beck and the faithful are attacking faith

Glenn Beck and other right-wing demagogues are so obviously irrational and self-serving that it's not their message that is troubling; the message will never prevail in an advanced industrial society that depends on maximum coherence to keep functioning.

Posted by Deepak Chopra, on October 29, 2010 12:33 PM

Beware of decrees from heaven in the political arena

This weekend, Jon Stewart is holding "a rally to restore sanity" on the mall, two months after Glenn Beck's religion-infused "Restoring Honor" rally. Beck said he was called by God to hold the rally. Now atheist groups are planning to...

Posted by Rajan Zed, on October 29, 2010 11:22 AM

People of faith just as fed up as nonbelievers

People of faith are just as fed up as nonbelievers are with the fear mongering and demagoguery peddled by Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and their fellow travelers in politics. The faith community shouldn't cede religion to them. We should take it back.

Posted by Jennifer Butler, on October 29, 2010 11:06 AM

Spiritual reasoning vital to my faith

I've always found it so strange that critics of Christian Science accuse its members of having no choice--of blindly following its teachings. My faith has actually taught me to be a critical thinker--to question, probe and challenge the premise of every assertion with the need to see how practical and beneficial it really is in daily life.

Posted by Phil Davis, on October 29, 2010 9:24 AM

Atheism also a matter of faith

Faith is, obviously, a matter of faith. It's a belief that there is such a thing as God (or Gods). Atheism, also, is a matter of faith.

Posted by Pamela K. Taylor, on October 28, 2010 12:43 PM

It is like fist fights between two blind men

The claim that atheism is a form of sanity is just a slightly different expression of pseudo-religious fanaticism.

Posted by Adin Steinsaltz, on October 28, 2010 9:40 AM

Imagine more religion

Religion is the "reason" our country is sane. Why are liberals scared of religion's influence in politics? It has nothing to do with faith and everything to do with power. When religious people vote, progressives lose.

Posted by Jordan Sekulow, on October 27, 2010 12:37 PM

My faith values Jon Stewart's sanity

I don't mind the Washington Coalition of Reason promoting "reason" because for me, there is no dichotomy between faith and reason.

Posted by Janet Edwards, on October 27, 2010 11:58 AM

Break between faith and reason not that great

There is no contradiction between faith and reason; rather, there is a fine, yet strong connection, a connection which has allowed God's work to be enhanced and improved upon.

Posted by Susan K. Smith, on October 27, 2010 9:05 AM

Faith seeks understanding

Not everybody who says in his heart "there is no God" is a fool, but everybody who says in his heart "we have a corner on reason" is a fool: including Christians.

Posted by John Mark Reynolds, on October 26, 2010 2:16 PM

If you want reason, you won't find it in religion

Religious belief does not require abandoning all reason. It does, however, require gross distortion of reality -- a bending of the truth.

Posted by Hemant Mehta, on October 26, 2010 1:50 PM

Religious belief is not insanity

The real difficultly that we face developing a rational approach to the inclusion religious belief in our public debate is the assumption that, by its nature, it is the opposite of "reason" and "sanity." Removing religious belief from the public debate runs the risk of removing much of the goodness that religion has to offer as well.

Posted by Ramdas Lamb, on October 26, 2010 10:27 AM

Cubby-hole thinking

The purpose of any system of belief -- whether it is called religion, philosophy or world-view -- is to make sense of and give meaning to life.

Posted by Jack Moline, on October 26, 2010 9:08 AM

Nothing unreasonable about religious belief

Anti-faith personalities like Jon Stewart and Richard Dawkins might think that they have all the answers, but real believers know that only God does.

Posted by Danielle Bean, on October 26, 2010 9:08 AM

We need more faith and more reason

From a Catholic perspective, not only is religion not opposed to reason, it vigorously promotes it.

Posted by Fr. Frank Pavone, on October 26, 2010 9:04 AM

Rally for humility

Reason and sanity are by no means the opposite of religious belief.

Posted by Julia Neuberger, on October 26, 2010 3:15 AM

To restore sanity, restore diversity

When we take a step back and realize that the "conflict" is an imaginary dualism, powered as much by mainstream media and cynical politicians as it is by extremists on either side, we can then expend our energy on more useful dialectics

Posted by Jason Pitzl-Waters, on October 25, 2010 7:10 PM

Faith in reason

Some may think reason and sanity are the opposite of religion, and some may not. Let arguments be heard, not stifled.

Posted by Herb Silverman, on October 25, 2010 6:47 PM

Reason no guarantee of morality

Reason and sanity are no guarantors of taking the right path.

Posted by Max Carter, on October 25, 2010 6:04 PM

God bless sanity in religion and in politics

A faith that is zealous enough to ignore hard realities in favor of dogma is inarguably a form of insanity.

Posted by Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, on October 25, 2010 5:22 PM

Let's rally for reason and secularism

Public life would benefit greatly from re-instituting a few "religion-free zones."

Posted by Tom Flynn, on October 25, 2010 4:49 PM

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