Sunday, May 01, 2005

Chopra and Koukl on Faith Under Fire

So, what did y'all think about the show? Until now, my only real exposure to New Age was from Neale Donald Walsch. Although Chopra did seem to commit a few logical mistakes in his thinking, he did not strike me as being half as crazy as Walsch.

7 comments:

Paul said...

Chopra seemed very big on a religion of the uncertain and unknown. It seems to me that he was, then, doing us a disservice by condescending to make known to us anything at all about the nature of God. We must be cautious lest we get caught in the mire of "dogma" ;-)

I have to wonder, if he is so uncertain and undogmatic about these things, then why ought we to take any note of his idle musings? It seems to me that we should be much more interested to hear the ideas of one who thinks he's got the tiger by the tail, so to speak.

Mike - hotfudgesunday.blogspot.com said...

I didn't think Greg came across well (and I'm a 15 year fan). My guess is the adrenaline was pumping.

Greg was talking so fast that, even as an above average thinker who's familiar with his arguments, I couldn't process all he was saying. And presenting his arguments in such a rapid manner, to me, he came across overbearing.

I got the impression that maybe they edited the show, because Greg seemed to jump in really fast without prompting. Sometimes Greg seemed to be responding to points Chopra hadn't made. I got the impression Greg had done his homework and read Chopra's books, but I, like probably most of the audience, hadn't. It seemed like Greg was trying to refute Chopra written work before Chopra had even had a chance to present it, which didn't seem gracious.

This is so strange for me to say, but I thought Greg came across a little like a narrow minded bully. I certainly don't think that's what Greg is. I wholeheartedly support him and his ministry. But that was my honest impression last night as I watched it. (In 15 years, this is the only time he's come across that way to me.) I think Greg's points were probably all valid, but the presentation didn't seem "winsome."

Did anyone else get this same impression?

I think, when you are in a forum like that, you need to just accept the fact that you aren't going to have time to make all the arguments you're capable of making. For the audience to keep up, you're going to have to pick and choose your points.

Sam Harper said...

Mike, I noticed some of the same things you did. There were some moments when I got the impression Greg decided what he was going to say before the show started, so he wasn't really responding to so much to what Chorpa was saying as he was making points he had decided beforehand to make. And I agree he often made his arguments so fast it would've been hard for somebody to follow if they weren't already familiar with Greg's arguments.

I didn't think Greg came off as quite the bully you did, though. His rapid talking gave me the impression that he was nervous, not that he was overbearing. Chopra seemed a lot more relaxed, and even when he was visibly irritated at being accused of being disingenuous, he still spoke slowly and clearly.

Thanks for your thoughts, Paul and Mike.

Mike - hotfudgesunday.blogspot.com said...
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Mike - hotfudgesunday.blogspot.com said...

I can be talked out of the term "bully." 8 )

I know Greg didn't mean to come across that way. And certainly he didn't pick on the guy or put him down. Just the intensity of his delivery really seemed out of place considering the demeanor of his opponent. Chopra seemed like a nice, gracious guy.

Jeff said...

Greg addresses some of his demeanor, the environment he was in, etc... on the 4/25/05 Stand to Reason program.

Sam Harper said...

Thanks for the information Scott. I would love to go, but I'm all tied up that weekend. :-(