79keen in their right to sin. They argued that we’re not
angels walking on earth, and God is expecting re-
pentance. What does that achieve? Rather than
producing an interpretation that legalizes your sym-
bolic bacon, it produces a “relationship with scrip-
ture” that looks at texts in a completely different
way. It ’s no longer a matter of strict legal injunctions
but a spiritual, mystical relationship with God, a
journey.
These two methodologies, the view that no text
speaks for itself, and our relationship to scripture
being about spirituality more than legalese, do not
require one to be a believer in God to concede the
point.Harris Well, that’s all very interest ing. I agree that
fi nding a scriptural basis for liberally interpreting
scripture will be indispensable. And the distinc-
tion you make between the intellectual prob lem
and the pragmatic one is, in the context of this
conversation, my primary concern. Despite what
I said about the problems of religious modera-
tion, I have no interest in debating you on the
existence of God, or even on the legitimacy of
believing that the Qur’an is the word of God. As I
said, I want to support you, and I see your job as
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