Second in a series of two stories

By JOHN NORTH

Atheist-secular humanist Billy Kelly drew return fire for making a number of skeptical comments about faith during an interfaith panel discussion Nov. 12 in the Grotto at UNC Asheville’s Highsmith University Union.

The program on “Is Religion Relevant Today?” drew a standing-room-only audience of about 100 people. A panel discussion featured about 16 represenatives of different ideas, religious and secular.

The goal of the interfaith dialogue was education and religio us literacy, organizers said.

After Kelly asked for proof of various faith assertions, Steve Rasmussen, a Witch, said, “Frankly, I think it’s quite arrogant of us to say there’s no deity out there.”

Lady Passion, a fellow Witch and Rasmussen’s wife, added, “To that, I’d add that science was preceded by magic.”

Kelly replied, “I hope I’m not being arrogant, but the burden of proof is on the plaintiff.”

A Jewish rabbi noted, “Ideally, there’s a core of humility and gratitude” in both Judaism and Islam. “We can argue the same is true of science.”

On a lighter note, he prompted laughter from his fellow panelists and the crowd when he quipped, “It’s hard to be humble when you’re a human.”

Next, the panel addressed: “Is Religion Relevant to Society?” “Does Evil Exist?” “Is Asheville a Cesspool of Sin?”

The Reform Jewish rabbi on the panel said, “People come to my (place of worship) for a sense of unity,” to reach their potential and to transcend who they are.

From her point of view, evil exists. “I don’t think any of us would be so arrogant as to say there’s no evil. The responsibility (in Judaism) is within the individual.”

A Zen Buddhist said he does not like the “dichotomy of the individual and ‘other.’ How can we have peace in the world unless you have peace in your individual world? Who really are you?”

However, Lady Passion said, “Pagans would say, ‘We’re not evil at all.’”

A Christan man on the panel countered, “Objectively, evil exists. When evil is on our doorstep, we’d recognize it ... Christianity would say to see the evil out there” — and out there “is made up of people. If there’s evil out there, isn’t it likely it’d be inside us, too?”

A Zeb Buddhist asserted, “Zen is above morality., but morality is not above Zen. Evil is delusion in our original nature.”

A Sikh on the panel said, “From the Sikh point of view, we don’t come here to be spiritual. We’re already spiritual.”

The Conservative Rabbi said, “The balance between ego and selflessness — it requires a great depth of self-awareness ... It’s not about spirits, but that each of us is a complex being.”

A Muslim asked, “How can you know the importance of good if you don’t hear evil? We have to control our actions.”

A Catholic priest on the panel said St. Thomas Aquinas “defined evil as the absence of good.” He added that “every Catholic church welcomes sinners.”

Speaking from a Sikh perspective, a panelist said, “We don’t come to the answers to life through our heads. We really need to be in our hearts. If you kneel down and bow for 11 minutes, you would find life is not so bad.”

Further, the Sikh said, “All of this talk) is not just scientific and not just faith, there’s experiential,” too.

Rasmussen, a Witch, said, “We’ve got 1 percent controlling most of the resources ... Greed had been elevated ... Honestly, if you look around you, it sure seems that way ... Most ethical people are focused on helping others.”

Lady Passion added, “It’s not a one-shot life. We, as Pagans, believe in reincarnation ... We’re immortal. We believe our souls never die.”

A minister, referring to Christian writer-thinker C.S. Lewis, said that if one considers one’s life a ship, the focus is on getting from point A to point B. “We’re searching for the broader answers ... I think we’re all asking the same questions.”

A rabbi asserted, “Arguably, religion has done far more of just the opposite.”

The minister replied, “But it can be said that much evil comes from the nonreligious.”

The rabbi said, “When we make that claim and therefore negate the value of others, then we have a problem.”

To that, Jackie Simms of the Ethical Society of Asheville said, “That’s where the separation of church and state comes in.”

During the question-and-answer session that followed, Kelly, the skeptic, told one of the believers on the panel, “I appreciate that you are nicer to me, as an atheist, than your God will be one day,” based on various religious teachings.