Sagan on God
I have been listening to this one on and off for a while. It’s not a fast, hard-hitting knock-down and sometimes just rambles, but the last few minutes are one of the best answers to “do you believe in God” I’ve heard.
At 39 minutes, Sagan is asked about what he believes in, and he does not dodge that. He gives a lengthy answer, starting with some examples of what people mean by “god”, from diest to the more specific. Then he gets to the crux of his answer.
When you ask, “do you believe in God”, if I say yes or no, you have learned absolutely nothing. Prager presses him to define God, and Sagan says, “why would we use a word so ambiguous that means so many different things?” He’s asking rhetorically. Prager tries to say, “it gives you freedom to define it”, but Sagan is ready with,
“it gives you freedom to seem to agree with someone else with whom you do not agree. It covers over differences. It makes for social lubrication. But it is not an aid to truth, in my view. Therefore I think we need much sharper language when we ask these questions.”