One of the highlights of this year was “debating” my friend Shane Claiborne. Check out the video and see if I really did invite the audience to take communal cold showers.
Despite the awkward moment, the experience—hosted by the American Enterprise Institute—was a highlight for me during this past year. The event was titled “A Priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan Walk into a Bar: Two Views on Loving Our Neighbor in the Twenty-first Century” and did highlight a few differences Shane and I have. Shane sports awesome dreadlocks and jeans. I wear khakis and button downs. And we do have differing views on the role of the free-market system in addressing poverty.
But I think the event also highlighted my respect for Shane and how he has fought against injustice, stood for simplicity in a culture obsessed with materialism, and practices what he preaches. I appreciate that neither of us takes ourselves too seriously… Enjoy the showers!
P.S. If you’re interested in a “grown up” version of the debate, check out “Is Capitalism Moral?” a debate I’m moderating featuring Jim Wallis, founder and president of Sojourners, and Arthur Brooks, president of American Enterprise Institute, held at Messiah College on Wednesday, November 9, 2011, 7 p.m., at Brubaker Auditorium, Eisenhower Campus Center. For more details go to http://www.messiah.edu/changetheworld/debates.html.
November 7, 2011
Looking forward to the debate! I think you should shoot for a blooper just to make it interesting.