--- In [email protected], Vaj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > On Feb 24, 2007, at 11:55 AM, curtisdeltablues wrote: > > > Yes that is where I have seen him the most. Just his > > existence as a conservative, gay Cathlic is a mindbender. > > I agree that his is a mixed bag, smart but not the most > > logical guy. > > > > Sam's very dry wit does come through in his Letter to a > > Christian Nation. He is just not good in a personal > > debate format. I saw him debating the guy who wrote > > "No God But God" a Muslim and he just couldn't play to > > the audience very well. He was also so stiff on John > > Stewart. He is a serious guy. > > And for good reason: what he's debating concerns, quite > literally, the future of life on this planet.
All the more reason, in my humble opinion, to be able and willing to laugh at it occasionally. That's what made Michael Moore famous, that rare ability to tackle a serious subject without the need to get all serious about it. It's the very definition of cosmic comedy as Maharishi once explained it to Andy Kaufmann -- pure Tantra. You alternately show your audience the serious side of the situation and break their hearts, and then in the next breath you show them the funny side of the same situation and break their boundaries. As that marvelous Tantric Charlie Chaplin once said, "Life is a tragedy in close-up, but a comedy in long shot." As I was pointing out with the Chesterton quotes, gettin' all serious is not necessarily a require- ment for a serious commentator on religion and its impact on human society. It's my opinion that the most effective spokes- persons for their point of view in such matters are the ones who can balance the seriousness of the subject with the essential lightness of life.
