I thoroughly enjoyed the discussion. Although I am a huge fan of Sam Harris, I finally heard from a deeply religious person is able to carry on a thoughtful debate about whether God exists, the value of religion in society and finally, the superiority of the Judeo-Christian belief system. No man of the cloth, pastor, preacher, father, His Holiness or any other holy roller can come close to what Dennis Prager can do:

"Judeo-Christian values alone gave humanity the notion of the sacredness of human life; linear history and therefore the idea of moral and scientific progress; universal standards of good and evil; the abolition of slavery; the scientific method; the development of democracy; equality of the sexes; the greatest experiment in non-ethnicity-based society (America); the greatest music ever composed; and the greatest art ever drawn."

Very wise to focus on the value of Judeo-Christian evolution of thought which makes me think again about whether or not the world would truly be better without a belief in God and the many forms of 'his unerring word' that exist (I won't repeat the many reasonable arguments in The End of Faith in opposition).

The irony is that any Christian reading the debates or these websites are not the type of Christian about which I would need to feel any concern for the very future of this world. The ones I know show the same desire to create a sustainable society, sustainable use of resources, to name two.

Tom DeLay scared me until his fall from power (I sure hope he is gone anyway). Tim LaHaye and other right-wing conservative Christians who have placed their idea of Christian values, that really have nothing to do with 'morality', into policy cause me concern.

Religious extremists of all varieties, Christian millenialists, Jewish messianists, Muslim 'final hour' believers, anyone who literally interprets their version of the Bible, the Koran and acts upon those interpretations are the ones who cause me grave concern.

I will always be grateful for Sam Harris' courage to sharpen the debate about God and Religion. I have become an even more obsessive reader of philosophy, science, history and religion after his first book. After reading through the dialog between Sam and Dennis, here are my conclusions: Do I believe in God? No, but it does not matter to me since inventing God does not answer my ultimate questions. Does religion have its value in society? Yes. Has society prospered more than it has suffered due to religion? No, Sam Harris makes too strong a case for all the suffering that has happened at the hands of organized religion. Are (Judeo) Christian values better for society than those of other religions? Yes - I have to agree with Dennis Prager here. Am I a Christian now? No. I guess I am going to hell for that one...born of a virgin? Bible as the unerring word of God? Sorry, those are just two ideas I just can't get behind. Besides, I hear the beer is warm in hell and I've always liked the beer they serve in the UK.

Thanks for letting me dump my thoughts into this space.

Parker R.