For Gary Hall, being dean of the National Cathedral started with comedy

[rug]

Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post - The Very Rev. Gary R. Hall, Dean of the Washington National Cathedral poses for a portrait on July 30, 2013.

- snip -

The owner of the restaurant, now closed, comes over to schmooze. Hall seems totally comfortable, as if hanging out is his favorite sport — as if he could spend until the wee hours at a bar hashing over the meaning of life.

He tells of sitting next to the renowned atheist Richard Dawkins at a dinner and discussing God. Hall told Dawkins, “I don’t believe in the God you don’t believe in either.”

“That kind of atheism, though, is bankrupt. It’s like picking a fight with a cultural image no theologian would buy into. I don’t want to be loosey-goosey about it,” he says, “but I describe myself as a non-theistic Christian.”

And he goes on to expand on the concept.

- snip -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/from-comedy-to-national-cathedral/2013/08/01/683906e2-f884-11e2-8e84-c56731a202fb_story_1.html

[cbayer]

1. That's two surprises in a row. First, an atheist pro-lifer and now a non-theistic christian.

[rug]

2. I know. I had to go to an Irish bar in New Jersey for shepherd's pie after this.

I had an urge to cling to the familiar.