For me, Clark's essay raised issues of tolerance and intolerance. Where do we draw the line between Freedom of Speech, an essential element of a free, democratic, liberal society and the injury caused to certain members of society by this free and public expression.
Reading Clark's essay Imus' infamous misuse of the public air ways came to mind. Could/should his action/speech be interpreted as a hate crime - racist and gender based? I am conflicted about levels of tolerance of others' intolerance. What level of tolerance can a free society support before it ceases to exist as a free society? What is the maximum cost society can afford to pay for its ideological neutral public space. How does society create a balance between general tolerance of content of public expression for the good of society; versus the real and/or potential injury of some members of society by the content expressed by others. Clark illustrates areas where our current political system has failed to maintain the balance between the faith-based and science-based ideologies.
Clark's peaceful coexistence between naturalism and supernaturalism - can it exist successfully outside of all humans being of equally sound psychological and emotional states; with approximately equal I.Q.s, - with equal access and exposure to shared knowledge; and sharing common environmentally, biologically, racially, and culturally compatible worldviews?
Is Clark professing the possibility of perfection existing in an unperfect world? Do we dare hope to believe in its possible existence - or am I just stuck in a supernaturalistic rut?
The more I learn, the more I can conceptualize how indeterminately vast my ignorance is. Infinitely so, one could say, were it possible for one to conceptualize infinity.
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I don't think Clark is pursuing perfection, but, minimally, co-existence, and, maximally, respectful, productive coexistence. That is, it would be nice if we could enjoy and benefit from getting along, but, lacking that, it's good enough if we simply get along without killing each other.
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