Quote of the day

I just ran across this quote from Richard Rorty:

I do not think that Christian theism is irrational.  I entirely agree . . . that it is no more irrational than atheism.  Irrationality is not the question but rather, desirability.  The only reason I can think of for objecting to Christian theism is that a lot of Christians have been bigoted fanatics.  But of course, so have a lot of atheists. . . . Atheism is more practical only if you wish to form a pluralistic, democratic society.  In that situation, the persistence of the theist who claims to know that this or that is against God's will becomes a problem.  So atheists find themselves wishing that these groups would wither away.

(Stephen Louthan, "On Religion -- A Discussion with Richard Rorty, Alvin Plantinga, and Nicholas Wolterstorff," 27 Christian Scholar's Review 178, 183 (1996))