I thought I'd tell you a little about what I like to write. And I like to immerse myself in my topics. I just like to dive right in and become sort of a human guinea pig. And I see my life as a series of experiments.
Rad bi vam povedal nekaj malega o svojem pisanju. Rad se poglobim v svoje teme. V temo se spustim in postanem nekakšen človeški poskusni zajček. Na svoje življenje gledam kot niz poskusov.
So, I work for Esquire magazine, and a couple of years ago, I wrote an article called "My Outsourced Life," where I hired a team of people in Bangalore, India, to live my life for me. So, they answered my emails. They answered my phone. They argued with my wife for me, and they read my son bedtime stories. It was the best month of my life, because I just sat back and I read books and watched movies. It was a wonderful experience.
Torej, delam pri reviji Esquire in pred nekaj leti sem napisal članek "Moje življenje v najemu," za katerega sem v Bangaloru v Indiji najel skupino ljudi, ki so živeli namesto mene. Odgovarjali so na mojo e-pošto, javljali so se na telefon, namesto mene so se pričkali z mojo ženo in sinu so brali pravljice za lahko noč. Bil je najboljši mesec mojega življenja ker sem se lahko enostavno sprostil, bral knjige in gledal filme. To je bila res čudovita izkušnja.
More recently, I wrote an article for Esquire called -- about radical honesty. And this is a movement where -- this is started by a psychologist in Virginia, who says that you should never, ever lie, except maybe during poker and golf, his only exceptions. And, more than that, whatever is on your brain should come out of your mouth. So, I decided I would try this for a month. This was the worst month of my life. (Laughter) I do not recommend this at all. To give you a sense of the experience, the article was called, "I Think You're Fat." (Laughter) So, that was hard.
Nedavno pa sem za Esquire tudi napisal članek o radikalni iskrenosti. To je gibanje ki -- vse se je začelo s psihologom iz Virginije, ki pravi, da ne smemo nikoli, ampak res nikoli, lagati. Razen mogoče med igro pokra ali golfa, ki sta njegovi edini izjemi. Poleg tega naj bi ubesedili vse, kar imamo v mislih. Zato sem za mesec dni poskusil tudi to. To je bil najhujši mesec mojega življenja. (Smeh) Tega sploh ne priporočam. Naj vam dam primer svoje izkušnje. Članek je imel naslov "Debela se mi zdiš". (Smeh) Torej je bilo to kar težavno.
My most recent book -- my previous book was called "The Know-It-All," and it was about the year I spent reading the Encyclopedia Britannica from A to Z in my quest to learn everything in the world, or more precisely from Aak, which is a type of East Asian music, all the way to Zwyiec, which is -- well, I don't want to ruin the ending. (Laughter) It's a very exciting twist ending, like an O. Henry novel, so I won't ruin it. But I love that one, because that was an experiment about how much information one human brain could absorb. Although, listening to Kevin Kelly, you don't have to remember anything. You can just Google it. So, I wasted some time there.
Moja najnovejša knjiga -- predhodna knjiga je imela naslov "Pametnjakovič". V njej je opisano eno leto, ki sem ga preživel z branjem celotne zbirke Enciklopedije Britanike z namenom, da se naučim vse kar je na svetu za vedeti. Ali bolj natančno, vse od "aak", ki je vrsta vzhodnoazijske glasbe, vse do "Zwyiec", ki je -- no, nočem pokvariti konca. (Smeh) Ima zelo razburljiv konec z zapletom, kot O. Henryjeva novela, zato ga ne bom pokvaril. Ta poskus mi je bil všeč, ker je pokazal koliko informacij so človeški možgani dejansko možni sprejeti. Čeprav si med poslušanjem Kevina Kellyja ne rabiš zapomniti nič. Vse lahko enostavno poiščeš na googlu. Torej sem s tem zapravil nekaj časa.
I love those experiments, but I think that the most profound and life-changing experiment that I've done is my most recent experiment, where I spent a year trying to follow all of the rules of the Bible, "The Year of Living Biblically." And I undertook this for two reasons. The first was that I grew up with no religion at all. As I say in my book, I'm Jewish in the same way the Olive Garden is Italian. (Laughter) So, not very. But I've become increasingly interested in religion. I do think it's the defining issue of our time, or one of the main ones. And I have a son. I want to know what to teach him. So, I decided to dive in head first, and try to live the Bible.
Obožujem te poskuse, ampak mislim, da najbolj globokoumen in občuten poskus, ki sem ga opravil, je moj najnovejši poskus, za katerega sem eno leto živel po napotkih pravil iz Biblije. "Leto bibličnega življenja". Tega sem se lotil iz dveh razlogov. Prvi je bil ta, da sem odraščal brez verskega vpliva. Kot sem opisal v knjigi, Žid sem v tolikšni meri, kot je veriga restavracij "Olive Garden" italijanska. (Smeh) Torej, ne zelo. Toda vera me je zanimala vedno bolj. Sem mnenja, da je ena izmed bolj pomembnih sodobnih tem, če ne celo ena najbolj pomembnih. Imam tudi sina in hočem vedeti kaj ga učim. Zato sem se zadeve lotil z glavo naprej in poskusil živeti Biblijo.
The second reason I undertook this is because I'm concerned about the rise of fundamentalism, religious fundamentalism, and people who say they take the Bible literally, which is, according to some polls, as high as 45 or 50 percent of America. So I decided, what if you really did take the Bible literally? I decided to take it to its logical conclusion and take everything in the Bible literally, without picking and choosing.
Drugi razlog za podvig pa je bila moja zaskrbljenost zaradi povečevanja moči fundamentalizma, verskega fundamentalizma in ljudi, ki pravijo, da jemljejo Biblijo dobesedno, kar je po anketah sodeč kar 45 ali 50 odstotkov ljudi v Ameriki. Zato sem se odločil Biblijo zares vzeti dobesedno. Želel sem priti do logičnega zaključka in vse v Bibliji vzeti dobesedno, brez prebiranja.
The first thing I did was I got a stack of bibles. I had Christian bibles. I had Jewish bibles. A friend of mine sent me something called a hip-hop bible, where the twenty-third Psalm is rendered as, "The Lord is all that," as opposed to what I knew it as, "The Lord is my shepherd."
Prvo sem zbral kup Biblij. Imel sem krščanske Biblije, in židovske Biblije. Kolega mi je poslal tako imenovano hip-hop Biblijo, v kateri se 23 psalm začne z "Gospod je glavn'," kar sem jaz poznal v obliki "Gospod je moj pastir."
Then I went down and I read several versions, and I wrote down every single law that I could find. And this was a very long list -- over 700 rules. And they range from the famous ones that I had heard of -- The Ten Commandments, love your neighbor, be fruitful and multiply. So I wanted to follow those. And actually, I take my projects very seriously, because I had twins during my year, so I definitely take my projects seriously.
Potem sem prebral več različic in si zapisal vsako pravilo, ki sem ga našel. Seznam je bil zelo dolg -- več kot 700 pravil. Med njimi so bila tista najbolj znana, za katera sem že slišal. Deset božjih zapovedi, ljubi svojega bližnjega, bodi rodoviten in se množi. Zato sem se želel ravnati po teh. In svoje projekte vzamem resno, saj sem v tistem letu dobil dvojčka. Torej, svoje projekte jemljem zelo resno.
But I also wanted to follow the hundreds of arcane and obscure laws that are in the Bible. There is the law in Leviticus, "You cannot shave the corners of your beard." I didn't know where my corners were, so I decided to let the whole thing grow, and this is what I looked like by the end. As you can imagine, I spent a lot of time at airport security. (Laughter) My wife wouldn't kiss me for the last two months. So, certainly the challenge was there.
Želel pa sem se tudi ravnati po vseh stotih manj razvidnih in nepoznanih pravilih, ki jih najdemo v Bibliji. V Levitiku je pravilo "Ne krajšaj konca svoje brade!" Ker nisem vedel, kje se moja brada konča, sem se odločil, da jo bom kar pustil rasti. In na koncu sem izgledal tako. Kot si lahko predstavljate, da sem na letališčih veliko časa preživel med varnostniki. (Smeh) Žena me zadnja dva meseca ni želela poljubiti. Torej je bil tudi precejšen izziv.
The Bible says you cannot wear clothes made of mixed fibers, so I thought, "Sounds strange, but I'll try it." You only know if you try it. I got rid of all my poly-cotton T-shirts. The Bible says that if two men are in a fight, and the wife of one of those men grabs the testicles of the other man, then her hand shall be cut off. So, I wanted to follow that rule. (Laughter) That one I followed by default, by not getting in a fight with a man whose wife was standing nearby, looking like she had a strong grip. (Laughter) So -- oh, there's another shot of my beard.
Biblija tudi pravi, da ne smeš nositi oblek iz mešanih tkanin. Mislil sem si: "Sliši se čudno, ampak bom poskusil." Samo ko nekaj poskusiš, vidiš kako je. Znebil sem se vseh kratkih majic mešanih iz poliestra in bombaža. Biblija pravi, če se dva moška stepeta in žena enega zagrabi moda drugega moškega, se ji odreže roko. Zato sem se želel ravnati tudi po tem pravilu. (Smeh) Po njem sem se ravnal samodejno in se nisem stepel z moškim z ženo ob sebi, ki je dajala vtis, da ima močan prijem. (Smeh) Tu je še ena fotografija moje brade.
I will say it was an amazing year because it really was life changing, and incredibly challenging. And there were two types of laws that were particularly challenging. The first was avoiding the little sins that we all commit every day. You know, I could spend a year not killing, but spending a year not gossiping, not coveting, not lying -- you know, I live in New York, and I work as a journalist, so this was 75, 80 percent of my day I had to do it.
Bilo je res neverjetno leto, ker mi je res spremenilo življenje in je bilo zelo velik izziv. Dve vrsti pravil sta bili še posebej zahtevni. Prva je bilo izogibanje manjšim grehom, ki jih delamo iz dneva v dan. Ni bilo težko preživeti eno leto brez ubijanja, ampak eno leto brez obrekovanja, poželenja, laganja -- veste, živim v New Yorku in sem novinar. Vse to je sestavljalo 75, 80 odstotkov mojega vsakdana.
But it was really interesting, because I was able to make some progress, because I couldn't believe how much my behavior changed my thoughts. This was one of the huge lessons of the year, is that I almost pretended to be a better person, and I became a little bit of a better person. So I had always thought, you know, "You change your mind, and you change your behavior," but it's often the other way around. You change your behavior, and you change your mind. So, you know, if you want to become more compassionate, you visit sick people in the hospital, and you will become more compassionate. You donate money to a cause, and you become emotionally involved in that cause. So, it really was cognitive psychology -- you know, cognitive dissonance -- that I was experiencing. The Bible actually talks about cognitive psychology, very primitive cognitive psychology. In the Proverbs, it says that if you smile, you will become happier, which, as we know, is actually true.
Toda, bilo jo zelo zanimivo, ker sem lahko nekoliko napredoval in ker nisem mogel verjeti koliko je moje obnašanje spremenilo moje mišljenje. To je bil eden izmed največjih naukov tistega leta. Poskusil sem se pretvarjati biti boljša oseba in sem tako postal malo boljša oseba. Vedno sem govoril: "Svoje obnašanje spremeniš, ko spremeniš način mišljenja," ampak pogosto je ravno obratno. Prvo spremeniš svoje obnašanje, potem šele način mišljenja. Če želite postati bolj sočutni, morate torej obiskati obolele v bolnišnici in postali boste bolj sočutni. Ko darujete denar za dober namen, se mu s tem tudi približate čustveno. Res sem izkusil kognitivno psihologijo, veste -- kognitivno disonanco. Biblija v bistvu tudi govori o kognitivni psihologiji, zelo prvobitni obliki kognitivne psihologije. V Pregovorih pravi, ko se boš nasmejal, boš postal srečnejši. Kar je, kot vsi vemo, res.
The second type of rule that was difficult to obey was the rules that will get you into a little trouble in twenty-first-century America. And perhaps the clearest example of this is stoning adulterers. (Laughter) But it's a big part of the Bible, so I figured I had to address it. So, I was able to stone one adulterer. It happened -- I was in the park, and I was dressed in my biblical clothing, so sandals and sort of a white robe, you know, because again, the outer affects the inner. I wanted to see how dressing biblically affected my mind. And this man came up to me and he said, "Why are you dressed like that?" And I explained my project, and he said, "Well, I am an adulterer, are you going to stone me?" And I said, "Well, that would be great!" (Laughter) And I actually took out a handful of stones from my pocket that I had been carrying around for weeks, hoping for just this interaction -- and, you know, they were pebbles -- but he grabbed them out of my hand. He was actually an elderly man, mid-70s, just so you know. But he's still an adulterer, and still quite angry. He grabbed them out of my hand and threw them at my face, and I felt that I could -- eye for an eye -- I could retaliate, and throw one back at him.
Druga vrsta pravil, ki jo je bilo prav tako težko ubogati, so bila pravila, ki te bodo v Ameriki 21. stoletja spravila v težave. In najbolj nazoren primer bi bilo kamenjanje prešuštnikov. (Smeh) Ampak je velik del Biblije, zato sem se lotil tudi tega. Uspelo mi je vreči kamen v enega prešuštnika. To se mi je zgodilo -- bil sem v parku, oblečen v biblična oblačila. Torej sem imel sandale in nekakšno belo haljo, ker, saj veste, zunanjost vpliva na vzdušje. Zanimalo me je, kakšen vpliv imajo biblična oblačila na moje mišljenje. In do mene stopi ta moški in me vpraša: "Zakaj si tako oblečen?" Zato mu razložim svoj projekt. Reče mi: "No, jaz sem prešuštnik, misliš okamenjati mene?" In mu odgvorim: "To bi bilo super!" (Smeh) In dejansko sem iz žepa vzel pest kamenja, ki sem ga imel pri sebi več tednov, in sem čakal na takšno priložnost. Bili so majhni kamenčki. Vzel mi jih je iz roke. Bil je starejši moški v srednjih sedemdesetih letih, samo da veste. Vseeno pa je bil prešuštnik in tudi precej jezen. Vzel mi jih je iz roke in mi jih vrgel v obraz. Zato sem si mislil "oko za oko" in sem mu lahko vrnil, zato sem vrgel en kamen nazaj v njega.
So that was my experience stoning, and it did allow me to talk about, in a more serious way, these big issues. How can the Bible be so barbaric in some places, and yet so incredibly wise in others? How should we view the Bible? Should we view it, you know, as original intent, like a sort of a Scalia version of the Bible? How was the Bible written? And actually, since this is a tech crowd, I talk in the book about how the Bible actually reminds me of the Wikipedia, because it has all of these authors and editors over hundreds of years. And it's sort of evolved. It's not a book that was written and came down from on high.
No, to je bila moja izkušnja kamenjanja, kar mi je pomagalo spregovoriti o teh zadevah tudi na malo bolj resen način. Kako je Biblija lahko na nekaterih mestih tako barbarska in kljub temu na drugih tako poučna? Kako moramo gledati na Biblijo? Jo moramo interpretirati po principu izvornega namena, kot na njo gleda Antonin Scalia? Kako je bila Biblija napisana? In ker je občinstvo bolj tehnično, govorim v knjigi tudi o tem, kako me Biblija spominja na Wikipedijo, ker je čez več stoletij imela toliko avtorjev in urednikov. S tem se je nekako razvijala. To ni knjiga, ki je bila enostavno napisana in je padla z neba.
So I thought I would end by telling you just a couple of the take-aways, the bigger lessons that I learned from my year. The first is, thou shalt not take the Bible literally. This became very, very clear, early on. Because if you do, then you end up acting like a crazy person, and stoning adulterers, or -- here's another example. Well, that's another. I did spend some time shepherding. (Laughter) It's a very relaxing vocation. I recommend it.
Zaključiti bi želel z nekaterimi pomembnejšimi lekcijami, ki sem jih odnesel od izkušnje v tistem letu. Prva je, ne jemlji Biblije dobesedno. To mi je postalo zelo jasno zelo zgodaj. Če boš to dejansko storil, se boš na koncu obnašal kot norec in kamenjal prešuštnike ali pa -- imam še en primer. No, to je nek drugi. Dejansko sem nekaj časa pasel ovce. (Smeh) Je zelo sproščujoče opravilo in ga toplo priporočam.
But this one is -- the Bible says that you cannot touch women during certain times of the month, and more than that, you cannot sit on a seat where a menstruating woman has sat. And my wife thought this was very offensive, so she sat in every seat in our apartment, and I had to spend much of the year standing until I bought my own seat and carried it around.
Toda ta -- Biblija pravi, da se med določenimi meseci ne smeš dotikati žensk. Ne samo to, prav tako ne smeš sedeti, kjer je sedela ženska z menstruacijo. Moja žena je menila, da je to zelo žaljivo, in se je usedla na vsak sedež v stanovanju. Zato sem velik del leta preživel stoje, dokler si nisem kupil lastnega stola, ki sem ga nosil s seboj.
So, you know, I met with creationists. I went to the creationists' museum. And these are the ultimate literalists. And it was fascinating, because they were not stupid people at all. I would wager that their IQ is exactly the same as the average evolutionist. It's just that their faith is so strong in this literal interpretation of the Bible that they distort all the data to fit their model. And they go through these amazing mental gymnastics to accomplish this.
Dobil sem se tudi s kreacionisti. Obiskal sem v kreacionistični muzej. Nihče ne jemlje stvari bolj dobesedno kot oni. Bilo je zelo fascinantno, ker sploh niso neumni. Stavim, da je njihov IQ na isti ravni z IQ-jem povprečnega evolucionista. Toda, njihovo prepričanje v dobesedno interpretacijo Biblije je tako močno, da vse podatke spremenijo do te mere da ustreza njihovemu vzorcu. To pa poskusijo doseči s pomočjo teh neverjetnih miselnih akrobacij.
And I will say, though, the museum is gorgeous. They really did a fantastic job. If you're ever in Kentucky, there's, you can see a movie of the flood, and they have sprinklers in the ceiling that will sprinkle on you during the flood scenes. So, whatever you think of creationism -- and I think it's crazy -- they did a great job. (Laughter)
In moram omeniti, da je muzej čudovit. Zelo so se potrudili. Če boste kdajkoli v Kentuckyju, si lahko ogledate film o vesoljnem potopu, kjer imajo na stropu nameščene škropilnike, ki te med prizori povodni poškropijo. Vseeno kakšno mnenje imate o kreacionizmu -- jaz menim, da je traparija -- Dobro so se odrezali. (Smeh)
Another lesson is that thou shalt give thanks. And this one was a big lesson because I was praying, giving these prayers of thanksgiving, which was odd for an agnostic. But I was saying thanks all the time, every day, and I started to change my perspective. And I started to realize the hundreds of little things that go right every day, that I didn't even notice, that I took for granted, as opposed to focusing on the three or four that went wrong. So, this is actually a key to happiness for me, is to just remember when I came over here, the car didn't flip over, and I didn't trip coming up the stairs. It's a remarkable thing.
Druga lekcija je bila, hvali dan. To je bila pomembna lekcija zato, ker sem molil na zahvalni dan, kar je za agnostika zelo nenavadno. Zahvaljeval sem se ves čas, vsak dan, kar je spremenilo moj pogled. Začel sem se zavedati vseh malenkosti, ki se tekom dneva dobro iztečejo, in jih prej nisem opazil. Imel sem jih za samoumevne in se osredotočal na dve ali tri stvari, ki so mi šle narobe. Torej, po mojem je to pot do sreče. Ob prihodu na konferenco se moj avto ni prevrnil in na poti po stopnicah se nisem spotaknil. To je res nekaj neverjetnega.
Third, that thou shall have reverence. This one was unexpected because I started the year as an agnostic, and by the end of the year, I became what a friend of mine calls a reverent agnostic, which I love. And I'm trying to start it as a movement. So, if anyone wants to join, the basic idea is, whether or not there is a God, there's something important and beautiful about the idea of sacredness, and that our rituals can be sacred. The Sabbath can be sacred. This was one of the great things about my year, doing the Sabbath, because I am a workaholic, so having this one day where you cannot work, it really, that changed my life. So, this idea of sacredness, whether or not there is a God.
Tretjič, boš častil. To je bila nepričakovana lekcija, ker sem leto začel kot agnostik in ob koncu leta sem postal kar nek kolega imenuje častiteljski agnostik, kar mi je zelo všeč. Iz tega poskušam tudi ustvariti gibanje. Torej, če se kdorkoli želi pridružiti, osnovna zamisel je ta, da ne glede ali obstaja Bog ali ne, je predstava o svetosti še vedno nekaj pomembnega in lepega in naši rituali so lahko sveti. Gospodov dan je lahko svet. Gospodov dan je bila ena izmed boljših izkušenj v letu, ker sem deloholik, in je ta en dela prost dan zelo spremenil moje življenje. Torej, ta predstava o svetosti, ne glede na obstoj Boga.
Thou shall not stereotype. This one happened because I spent a lot of time with various religious communities throughout America because I wanted it to be more than about my journey. I wanted it to be about religion in America. So, I spent time with evangelical Christians, and Hasidic Jews, and the Amish. I'm very proud because I think I'm the only person in America to out Bible-talk a Jehovah's Witness. (Laughter) After three and a half hours, he looked at his watch, he's like, "I gotta go." (Laughter) Oh, thank you very much. Thank you. Bless you, bless you.
Ne boš sodil po stereotipih. Do te lekcije sem prišel z obiskovanjem raznih verskih skupnosti po celi Ameriki, ker sem želel, da bi bila izkušnja o nečem več kot mojem potovanju. Želel sem, da bi se nanašala na vero v Ameriki. Zato sem preživel nekaj časa z evangeličani, hasidijskimi Judi in amiši. Na to sem zelo ponosen, ker mislim, da sem edina oseba v Ameriki, ki se je o Bibliji želela pogovarjati bolj dolgo kot jehova priča. (Smeh) Po treh urah in pol je pogledal na uro in rekel: "Iti moram." (Smeh) Hvala, najlepša vam hvala. Hvala. Bog vas blagoslovi.
But it was interesting because I had some very preconceived notions about, for instance, evangelical Christianity, and I found that it's such a wide and varied movement that it is difficult to make generalizations about it. There's a group I met with called the Red Letter Christians, and they focus on the red words in the Bible, which are the ones that Jesus spoke. That's how they printed them in the old Bibles. And their argument is that Jesus never talked about homosexuality. They have a pamphlet that says, "Here's what Jesus said about homosexuality," and you open it up, and there's nothing in it. So, they say Jesus did talk a lot about helping the outcasts, helping poor people. So, this was very inspiring to me. I recommend Jim Wallis and Tony Campolo. They're very inspiring leaders, even though I disagree with much of what they say.
Bilo je zelo zanimivo, ker sem pred tem imel te različne predstave o na primer evangeličanstvu in sem ugotovil, da je zelo obsežno in raznoliko gibanje, ki ga zelo težko posplošimo. Obstaja skupina, s katero sem se dobil, ki se imenuje Kristjani Rdečega Pisma in se osredotočajo na besed v Bibliji, obarvane rdeče, ki jih je izrekel Jezus. Tako so jih tiskali v starejših Biblijah. Njihov argument je, da Jezus nikoli ni govoril o homoseksualnosti. Imajo to brošuro na kateri piše: "Jezus je o homoseksualnosti rekel to," ko jo odpreš, ni napisano nič. Pravijo pa, da je Jezus veliko govoril o podpiranju izobčencev in pomaganju revnim. To me je zelo navdihnilo. Predlagam vam Jima Wallisa in Tonyja Campola. Oba sta zelo čudovita voditelja, čeprav se z marsičem, kar pravita, ne strinjam.
Also, thou shalt not disregard the irrational. This one was very unexpected because, you know, I grew up with the scientific worldview, and I was shocked learning how much of my life is governed by irrational forces. And the thing is, if they're not harmful, they're not to be completely dismissed. Because I learned that -- I was thinking, I was doing all these rituals, these biblical rituals, separating my wool and linen, and I would ask these religious people "Why would the Bible possibly tell us to do this? Why would God care?" And they said, "We don't know, but it's just rituals that give us meaning." And I would say, "But that's crazy." And they would say, "Well, what about you? You blow out candles on top of a birthday cake. If a guy from Mars came down and saw, here's one guy blowing out the fire on top of a cake versus another guy not wearing clothes of mixed fabrics, would the Martians say, 'Well, that guy, he makes sense, but that guy's crazy?'" So no, I think that rituals are, by nature, irrational. So the key is to choose the right rituals, the ones that are not harmful -- but rituals by themselves are not to be dismissed.
Prišel sem tudi do ugotovitve, upoštevaj kar je neracionalno. Ta je bila zelo nepričakovana, ker sem odraščal z znanstvenim pogledom na svet, in sem bil presenečen nad tem, kolikšen del mojega življenja je pod nadzorom iracionalnih sil. In v bistvu, če niso škodljive, potem jih ne smemo popolnoma zavreči. Naučil sem se -- med vsemi temi rituali, med temi bibličnimi rituali, ločevanjem volne in lanenega platna, sem vprašal vernike: "Zakaj bi Bog to zahteval od nas? Zakaj bi mu bilo mar za to?" In so mi odgovorili: "Ne vemo, toda ti rituali nam dajejo pomen." In se odzovem: "Ampak, to je noro." In mi odvrnejo: "Ja, kaj pa ti?" Ti na torti upihneš sveče. Če bi prišel nekdo z Marsa in videl nekega moškega, ki ugaša ogenj s sveč na torti in nekoga, ki nosi obleke iz mešanih vlaken. Kaj ne bi Marsovec rekel: "Ta, drugi, mi deluje normalen, prvi pa je zmešan." Zato sem mnenja, da so rituali že v osnovi iracionalni. Odločilno je torej, da izberem ustrezne rituale, ki niso škodljivi -- toda ritualov nasploh ne smemo zavračati.
And finally I learned that thou shall pick and choose. And this one I learned because I tried to follow everything in the Bible. And I failed miserably. Because you can't. You have to pick and choose. And anyone who follows the Bible is going to be picking and choosing. The key is to pick and choose the right parts. There's the phrase called cafeteria religion, and the fundamentalists will use it in a denigrating way, and they'll say, "Oh, it's just cafeteria religion. You're just picking and choosing." But my argument is, "What's wrong with cafeterias?" I've had some great meals at cafeterias. I've also had some meals that make me want to dry heave. So, it's about choosing the parts of the Bible about compassion, about tolerance, about loving your neighbor, as opposed to the parts about homosexuality is a sin, or intolerance, or violence, which are very much in the Bible as well. So if we are to find any meaning in this book, then we have to really engage it, and wrestle with it.
In končno, naučil sem se tudi, da moraš biti izbirčen. Tega sem se naučil skozi poslanstvo, da bom sledil vsem kar je zapisano v Bibliji. In to neuspešno. Ker je nemogoče. Moraš biti izbirčen. In kdorkoli, ki se ravna po Bibliji, bo prebiral. Pomembno je, da izberemo prave dele. Obstaja izraz samopostrežna vera, ki ga fundamentalisti uporabljajo kot žaljivko. Tako rečejo: "Ah, to je samopostrežna vera, ker prebiraš." Toda, jaz pa pravim: "Kaj je narobe s samopostrežnimi restavracijami?" V nekaterih sem se že prav dobro najedel. Imel sem pa tudi obroke po katerih se mi je hrana dvigala. Moramo torej izbirati dele v Bibliji, ki govorijo o sočutju, toleranci, ljubezni do soseda, in ne delov, ki pravijo, da je homoseksualnost greh, kot tudi nestrpnost in nasilje, kar je tudi prisotno v Bibliji. Če želimo v tej knjigi najti pomen, potem se moramo v njo zakopati in se z njo spopasti.
And I thought I'd end with just a couple more. There's me reading the Bible. That's how I hailed taxicabs. (Laughter) Seriously, and it worked. And yes, that was actually a rented sheep, so I had to return that in the morning, but it served well for a day. So, anyway, thank you so much for letting me speak.
Zaključil bom še z nekaj fotografijami. Tukaj berem Biblijo. Tako sem klical taksiste. (Smeh) Dejansko. In deluje! To ovco sem najel in sem jo zjutraj moral vrniti, toda mi je dobro služila. Kakorkoli, hvala za vašo pozornost.