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.
我想同大家講一啲關於我喜歡寫作嘅題材。 我都喜歡完全投入咁地研究我嘅題目。 我奮不顧身咁投入去仲變成白老鼠。 我當自己嘅人生係一連串嘅實驗。
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.
係咁嘅,先幾年我幫Esquire 雜誌社打工, 我曾經寫過一篇文章名叫做"我嘅外判生活" 我係印度嘅Bangalore僱用咗一隊人 嚟替我生活。 所以佢地替我回覆電郵。 佢地替我聽電話。 佢地幫我同老婆鬧交,幫我講故仔比個仔聽。 依個係我人生中最美好嘅一個月。 因為我只須要好悠閒咁坐底睇書同睇電影。 係一個美好嘅體驗。
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.
最近我幫Esquire 雜誌寫咗一篇文章叫做-- 有關徹底的誠實。 依個係一場行動-- 由一個在維珍尼亞州嘅心理學家所開始嘅。 佢話人永遠永遠唔可以講大話。 除咗玩卑牌同打高爾夫球例外。 除此之外,當你個腦諗到任何嘢 應該大聲講出來。 我決定嘗試參加一個月。 依個係我人生中最差嘅一個月。 (笑聲) 我完全唔建議大家去試。 我咁講你就會明白, 依編文章叫"我覺得你好肥"。 (笑聲) 所以係好困難嘅。
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.
我最近出咗一本書叫"全部都知道" 書中講述我用咗一年時間去睇大英百科全書 由A至Z去讀,為咗知道世界上所有嘅事。 仔細來講係從A-ak(一種東亞音樂)開始, 一路到Zwyiec,係一種...我唔想搞壞演講嘅結尾。 (笑聲) 這是一個令人興奮嘅結尾,好似一本O.Henry嘅小說,所以我唔想搞壞佢。 不過我好喜歡依種想法 因為依個實驗係研究到底人的腦袋 能容納多少資訊。 雖然,根據Kevin Kelly 所講,做人唔駛記咁多嘢。 你用Google就可以啦。 所以我係果度因浪費咗一啲時間。
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.
我鐘意個果啲實驗。 但我認為我做過嘅實驗當中最有意義, 最能改變我一生嘅, 就係我最近完成嘅實驗。我用咗一年時間, 去嘗試遵守聖經上的所有規條。 生活在聖經中的一年 我做依個實驗係有兩個原因: 第一係因為係我成長過程中一直冇接觸任何宗教. 正如我書中所講,話我係猶太人 就好似Olive Garden被當成義大利餐廳一樣 (笑聲) 因此,當然唔係咁樣。 但我對宗教愈來愈有興趣, 我覺得依個係這現世代裏具有決定性嘅話題。 又或者係具中一個重要嘅話題。 同時,我有一個仔。我想知道要點樣教佢。 所以,我唔理三七二十一就開始按照聖經來生活。
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.
第二個令我咁樣做嘅原因係因為 我十分關注原教旨主義嘅興起, 宗教上嘅原教旨主義,很多人聲稱 佢地完全依照聖經生活,根據訪問,竟然 佔了美國人口的45到50%. 所以我決定睇吓,如果你係按照聖經字面上的意思過活嘅話,會發生什麼事? 我決定要遵守佢同佢邏輯上嘅推論, 按照聖經字面上所有指示, 不去揀擇。
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."
我做的第一件事就係搵一疊聖經。 我有基督教嘅聖經。 我有猶太教嘅聖經。 我有朋友寄咗一本叫"a hip-hop bibile"嘅書比我。 其中詩篇第二十三節變改為,"主是所有事情。" 相對我知道嘅"主是我的牧人。"節然不同。
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.
我繼續讀咗幾個版本。 並寫低我找到的嘅有規條。 係一個好長嘅清單,多過七百條規則。 並且包含一啲有名嘅律法同一啲我曾經聽過嘅-- "十戒"、"愛你的鄰人"、"多結果子和生養眾多"。 因此我要遵守依啲規條。 我好認真咁執行依個計劃。 因為果年我生咗雙胞胎, 所以我確實認真的執行這計劃。
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.
但係我都想遵守其他數百條 係聖經裏令人費解同模糊嘅規則 係利未記中有一條規條, 你唔可以剃去你鬍鬚嘅角位。 我都唔知道邊度係我啲鬍鬚嘅角位, 所以我決定留鬍鬚, 依張係我最後嘅樣。 你可以想像到,我係機場保安關卡用咗好多時間。 (笑聲) 我老婆係最後兩個月裏唔肯錫我。 亳無疑問,難度就一定有嘅。
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.
聖經裡面話你唔可以不著混合纖維嘅衫, 所以我諗,"聽落好奇怪,但我都會試吓。" 你要試過先會明白. 我丟晒所有半尼龍半綿嘅T恤 聖經話如果有兩個男人打架, 如果其中一方嘅老婆抓住另一個男人嘅睪丸, 佢隻手將會被砍。 所以,我想遵守依條規則。 (笑聲) 我用咗一 個方法去遵守依條規則-- 就係唔好同一個有老婆企係隔離嘅男人打架 而且佢隻手睇起來好很有抓勁。 (笑聲) 所以--奧,依張相係影我啲鬍鬚嘅
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.
我覺得係出人意表嘅一年 因為佢真係改變咗我嘅一生仲好有挑戰性添。 有兩種規條特別困難。 第一係避免一啲我地平日皆犯嘅小錯 你知道,我可以一年都唔殺生, 但係一年內不講人壞話,唔偷睇,不講大話-- 要知道,我住喺紐約市,我嘅工作喺記者, 所以我每日嘅生活有75至80%都要做依啲嘢
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.
但喺都幾有趣,因為我得到一啲進步, 由於我唔相信 我嘅行為可以改變多少我的思想。 依樣喺我依一年內學到最寶貴嘅一課之一, 我幾乎扮成一個好人, 我變得好人了一點點。 我以前曾經咁諗,"你改變你嘅思想, 然後行為先至會改變",但其實經常相反。 你改變你嘅行為,然後你改變你的嘅思想。 所以,你知道嘅,如果你想變得更有同情心, 你去醫院探訪病人嘅話, 然後你就會變得富有同情心。 你為某件事捐款, 然後你就放感情晌果度. 所以,依啲其實喺認知心理學-- 你知道,認知失調 -- 我正在經歷。 聖經嘅內容實際上喺是關於認知心理學, 最基礎嘅認知心理學。 喺箴言裡面講述,如果你笑的話,你會變得快樂, 人人都知,喺真實嘅。
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.
第二種困難去遵守的規則喺, 果啲規則會為我們帶來小麻煩 在21世紀嘅美國。 可能最清晰嘅例子喺是向通姦嘅人丟石頭。 (笑聲) 但喺依樣喺聖經裏面好大嘅一部分。 所以我想我一定要回應依個問題。 所以,我真喺囉石頭丟一個通姦者。 件事喺咁發生嘅--我當時喺公園裏頭,著住一身聖經式嘅裝扮-- 涼鞋同白色的大袍-- 你知道,頭先講過因為外在會影響內在嘅情況下, 我想知道依一身聖經嘅衣著可以點樣改變我嘅思想。 然後個男人走過來同我講, "點解你要著成咁樣?" 然後我向佢解釋我嘅的計劃, 然後佢話,"我喺一個姦夫,咁你會用石頭丟我嗎?" 然後我話,"好!這當然最好不過啦!" (笑聲) 於是我喺我個袋裡面囉咗幾舊石頭, 我已經隨身攜帶咗了好幾星期, 希望一有機會就--當然,果啲喺細石頭-- 但係個男人搶咗我手上嘅石頭。 佢其實係一個七十多歲嘅老人家, 不過佢仍然係一個姦夫,而且係好嬲果種, 他搶去了我的石塊。 然後投擲在我的臉中,當時我覺得我可以- 以眼還眼,我可以報復,所以投擲一塊於他身上。
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.
所以,這是我投石的經驗,這容許我 去用較嚴肅的方法去談及這些重要的課題, 為什麼聖經在某方面能這樣的蠻不講理, 但又在某些地方充滿智慧 我們應該怎樣看待聖經? 我們應該是從原意出發, 像是一種Scalia(美國大法官)式的聖經? 聖經是怎樣寫成的? 但其實,由於這是一個科技的集會, 我書中曾提到聖經其實令我想起了 維基百科,因為它是由各種各樣的作者和編輯編成 在這幾百年裏。 它還某程度上進化了。 它並不是一本隨天上掉下來的書。
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.
所以我想我最後會告訴你, 是一些易於記住的重要道理, 我在這一年學到的。 第一,你不應該硬性地跟隨字面上去理解聖經的意思。 這很早就已經顯然易見。 因為你這樣的話,你會變成一個瘋漢, 投石於姦夫,又或是,再多舉一個例子, 好的,這是另一個--我真的用了一點時間去牧羊。 (笑聲) 這是一個很輕鬆的職業。我大力推介。
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.
但這條規則-聖經說你不能觸碰女人, 於每個月的某些日子,還有, 你不能坐在曾經被經期婦女坐過的椅子。 我的妻子覺得這很侮辱女人, 所以她把我們家的每個座位都坐了一遍。 我要在那一年中站了不少時間。 直至我買給自己可以隨身攜帶的椅子。
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.
所以,你知道的,我遇到一個創世論者. 我去了他們的博物館, 他們是終極的字面跟隨者, 這真令人眼界大開,因為他們根本不是蠢人來的。 我賭他們的智商跟相信進化論的人一樣。 只是他們有很強烈的信仰, 執著於聖經上的字面解釋 他們扭曲所有的數據以滿足他們的模式。 他們通過這些令人驚訝的心理訓練來做到這一點。
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)
然而我要說的是,這博物館很華麗。 他們真的做得很好。 如果你到過肯塔基州, 就是這--你可以去看關於大洪水的電影, 他們在天花板上裝灑水器 當播放到洪水畫面時便淋水在你身上. 所以,不管你怎樣看待創世論者,我覺得他們很荒誕, 他們做得很好。 (笑聲)
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.
另一個道理是該感恩。 這是重要的一課因為我在禱告時, 我在感恩禱告,這是一件對於無神論者而言很怪的事情。 但我每天常常都在感恩,任何時間, 我開始改變了自己看事情的角度, 而且我開始了解身邊數以百計的小事情, 那些如意的事情,那些小得我不會發覺的事。 我把他們的發生當作理所當然的--但不是把視線集中於 少數不如意的事情。 所以,這是我快樂的秘訣, 只是去記得我來會場的途中, 車子沒有翻掉,我沒有在上樓梯時滑倒, 這是一件精彩的事。
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.
第三,你要尊敬別人, 這個是出人意表的因為我這年開始的時候, 是一個不可知論者,到了年末, 我變成一個給朋友叫作尊敬的不可知論者,我十分喜愛這個名稱。 我現在嘗試將這個活動變為潮流. 所以如果大家想參加的話, 最基本的概念是,無論有沒有神的存在, 總有一些重要和美麗的神聖的想法, 而且我們的儀式是很神聖的。 安息日是很神聖的。 我這年其中一樣美好的事,就是守安息日, 因為我是個工作狂,當我有了這樣的一天, 當不能工作--真的大大改變了我一生。 所以,這是神聖的概念,無論有沒有上帝也好.
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.
你都不應把它公式化。 這種體會是因為我 用了很多時間跟隨了不同的宗教團體, 在美國各地。因為我想它 不只是我個人的旅程。 我想探討美國的宗教, 因此我用了不少時間在福音派基督教、哈西德教派和阿米希教派。 我感到自豪因為 我覺得我是美國唯一一個 能在宗教討論時說服到一個耶和華見證。 (笑聲) 在三個半小時後,他看一看他的手表, 他說,"我不得不走了。" (笑聲) 謝謝大家。 謝謝。祝福你,祝福你。
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.
但這是很有趣的, 因為我有一些先入為主的思想,例如, 福音派基督教,我發現, 這次一個很廣泛的運動, 是很難一概而論的。 我認識一隊人叫紅字基督徒, 他們集中研究在聖經裏的紅字, 那些是耶穌所說的話-- 在舊聖經中都是以紅色印上去的。 他們的論點是耶穌從來沒有講過同性戀。 他們有一本小冊子說著, 這是耶穌曾就同性戀所說的話, 然而你把它打開,發覺當中空白一片。 所以,他們說耶穌曾說過很多有關幫助被抛棄的人的事, 幫助窮人的事。 所以這對我有很大的啟發。 我會推介Jim Wallace 和Tony Campolo, 他們是非常鼓舞人心的領袖,縱使我不認同, 他們多數的言論。
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.
還有,你不可以忽略不理性的事情. 這個發現令我驚訝非常,因為,你們知道, 我從科學化的角度中成長, 然而我十分震驚的發現我的生命 是由非理性的力量所操控. 還有的是,就算那些力量不是有害的, 他們不可以完全去除的。 因為我學會了,當我在想- 我做了這些儀式,這些聖經上的儀式, 區分羊毛和麻布質料。 我問那些虔誠的人, "為什麼聖經要我們做這些東西?為什麼上帝會注意這些事情?" 他們會回答,"我們不知道, 但這些儀式給與我們某些特定意義。" 我會說,"這是不可理喻的。" 他們回答,"那麼你又怎樣?" 你吹熄了生日蛋糕上的蠟燭 如果火星來的人看見,他會說 有一個人正在吹熄了生日蛋糕上的火光。 對比於一個不穿混合纖維衣服的人, 火星人會不會說,"這個人很正常," "但那個人是變態的嗎?" 不是,所以我覺得那些儀式在自然層面來說,是不理性的。 所以重點是要挑選正確的儀式, 那些無害的儀式--但是儀式本身 他們不會給忽略的。
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.
最後,我學到了大家應該有所選擇。 我學了這個因為 我嘗是跟迶聖經中的所有的事, 但我淒慘地失敗。 因為你不可以, 所以你要挑選,任何人要遵守聖經的話, 也要挑選。 重點在於挑選正確的部分。 有一個詞彙叫做"自助餐式宗教" 基本主義的人會把它視為有詆毀性般去使用。 他們會說,"這只是自坐助餐式宗教。" 你只是在挑你喜歡的東西。 但我的論點是,"自助餐又有什麼問題呢?" 我在自助餐廳有吃得很開心的經驗。 亦曾遇到一些難吃得令人噴飯的 所以,這是關於怎樣挑選聖經裡有關同情心的部分, 有關包容,有關愛你的近鄰, 跟反對"同性戀等於罪" 又或是不寬容,或暴力, 在聖經裡也相當的多。 所以我們要在這本書找出任何意義, 我們必須全身投入,並且奮戰不懈。
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.
我想臨走前多給大家幾個例子。 這是我正在閱讀聖經. 這是我如何招呼的士。 (笑聲) 認真的,而且有效的--且是的, 那其實是一只租來的羊, 所以我必須在早上歸還牠,但是牠整天都被好好的照顧。 所以,無論如何,謝謝你們讓我來演講。