Seeking the Principles of Power and Danger

There is a scene in Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 where the Chaplin is being interrogated about the theft of Major Major’s correspondence and is asked by a C.I.D. officer about his religious persuasion.   The Chaplin declares himself an Anabaptist, which the officer finds a little suspicious: “Chaplin, I once studied Latin.   I think it’s only fair to warn you of that before I ask my next question. Doesn’t the word Anabaptist simply mean that you’re not a Baptist?” The Chaplin protests, but the officer pushes the point “are you a Baptist?”, “no sir”, “than you are not a Baptist, aren’t you?” Defined by an absence of belief, the C.I.D. officer credits the Chaplin with certain malicious actions against the war effort.   Atheists often find themselves in a similar situation to the Chaplin, defined by an absence of belief. Theists and religious apologists infer ex nihlo that atheists hold a series of positive beliefs that have no necessary connection to the position of at...

Karen Armstrong , in Islam: A Short History , summaries the condition of women within early Islam and the quranic prescriptions on gender relations:   “The emancipation of women was a project dear to the Prophet’s heart. The Quran gave women rights of inheritance and divorce centuries before Western women were accorded such status. The Quran prescribes some degree of segregation and veiling for the Prophet’s wives, but there is nothing in the Quran that requires the veiling of all women or their seclusion in separate part of the house. These customs were adopted some three or four generations after the Prophet’s death.   Muslims at that time were copying the Greek Christians of Byzantium, who had long veiled and segregated their women in this manner; they also appropriated some of their Christian misogyny.   The Quran makes men and women partners before god, with identical duties and responsibilities. The Quran also came to permit polygamy; at a time when ...

The above clip is Christopher Hitchens closing arguments in a debate with intelligent design advocate William Dembski (available in full: here ) that seems to me to be a perfect coda and summation of the differences between the certainties of  faith (belief without evidence) and this risks of thinking for oneself. On another tack, I recently finished Hitchens' book God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything and found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable read. It has been criticized on a number of points of minor  inaccuracy, such as conflating the synoptic with the canonical gospels , which is disappointing and provides a superficial basis for dismissal,  but I don't think the handful of slip ups distract overly from the central thesis of the book that religion is obviously man made and abounds in absurdities, that thinking people cannot accept religion as a true or adequate explanation of how and why things are the way they are.      

- Allen Ginsberg

Church 180 is situated on Hunter Street, the main road through Newcastle’s central business district, and housed in The Royal, an old art-deco cinema. The building’s exterior is elaborate with several distinct sections of unique design, while its condition has somewhat deteriorated over the years. Aside from a small sign bolted to the wall that indicated the presence of a church, there is nothing external to the building that signals its use for religious services. I arrived an hour before the service and the only sign of activity was a coffee cart set up to the side of the main entrance, in an attached vehicle bay. Most people seemed to arrive on foot; however, given the nature of the street it is hard to find parking in the immediate vicinity. The cars that did arrive outside of the building were typical of the area, standard production-line family cars and some utility vehicles that all appeared to be in good condition and well kept. As the service time drew nea...

Fundamentalism is a term that originated in the United States. Early in the 20th century, Protestant groups adopted the designation to differentiate themselves from forms of liberal Protestantism and secularists (Jones, 2010). The recent coinage of fundamentalism suggests that its development is related to modernity, and while fundamentalist movements are characterized by their commitment to traditional belief-systems, they are often highly innovative adaptations to the modern experience. In this paper, the relationship between fundamentalism and modernity will be analysed; first by elaborating the concept of modernity and then reviewing the theoretical literature on the defining characteristics of religious fundamentalism, which will be tied together with two specific case studies: Protestant fundamentalism and Islamic fundamentalism. It will be shown that religious fundamentalism is a defensive strategy employed in response to the uncertainties and rapid shifts of modernity. ...

Absolutely brilliant, a hilarious ‘beat’ poem that nails how I feel on a number of subjects. Check out Tim Minchin and some of his other stuff .

I saw this one on PZ Myers’s blog and I had to share it around. Wonderful to see someone so young engage in some critical thinking. It warms my heart.