Monthly Archives: June 2010

‘Rogue Male’ by Geoffrey Household: the best ‘man on the run’ thriller ever written

Posted on 28/06/2010 by

  ‘Rogue Male’ by Geoffrey Household Read it if you haven’t already done so; you won’t regret it.

Posted in Book Reviews

The intellectual frivolousness of the New Atheists

Posted on 28/06/2010 by

‘The intellectual frivolousness of the New Atheist literature is by now an open secret.  Philosopher and prominent Darwinian Michael Ruse has said that Dawkins’s book made him “ashamed to be an atheist” and that Dennett’s book is “really bad and … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Philosophy

G.K. Chesterton on atheists

Posted on 28/06/2010 by

‘I do not feel any contempt for an atheist, who is often a man limited and constrained by his own logic to a very sad simplification.’ ~ G.K. Chesterton

Posted in Atheism

My idea of paradise: ‘Waiting Boat’ by Carol Evans

Posted on 27/06/2010 by

‘Waiting Boat’ by Carol Evans

Posted in Visual Arts

G.K. Chesterton on modern cities

Posted on 27/06/2010 by

‘The modern city is ugly not because it is a city but because it is not enough of a city, because it is a jungle, because it is confused and anarchic, and surging with selfish and materialistic energies.’ ~ G.K. … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, World Events

Albert Einstein on Christianity [Richard Dawkins and other New Atheists please take note]

Posted on 27/06/2010 by

‘Christianity will never be explained away by a smart remark.’ ~ Albert Einstein New Atheists take note! More Albert Einstein: Quote of the day: Albert Einstein on being religious Albert Einstein on Stephen Hawking and Richard Dawkins

Posted in Atheism, Quote of the Day, Sciences | Tagged

An honest atheist admission

Posted on 27/06/2010 by

‘I do not feel that I am the product of chance, a speck of dust in the universe, but someone who was expected, prepared, prefigured.  In short, a being whom only a Creator could put here; and this idea of … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism

Peter Hitchens on Christopher Hitchens

Posted on 27/06/2010 by

‘One of the problems atheists have is the unbelievers’ assertion that it is possible to determine what is right and what is wrong without God.  They have a fundamental inability to concede that to be effectively absolute a moral code … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Peter Hitchens

Does Bertrand Russell's 'celestial teapot' hold any water?

Posted on 27/06/2010 by

‘People like Russell, Dawkins, and Dennett who compare God to a celestial teapot betray by so doing a failure to understand, and engage, the very sense of the theist’s assertions.  To sum up: (i) God is not a gratuitous posit … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Philosophy

Were the Crusades unprovoked wars of aggression?

Posted on 27/06/2010 by

‘This is as wrong as wrong can be.  From the time of Mohammed, Muslims had sought to conquer the Christian world.  They did a pretty good job of it too.  After a few centuries of steady conquests, Muslim armies had … Continue reading →

Posted in History

A question atheists have to answer

Posted on 27/06/2010 by

‘There is an awkward question that atheist critics have to face.  It has to do with atheism’s intellectual capacity to restrain hatred and inspire love.  Christians and atheists alike are capable of both love and hate.  Agreed.  But when Christians … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Philosophy

Cannabis: the reality of self-stupefaction

Posted on 26/06/2010 by

‘Cannabis is now one of the biggest problems on inpatient psychiatric wards in England’s major cities . . . The increase in the prevalence and the deteriorating outcomes of schizophrenia due to cannabis use is the main reason why psychiatric … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, World Events, Popular Culture, Society

Well, that just about wraps it up for Dawkins

Posted on 26/06/2010 by

‘The argument from contrariness: If I believe in God, it will irritate Richard Dawkins. Richard Dawkins deserves to be irritated. Therefore, God exists.’ ~ Andrew Rilstone

Posted in Atheism, Humour

Woman who defied Hitler ‘was inspired by Cardinal Newman’

Posted on 26/06/2010 by

‘Cardinal John Henry Newman was an inspiration of Germany’s greatest heroine in defying Adolf Hitler, scholars have claimed.  New documents unearthed by German academics have revealed that the writings of the 19th-century English theologian were a direct influence on Sophie … Continue reading →

Posted in History

Does Richard Dawkins open minds or close them?

Posted on 26/06/2010 by

‘On examining Dawkins’ central argument what one discovers is not an open-minded, informed, careful examination of the contemporary debate over the existence of God.  Nor does one find a carefully researched assessment of theism.  Instead one finds Dawkins simply ignoring … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Philosophy

One of my favourite works of art: ‘Moodyville’ by Wayne Eastcott

Posted on 25/06/2010 by

‘Moodyville’ by Wayne Eastcott

Posted in Visual Arts

A visual summary of Fundamentalism

Posted on 25/06/2010 by
Posted in Fundamentalism

A fine photograph of C.S. Lewis

Posted on 25/06/2010 by
Posted in Authors, C. S. Lewis, Inklings, Poetry

Thomas Aquinas vs. the Intelligent Designers

Posted on 25/06/2010 by

Thomas Aquinas vs. the Intelligent Designers

Posted in Philosophy

David Bentley Hart on the New Atheism

Posted on 25/06/2010 by

‘I think I am very close to concluding that this whole “New Atheism” movement is only a passing fad — not the cultural watershed its purveyors imagine it to be, but simply one of those occasional and inexplicable marketing vogues … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Philosophy

Were the Crusades medieval colonialism?

Posted on 24/06/2010 by

No, as Thomas Madden explains: ‘It is important to remember that in the Middle Ages the West was not a powerful, dominant culture venturing into a primitive or backward region.  It was the Muslim East that was powerful, wealthy, and … Continue reading →

Posted in History

Was John Calvin a miserable sourpuss?

Posted on 24/06/2010 by

‘Martin Luther is usually cast as the fun-loving, beer-swigging, warm-hearted Reformer while Calvin is caricatured as dour, the sort of person who (as one Episcopal bishop once notoriously described him) “sucked sour persimmons for fun.”  In fact, Calvin was the … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Presbyterian, Reformed

C.S. Lewis on love

Posted on 24/06/2010 by

‘Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness.’ ~ C.S. Lewis

Posted in C. S. Lewis, Inklings, Popular Culture, Society

Richard Dawkins & the New Atheists, Part II

Posted on 24/06/2010 by

‘In The God Delusion Professor Dawkins suggests (no, states, Dawkins doesn’t do “suggests”) that “the Christian focus is overwhelmingly on sin sin sin sin sin sin sin.”  No commas, unrelenting.  And count them: that’s sin x 7.  Perhaps this is … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism

Richard Dawkins & the New Atheists, Part I

Posted on 24/06/2010 by

‘Dawkins himself has a knack for the memorable metaphor.  His great book The Selfish Gene is a case in point.  People can be literally selfish, but not genes.  Indeed Dawkins does not even think that there are genes for selfishness.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Sciences