Wickedness, allied to the “truth” of religious belief, can lead men to heinous acts. For it is this sense of having access to the truth that makes religion the dangerous phenomenon that it so often is. Most of the terrible things human beings do to each other originate in a sense of moral conviction. . …
Continue reading ‘A century of Moslem “religious” violence?’ »
In 1924 Kemal Ataturkand the Grand National Assembly abolished the Caliphate, and along with it, the Ministry of Religious Affairs . Pious Foundations were wound up, religious schools transferred to the secular arm, and the Sheriat Courts were closed. Instead, a Civil Code, based on the Swiss code, was introduced. Ataturk believed that Islam was …
Continue reading ‘Moving back to the Middle Ages in Turkey’ »
In 1480 a Turkish force invaded Otranto in Italy, killing 802 people. Catholics claim that they were killed for refusing to convert to Islam. Pope Clement XIV beatified the group in 1771, and now Pope Francis is declaring all 802 saints. He will thus become the Pope with largest number of saints created, overnight. The …
The New York Times reports today that crowds, led by Orthodox priests, violently attacked a gay rights demonstration in Tbilisi, Georgia yesterday. The leader of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II, compared homosexuals to drug addicts, and called the gay demonstration “a violation of the rights of the majority” of Georgians. One supporter of …
Continue reading ‘Borne on a tide of ignorance and thriving on hatred’ »
Alain de Botton is a Swiss philosopher living in England. in his new book, Religion for Atheists, he suggests that those who don’t believe in the teachings of the established religions should appropriate some of their ideas. They are good ideas, he says. They include how to: – build a sense of community – make …
Continue reading ‘Alain de Botton and taking good ideas from world religions’ »
To The Spectator It is possible that I have been counting myself an atheist for longer than Richard Dawkins – if only because I am almost a decade older than he is. It is only fairly recently, though, that I began subscribing to the Humanist Association, of which Professor Dawkins has long been vice-president. I …
Epicurus said: Do not be afraid of the gods: they do not concern themselves with human problems; nor do they reward or punish you in this world or when you die. There is neither a Heaven nor a Hell. Comment: Heaven and hell were invented to offer hope to the hope-less and as a means …
A former employee at a Christian college has enlisted the help of high-profile attorney Gloria Allred to sue a California school that allegedly fired her for engaging in premarital sex. In a bizarre twist, the school reportedly went on to offer the pregnant woman’s job to her then-fiance. Teri James, 29, told the news outlet …
Continue reading ‘Christian college and mind-blowing sexism’ »
“What the next pope needs to do,as his first act, is to demand an accounting of every act of child abuse in the church. Every priest who is known to be guilty should be routed out, excommunicated and jailed. Every priest, bishop and cardinal who had any knowledge of these heinous crimes and protected a …
Continue reading ‘Acting like a Christian church ( or not?)’ »
With a short while to go before choosing yet another autocrat to run the Catholic Church (reactionaries continue to insist that the relative democracy of the early Christian church and the importance of women should be airbrushed out of history), the Vatican is battling persistent rumours that Benedict’s decision was triggered by an explosive report …
An Amish sect leader has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for attacking fellow Amish, kidnapping them and cutting off their hair and beards. The Amish have a reputation for being quiet, law-abiding country folk, happy in their 18th Century lifestyle. Apparently, this is not true. They are subject to the same weird, irrational …
In “The Pope’s War: How Ratzinger’s Crusade Imperiled the Church and How It Can Be Saved”, Matthew Fox, a former Catholic priest, talks about the “devastation” wrought by Benedict and his predecessor and elaborates on the following points: 1. His silence for years about the notorious pedophile priest Father Maciel, who was so close to …
It is well known that the Vatican is a roiling mess of disaffection, petty bickering and alleged financial corruption. The scandals about the papal documents, the Vatican bank, the sex scandals and the growing collapse of church membership must alarm those who are still committed. It seems to have been an unsuccessful ending to a …
70% of all American Jews voted for Obama. They are focused, not on Israel, but generally speaking on America. Many young Jews cannot tell you who Netanyahu is. They may offer Israel support on the Palestinians, but on bombing Iran they think as most Americans think, that is “you have to be joking!” There is …
There are few men who durst publish to the world the prayers they make to Almighty God (Montaigne, “Of Prayers”, Essays , 1580-8) This might explain why so few of the requests are granted. Epicureans feel that heavenly response to prayers is sufficiently spotty that they prefer to rely on their own intelligence and initiative.
