Across the world, from India and Turkey, to Hungary and the US, a tide of religious zealotry is on the rise. Britain – ignoring the hardline anti-abortion views of Jacob Rees-Mogg – seems one of the few places to have escaped the trend: the British Social Attitudes survey shows that for the first time non-believers …
The following passage occurs on Winston Churchill’s book, “The River War”, first edition, Vol II, pages 248-250 “How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. “The effects are apparent in …
Yet another of my modern philosophy posts. This completes my take on the three main monotheisms. You can read my views on Islam here http://hanrott.com/blog/epicurus-and-islam/, and on Christianity here http://hanrott.com/blog/epicurus-and-christianity/. Out of the three Abrahamic monotheisms, Judaism is perhaps the most unique. Unlike Christianity and Islam, it does not aspire to convert large portions of the world …
The spectre of civil war is looming over India. Over recent months there has been a “steady stream of lynchings” of Muslims by Hindu nationalists. These attacks are not just individual tragedies; they’re an assault on the whole notion of India as a democratic nation where people of all faiths and ethnicities mix in harmony. …
This is the last of the Modern Philosophy series for the time being. I’ve really enjoyed writing about an Epicurean take on modern ideas, but I wanted to end the series for now to make my posts more varied. This is also a follow-up to the last Modern Philosophy post on Christianity, where I discussed …
Yesterday I quoted a long article that suggested that religious people and atheists are more psychologically alike than they admit. The religionists argue that supernatural beliefs are hard-wired into our brains. Evolution, has left us with a tendency make belief in non-material beings come easily. As highly social and tribal animals, for example, we need …
Continue reading ‘Is Atheism just another religion (part 2)’ »
Owen did a brilliant piece on Christianity yesterday. So today I follow it up with a piece on atheism, as published recently in the New Scientist: Lois Lee directs the Nonreligion and Secularity Research Network at the University of Kent in Canterbury, UK. She is quoted as saying: “When people say’atheism is just another religion’, …
Continue reading ‘Is Atheism just another religion? (Part 1)’ »
Another one of my Modern Philosophy posts. I hope I speak with some authority on this one, having been brought up in an Evangelical Christian home, attended church regularly for eighteen years, and familiarised myself with the key tenets of Christian doctrine. Having already written about Islam, I hope to complete an analysis of the …
Yet another of my Modern Philosophy blogs, on a very contentious issue this time. Next week I will give my final rundown on the UK General Election, this time more concisely and with the benefit of having read the party manifestos. I’m also going to be starting a new series called Best of the Week, …
In many ways, young people in Britain today are the luckiest people to have ever lived. They enjoy a standard of living and access to scientific and technological advancements our ancestors could only have imagined. They are generally a healthy bunch, who exercise regularly, eat healthily, and consequently will enjoy a long life expectancy. Almost …
This is the first in a new series of posts titled, Epicurus and Modern Philosophy. Robert has done an excellent job of covering the issues of the day. But given that Epicurus was a philosopher, I wanted to write a series of posts on the biggest ideas affecting the modern world- from a Epicurean perspective, …
The vast majority of people are religious, which generally entails belief in a supernatural entity or three. And yet amid the oceans of religiosity are archipelagos of non-belief. Accurate numbers are hard to come by, but even conservative estimates suggest that half a billion people around the world (and counting) are non-religious. But scientists who …
Continue reading ‘Do you consider yourself to be a rational person?’ »
The rise of Isis and fanatical Islam might lead you to think that far from fading, religion is making a comeback. But the reverse is true: it’s humanists who are on the march. “The fastest-growing belief system in the world is non-belief.” In Saudi Arabia, 5% of those polled in 2012 described themselves as atheist …
Continue reading ‘Even Isis can’t stop spread of secularism’ »
On Wednesday 15th March, the Netherlands will hold a general election. In the American and British popular imaginations, the Netherlands is a socially progressive nation with a well-functioning democracy, and a high trust in its institutions. Relatively speaking, that perception is largely correct. But the Dutch increasingly believe their values are under threat, not from …
I don’t know whether this is generally known, but Trump, who inherited a lot of his money, is a fan of the writer Ayn Rand, the author of “Atlas Shrugged” and chief publicist of “objectivism” and libertarianism. He is surrounding himself with other admirers of the notion that there are makers and takers, and that …
