Faith Central - Times Online - WBLG

Dawkins and Hitch do Christmas

Mr Barwell offers me this nice little video of Prof. Dawkins discussing Christmas etc  with some kindred spirits,  and the rather beguiling line regarding College Grace in Latin -   "I won't utter falsehoods but I don't mind uttering meaningless statements".    I still think he might have trouble with O come let us Adore Him. It's in English.  You have to sing it three times...

Why is God less liberal than Hitchens?

A sharp article in the American Spectator reviews Christopher Hitchens' recent debate on the existence of God.  "The Hitchens argument in essence boiled down to this: if God existed, He would have to be as much of a liberal humanitarian as I am. Since the misery in the world and the violence in the Bible show that He obviously isn't any kind of a liberal humanitarian, it must be equally obvious that He doesn't exist. Q.E.D."

Atheists v. believers, latest

Christopher Hitchens has been on a book tour with his anti-religion polemic , and senses that people are liking him.  He writes in Vanity Fair that "A generation ago the words "American atheist" conjured the image of the slightly cultish and loopy Madalyn Murray O'Hair. But in the last two years there have been five atheist best-sellers".
    He is full of anecdotes of his opponents, proving that "you can get away with anything in this country if you can shove the word "Reverend" in front of your name"
     His habitually bilious tone, however, might be deplored by Michael Shermer , writing him a gentle  open letter to him in Scientific American:  he quotes Martin Luther King who said  " Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.” If atheists do not want theists to prejudge them in a negative light, then they must not do unto theists the same....Rational atheism values the truths of science and the power of reason, but the principle of freedom stands above both science and religion"

Eternity for atheists

Do you need to believe in a God to believe in life after death?   No real reason why, if you think about it...what goes on, goes on...The New York Times had  a fascinating article, reminding us that the notion of the immortal soul predates Christianity, going back to Plato.  Modern neuroscience, identifying all emotions and virtues with bits of visible brain, has denied that;  but go back a century to William James and another, rather beautiful, idea emerges.  And the author quotes  Vladimir Nabokov -  “Life is a great surprise and I do not see why death should not be an even greater one.”  Never thought I'd be quoting the author of Lolita on Faith Central.  See, he's right about the surprises.

       

US intelligence

In the US at least, a cracking good debate goes on about the "New Atheism" and its proponents like Hitchens and Dawkins. Both sides have their say.  Here's the latest rebuttal, in the Wall St Journal.   

Harries on Hitchens - 'seriously harmful'

A Guardian review by Bishop Richard Harries of Christopher HItchens' intemperate blast against religion - "God is not Great"  takes its effect seriously.

The Hitchens Brothers Debate

If you want an annoying five minutes, go to the Radio 4 Today website , scroll to  8.20, and catch the brothers Hitchens in their first fraternal on-air debate about God. Christopher Hitchens wrote "God is not Great", a polemic against all religion; brother Peter is Anglican conservative.
The debate confirms that the sole genetic similarity is a sort of monotone low-level bad temper. Neither mentions the inwardness of religion, or spirituality. You might call it a draw, but in a pointless fight. You may end up feeling that while it is admittedly hard to believe in an All-Seeing, All -Wise Being, it is even harder to believe that it is Chris Hitchens.

Read more on Christopher Hitchens when he answered questions about God, life and the Universe,in an extract from his new book , in an interview with Janice Turner, and in a review for The Times.