1. The books that inspire me

Comment #158230 by Caeruleum on April 10, 2008 at 8:38 am

Evelyn Waugh's books may not appeal but you should definitely read his grandson's book: God by Alexander Waugh, son of Auberon Waugh. Not a book to inspire you but it is a good laugh! Basically he reviews what we can learn about God from the bible and other scriptures (such as the Koran, Enoch's gospel etc.) and takes each extract to its logical but generaly absurd conclusion.

2. Why Science Will Triumph Only When Theory Becomes Law

Comment #88192 by Caeruleum on November 15, 2007 at 6:54 am

I don't think anyone has yet suggested using 'the principles of evolution'. This avoids the 'theory' word and suggests that evolution is based on a set of scientifically established mechanisms, which indeed it is.

3. Face to faith

Comment #82875 by Caeruleum on October 28, 2007 at 5:15 am

However, he also knew that this magisterium of experiment did not overlap with the magisterium of religion, which "extends over questions of ultimate meaning and moral value", in Stephen Jay Gould's famous formulation.

Gould did us no good with this kind of comment which the religious regurgitate ad nauseam. It is quite absurd to imagine that religion can contribute anything helpful to 'questions of ultimate meaning' or 'moral value'.
Organised religions have managed to convince many people that they are the ultimate authority on matters of morals. Holy men - rabbis, priests, vicars etc. - are frequently invited to TV discussion programs dealing with issues of morality to provide their authoritative verdict. Yet in reality they have no more claim to this authority than you or I.

4. The Problem with Atheism

Comment #75546 by Caeruleum on October 3, 2007 at 1:22 am

Of all the current anti-religious writers, Sam is my favourite. Consider this comment:

He observes that even in the best of times no-one close to him has died, he's healthy, there are no hostile armies massing in the distance, the fridge is stocked with beer, the weather is just so—even when things are as good as they can be, he notices that at the level of his moment to moment experience, at the level of his attention, he is perpetually on the move, seeking happiness and finding only temporary relief from his search.

This is great stuff and certainly rings a bell with me. Surely, even for the non-religious, there no shame in seeking the quiet mind.

5. Letters: Theology has no place in a university

Comment #75337 by Caeruleum on October 2, 2007 at 11:20 am

With all this discussion about the teaching of theology I was kind of wondering what a course in theology might consist of given that the 'raw material' for the whole subject is a few holy books. Probing about on the internet I found a site location belonging to Durham University that holds a large number of past papers in theological topics: http://aesica.dur.ac.uk/exampapers/Default.asp?dir=Theology%2F
Worth a look to see what you might expect if you sign up.

6. Harper's Index

Comment #75209 by Caeruleum on October 2, 2007 at 3:53 am

hakija:
Yes, I would entirely support this idea. As RD has indicated by his recent Channel 4 programs about the paranormal, astrology etc. and alternative medicine, the battle for rationalism has to encompass more than just religion. I have always appreciated the efforts of the team at the CSICOP which addresses a wide range of abuses of science and reason.

7. Harper's Index

Comment #74892 by Caeruleum on October 1, 2007 at 2:53 am

Even within the 'religious' section of a bookshop, there is usually distinct sub-divisions for Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism etc. but I never see any sub-division for atheism etc. which just meanders throughout the shelves. I can't see that this is a good thing as it fails to identify atheism as a topic worthy of separate identification. Even moderate, arguably objective writers such as Karen Armstrong seem to be placed at random.

8. Harper's Index

Comment #74876 by Caeruleum on October 1, 2007 at 1:14 am

On the subject of bookshop space for atheist texts such as Dawkins, Harris etc. it seems that shops don't quite know how to categorize them. Like feanor I have found Dawkins under the science section. Alternatively, they tend to get lost in some random position within a flood of Christian and Islamic books. Perhaps we should be pressing bookshops for a proper classification for atheist/rationalist/humanist texts. Or possibly it might be better to have them spread around to let the religious reader encounter them by accident.

9. The Atheists Interviews

Comment #69658 by Caeruleum on September 12, 2007 at 4:52 am

I liked this article. There is a lot of sense in the things he says. It was fifty years ago that I became an atheist, much to the annoyance of my mother. Like EM I can't remember exactly how the effect came about but I believe it happened as a result of reading a lot of science fiction! This was the vintage stuff such as Arthur C. Clark, Eric Frank Russell etc. I think these authors conjured up strange new worlds and societies that put the strange stories of the bible into perspective; i.e. they became 'just stories'. The other effect I suppose was that they simply made you think which is always helpful in challenging preconceived ideas. A study of how people change their minds about religion (in both directions) is an excellent idea.

10. Charles Brooker's screen burn

Comment #62752 by Caeruleum on August 11, 2007 at 7:47 am

TheDiamondDave

Many thanks for the link to Charlie Brooker. I missed this series. I hope he gets a new series.

The RD website is performing a worthwhile service is publicizing this kind of program.

11. Charles Brooker's screen burn

Comment #62718 by Caeruleum on August 11, 2007 at 1:51 am

Veronique

You may be interested to know that the Bristol hospital is not the only one in the UK - there is one in Glasgow as well! The leading light there is David Reilly. Check out http://ghh.info/welcome.htm.