“The demand for ‘originality’—with the implication that the reminiscence of other writers is a sin against originality and a defect in the work—is a recent one and would have seemed quite ludicrous to poets of the Augustan Age, or of Shakespeare’s time ” (Dorothy Sayers, The Mind of the Maker, p. 121).
Psalter, Claymore and Bagpipes
The first chapter of The God Delusion is divided into two sections. The first section is entitled “Deserved Respect,” and talks about scientists like Einstein, Hawking, and others who use religious terminology to talk about the whoa-factor when it comes to just how cool the universe actually is. It is beyond dispute that lots of …
A Fun House Mirror
“The Lord raised up Islam as a parody or mirror of Christianity, which is designed to expose our failings and to call us to faithfulness. Indeed, Mohammed’s life strikingly recapitulates the history of Israel. Called (so he claimed) by Allah, Mohammed led his people out of Mecca to Medina, established his rule in Medina, and …
Back to Lateral Metaphors
“Our minds are not infinite; and as the volume of the world’s knowledge increases, we tend more and more to confine ourselves, each to his special sphere of interest and to the specialized metaphor belonging to it. The analytic bias of the last three centuries has immensely encouraged this tendency, and it is now very …
A Second Battle of Tours V
Introduction: In this series we have referred from time to time to the concept of Sharia law. This is a distinctively Islamic concept, but it is important for us to see exactly where the distinction is. It is not because Muslims believe that their god should make the laws—everyone believes that. The issue is more …
Like a Coal Seam
“But the hatred of Jews and of Israel that neo-Nazis, skinheads and violent Muslims share makes the possibility of collusion between them a danger for which law enforcers should prepare. Anti-Semitism underlies Europe like a black coal seam: thin here, thick there; deep here, surfacing there” (Richardson, Secrets of the Koran, p. 197).
A Series of Metaphors
“The fact is, that all language about everything is analogical; we think in a series of metaphors. We can explain nothing in terms of itself, but only in terms of other things” (Dorothy Sayers, The Mind of the Maker, p. 23).
Let’s Fritz Our Brains At Them
Richard Dawkins wants to raise our consciousness — to “raise consciousness to the fact that to be an atheist is a realistic aspiration, and a brave and splendid one” (p. 1). And his new book, The God Delusion, certainly does have some high aspirations in this regard. As high, that is, as approximately one hundred …
Jefferson’s Wall Is Not to Be Found in Some Places
“In a thousand different ways naïve Europeans who think they are showing noble tolerance to a mere religion are actually inviting a very potent political invader into their societies” (Richardson, Secrets of the Koran, p. 170).
Why We Shouldn’t Worship Smoke
“That is the fact; whether we like it or not, the universe is made that way. This commandment [against idolatry] is interesting because it specifically puts forward the moral law as the basis of the moral code: because God has made the world like this and will not alter it, therefore you must not worship …