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 …
The Devil Loves to Fish in Troubled Waters
“It is a misfortune when men do not care what the divisions are, whether against good or against evil, if their turn may be served. This is abominable and cursed in that man who wishes for, or rejoices in, or seeks the continuance of, divisions for these base ends” (Burroughs, Irenicum, p. 104).
Shoot, Follow the Money
Later this month, John McCain is going to be speaking in Seattle at an event cohosted by the Discovery Institute, an organization that has been behind a bunch of the Intelligent Design stuff. And so, predictably, a lot of advocates of Approved Thought have expressed their disapproval of this most recent outbreak of Disapproved Thought, …
Just One More Elective Surgery
[Speaking of a radical Islamic political advances in the West] “Designating female genital mutilation (FGM) as an operation that Western doctors may legally perform on Muslim women will probably be first. Some doctors will welcome the extra income for such an easy surgery, just as some of them bank extra income for performing unnecessary abortions …
Deep Structure
“The Christian affirmation is, however, that the Trinitarian structure which can be shown to exist in the mind of man and in all his works is, in fact, the integral structure of the universe, and corresponds, not by pictorial imagery but by a necessary uniformity of substance, which the nature of God, in Whom all …
What’s In It for Them
“But it is a misfortune when men love division and desire the continuance of it, first, to maintain that which is evil, and, second, to aim at their own ends, not regarding what public mischiefs come so long as their own private advantages may be served. They do not care what house is on fire …
Those Who Don’t Stand for Something Will Fall for Anything
“Recognizing that a critical mass among Canada’s fine citizenry holds ultraliberal views, I fear that Canada will perhaps be the first western nation to spring a supremacist Islamic trap on its own foot” (Richardson, Secrets of the Koran, p. 165).
The Artistic Temperament
“The artistic temperament is a disease that afflicts amateurs . . . But in artists of less force, the thing becomes a pressure, and produces a definite pain, which is called the artistic temperament. Thus, the very great artists are able to be ordinary men—men like Shakespeare or Browning. There are many real tragedies of …