Category Archives: religion

News from the Very Dark Caves

Posted on June 2, 2007 by Charles Lambert

According to an article in today’s Guardian, the Church of England feels that ‘intelligent design’ could become part of the science curriculum in state schools. Well, not exactly part of the science curriculum, but as a suitable subject for discussion … Continue reading →

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Assertion without evidence

Posted on June 1, 2007 by Charles Lambert

Sam Harris, in The End of Faith, quotes a rather useful dictum of Christopher Hitchens: “What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence”. Worth remembering when men in frocks blather on about natural law.

Posted in christopher hitchens, natural law, received truth, religion, sam harris | Leave a comment

To Moscow… and back (sharpish)

Posted on May 28, 2007 by Charles Lambert

Among those putin putting the boot into gay protesters in Moscow yesterday were two Orthodox priests. Of course, deep down, what they’d really like to do is turn the other cheek. Right, boys? Right and left? I said turn, not … Continue reading →

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Revealed truths 3

Posted on May 28, 2007 by Charles Lambert

This comes from The End of Faith, by Sam Harris: When the members of the ‘Heaven’s Gate’ cult failed to spot the spacecraft they knew must be trailing the comet Hale-Bopp, they returned the $4,000 telescope they had bought for … Continue reading →

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A question of emphasis

Posted on May 27, 2007 by Charles Lambert

In the context of a long and fascinating piece on E.M. Forster’s attitude to fiction in the LRB (10 May 2007), Frank Kermode comments: Discordances between the order of story and the order of the narrative can be methodically and … Continue reading →

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Suffer the little children…

Posted on May 27, 2007 by Charles Lambert

A parish priest in Pescara, Don Lino Cisotto, has refused first communion to a nine-year-old autistic child on the grounds that he’s incapable of understanding the full significance of the Eucharist. I would have taken this as a sign of … Continue reading →

Posted in church, religion | 2 Comments

Commonplaces

Posted on May 26, 2007 by Charles Lambert

Ever since I came across W.H. Auden’s commonplace book, the name of which I forget, I’ve been collecting extracts that appeal to me in one way or another. It’s the most impersonal, and knowing, form of autobiography there is, and … Continue reading →

Posted in auden, commonplace, lessing, religion | 2 Comments

Revealed truths 1 and 2

Posted on May 22, 2007 by Charles Lambert

Fundamentalists in Israel have complained about the use of cotton and linen in the same garment, as this is contrary to Talmudic law. The clothing retailers Zara, with 30 stores in Israel, have complied and removed the garment.An Egyptian theologian … Continue reading →

Posted in crank, religion, revealed truth | 2 Comments

Multitasking ad infinitum

Posted on May 7, 2007 by Charles Lambert

As though he didn’t have enough on his hands…(Spotted by Jane on Ridley Road. Nice one, Jane.)

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Roy Zimmerman: Defenders of Marriage

Posted on April 23, 2007 by Charles Lambert
Posted in civil union, homophobia, human rights, religion, roy zimmerman | Leave a comment