Recent media stories

Dawkins vs Giles Fraser on Radio 4

Simon — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:07:42 +0000

I heard this yesterday morning and was much amused. Giles Fraser is as thoughtful as Dawkins isn't and managed to get him with his own rhetoric!

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/02/14/richard-dawkins-giles-fraser-radio4-athiesm_n_1275468.html?ref=uk

or for the audio – about 3 minutes in….http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9696000/9696135.stm

Good idea but already polemical

Simon — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:24:01 +0000

Whilst I applaud the overall action, by linking Dawkins to the argument and then being sketchy with definitions this article makes the issue more black or white than it needs to be. I just wish the press would do a better job of defusing rather than hyping up the issue.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/jan/15/free-schools-creationism-intelligent-design

One less horseman

Simon — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 09:37:15 +0000

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16212418

It's always sad when someone dies quite young, even if it is someone who I disagree with.

I imagine there will be some witty cartoons shortly showing Hitchens arriving in heaven...

Higgs boson: the particle of faith (Alister McGrath)

AnthonySmith — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 10:35:34 +0000

Here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/8956938/Higgs-boson-the-particle-of-faith.html

People believe in the existence of the Higgs boson, even without explicit "proof" of its existence, because of its explanatory power.

Belief in God can be similar. (Surprisingly, CS Lewis doesn't get quoted!)

Quite a nice article, I reckon.

(The pun would work even better if there were 39 particles in the standard model!)

Peter Enns' blog

Simon — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 10:10:46 +0000

I have been enjoying reading a series of posts by the theologian and biblical scholar Peter Enns recently including a number on "recurring mistakes in the Adam/Evolution discussion" that seem pertinent to some of our other discussions, and also some interesting stuff on the authority of the bible. See:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/peterenns/

Secular creationism!

Simon — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 09:51:04 +0000

Quite liked this article in Scientific American:

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2011/11/18/a-secular-case-for-intentional-creation/

Comment is Free - Belief

bcarling — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 18:04:03 +0100

Has anyone else been following the various articles in The Guardian's Cif site, i.e. various articles about the New Atheists' refusal to debate William Lane Craig? - see excellent pieces from Daniel Came, Julian Baggini and Fern Elsdon-Baker

Zombies!!

Simon — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 18:34:57 +0100

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15418899

I think there could be quite an interesting sermon buried in here!

Does reality have a liberal bias?

Simon — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:40:06 +0100

Fascinating article in Christianity Today. Apparently "reading the bible turns you liberal":

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/october/survey-bible-reading-liberal.html?start=1

My only criticism is that the words "liberal" and "conservative" have been completely misappropriated by contemporary US culture to the point that they are almost unusable!