We only ban what we fear.
To threaten to kill the author takes it a step further.
I have tried to read a Rushdie book or two once (never twice). I did not get very far because they were not very good. They were too, well, Rushdie. Rushdie is, to my mind, a synonym for "boring".
He should not have been knighted. He's not a very good writer. Subject him to literary criticism by all means - even, if you have the willpower and patience, critically assassinate him. But, put a bullet in his brain because of Tony Blair's shallow literary taste! Come on!
All that has been achieved by renewal of the fatwa is to emphasise the degenerate nature of religious belief at its fundamentalist heart.
If further proof were needed that Dawkins is right, here it is. A god who believes in terrorism to enforce belief in himself is, hopefully, a contradiction in terms. But then, god is just that, a contradiction in terms.
To threaten to kill the author takes it a step further.
I have tried to read a Rushdie book or two once (never twice). I did not get very far because they were not very good. They were too, well, Rushdie. Rushdie is, to my mind, a synonym for "boring".
He should not have been knighted. He's not a very good writer. Subject him to literary criticism by all means - even, if you have the willpower and patience, critically assassinate him. But, put a bullet in his brain because of Tony Blair's shallow literary taste! Come on!
All that has been achieved by renewal of the fatwa is to emphasise the degenerate nature of religious belief at its fundamentalist heart.
If further proof were needed that Dawkins is right, here it is. A god who believes in terrorism to enforce belief in himself is, hopefully, a contradiction in terms. But then, god is just that, a contradiction in terms.
4 comments:
How can "god" be a contradiction in terms? It's a noun with a meaning. Whether you believe in God or not is a different matter. A better example of a contradiction in terms is "absolute uncertainty", which is the post-modern view of life, that is to say "there is no such thing as absolute truth", which in itself is an absolute truth statement.
Thanks for your comment, Hugh.
However, I did not say that god is a contradiction in terms. Such a comment would indeed have no meaning.
I said that a god who believed in terrorism to enforce belief in himself would be a contradiction in terms.
By that I was assuming a "good" god is the type that theist's believe in.
Steven
Thank you for your clarification. I wasn't referring to your point regarding "a god who believes in terrorism", but rather your final statement: "but then, god is just that, a contradiction in terms", which moves from the terrorism issue to the whole concept of deity..
Anyway i find your website and comments interesting, although i have to say i wholeheartedly (and respectfully!) disagree... I think it takes much more "faith" to be an atheist than a theist, (ie believing that for no reason the universe just "turned up", as apposed to the logical explanation that it was made by a rational mind)although i must admit there are some clever atheists out there. i haven't yet read any Richard Dawkins, but i heard a podcast of some of his debate with Alister McGrath, and i was impressed with his articulate style. He manages to convince people something utterly implausible is perfectly rational, so i'll give credit where credit is due!
I'm interested to know where your atheism comes from (did you ever have any faith at some point and if so what made you change, or have you always been this convinced and why), and would like to know where you stand on the Dawkins scale. (If you remember he refers to a 1 to 7 scale: 1 being a utterly convinced theist to 7 an utterly convinced atheist, 4 obviously being 50 / 50 unsure),
kind regards
Hugh
Sorry, it has been a while, and I have been busy but you deserve a response.
I have always been an atheist. My parents were Christians and sent me to Sunday school. None of that made any sense - even then.
I suppose I was fearful like the rest of us. I had a stab at believing. It did not work.
I have spent a lot of my life arguing with Christians. It has always been a fun thing to do and the girls want to convert you so much.
It now seems less important. After all, your views are simply nonsense.
It would be nice to believe that there was someone up there looking out for us. It saddens me that there is not.
It also saddens me that there are deluded people who beleive in a deity - Christian or otherwise. It may be the Islamists who are currently killing people but a few centuries ago it was the Christians killing Muslims.
Theism seems to lead to early death. Death for those who do not share the particular brand of theism that you espouse.
I am sure you are not like that. My problem is that so many of your fellows are.
A god who expects this kind of nuttiness from his or her or its followers is not worth believing in.
If there is a god then he, she or it is a narcissitic fruitcake suffering from severe symptoms of both psychosis and psychitzophrenia.
Dawkins does dot deny the existence of god. He merely argues the obvious truth that god's existence is highly improbable.
I would go further. If god does exist then it is a disgusting thing to be shunned.
Kind regards,
Steven.
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