Last night I watched God’s Next Army a Channel 4 programme about Patrick Henry College. PHC is a christian evangelist college which takes largely home-schooled teenagers from religious communities and turns them into people who they believe will be at the forefront of the fight to “re-christianise” the USA. It was all very worrying. These… Continue reading Patrick Henry College
Category: religion
Da Vinci Dilemma
Nice review of The Da Vinci Code on the BBC blog network. Two categories of people will probably be disappointed by the film: those who have read the book and those who have been looking forward to the movie. For all its flaws, the book is vastly better than the film. And I say that… Continue reading Da Vinci Dilemma
Faith Schools
To celebrate easter, Comment is Free gives you both sides of the faith schools argument today. So you get Polly Toynbee talking sense: But how odd that in this heathen nation of empty pews, where churches’ bare, ruined choirs are converted into luxury loft living, a Labour government – yes, a Labour government – is… Continue reading Faith Schools
Feminism and Islam
Today’s Guardian has an article about Phyllis Chesler, an American feminist writer who believes that by turning a blind eye to what goes on in Islam, the feminist movement is betraying Muslim women. Western feminism’s failure to confront the problems raised by Islam, Chesler believes, is a result of the creation of a hierarchy of… Continue reading Feminism and Islam
Most Distrusted
American’s increasing acceptance of religious diversity doesn’t extend to those who don’t believe in a god, according to a national survey by researchers in the University of Minnesota’s department of sociology. From a telephone sampling of more than 2,000 households, university researchers found that Americans rate atheists below Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians and… Continue reading Most Distrusted
Archbishop: Stop Teaching Creationism
In an interview in today’s Guardian the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has come out firmly against the teaching of creationism in schools. AR: Are you comfortable with teaching creationism? AC: Ahh, not very. Not very. I think creationism is, in a sense, a kind of category mistake, as if the Bible were a theory… Continue reading Archbishop: Stop Teaching Creationism
Fee-Paying and Faith-Based Schools
From the Guardian‘s new Comment is Free site comes a great article by Stuart Jeffries. Here’s a modest proposal. In fact, here are two modest proposals. If the Labour government has any socialist principles left, then surely it should do two fundamental things in order to make our schools truly egalitarian rather than crapshoots for… Continue reading Fee-Paying and Faith-Based Schools
One Religion Too Far
From the BBC: Singer Isaac Hayes is to stop providing the voice for a character in cartoon South Park because he objects to its “inappropriate ridicule” of religion. And what has finally opened Hayes’ eyes to this injustice? I mean, it’s not like South Park hasn’t been taking the piss out religion since 1997. Even… Continue reading One Religion Too Far
The New Fundamentalists
It’s heartening to see the amount of negative coverage that religion is getting on TV recently. It’s clear that there are a number of people (or, at least, a number of people in TV production) who are worried about the increasing influence that religion is having on our society. Last night Channel Four’s Dispatches entered… Continue reading The New Fundamentalists
Religion and Politics
So Tony Blair thinks that god will judge him and his decision to go to war in Iraq. Well, no, actually he won’t because god doesn’t exist. Back in the real world, Blair should surely be more concerned about being judged by the British people and history. Unfortunately the British people won’t get another chance… Continue reading Religion and Politics