Category Archives: history

Not Erdoğan (2)

With Islamist Turkish president Erdoğan continuing to take advantage of the failed coup that  he has described as a “gift from God”, here’s another quote from an infinitely greater Turk, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk: Religion is an important institution. A nation without religion … Continue reading

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Not Erdoğan

Given the news  from Turkey, a quote or two from Mustafa Kemal Atatürk seemed appropriate: I have no religion, and at times I wish all religions at the bottom of the sea. He is a weak ruler who needs religion … Continue reading

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Thomas Becket, Defender of Religious Privilege

Accompanied by somewhat morbid spectacle, a fragment of the elbow (!)  of Thomas Becket  (1118-70), an Archbishop of Canterbury who came to a rather sticky end, has been briefly returned to England. The BBC reports: A bone believed to be … Continue reading

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The Pope, the EU and the Charlemagne Prize

Cross-posted on the Corner One thing about this pope: When it comes to political matters, he has an unerring ability to be on the wrong side of the issue. Vatican Radio: Pope Francis on Friday received the International Charlemagne Prize of … Continue reading

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Eostre Debunked?

The Guardian (from 2011): Did you know that Easter was originally a pagan festival dedicated to Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, whose consort was a hare, the forerunner of our Easter bunny? Of course you did. Every year the … Continue reading

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He Was a Joker, That Tom

Thomas Paine: The whole religious complexion of the modern world is due to the absence from Jerusalem of a lunatic asylum.

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John Fisher, Again

Writing in The American Conservative, Rod Dreher refers, by implication approvingly, to St. John Fisher, “the English Catholic bishop who went to his death rather than conform to the king’s dictates.” Say what you will, but Fisher was no defender … Continue reading

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Islam: Enlightenment or Reformation?

Ayaan Hirsi Ali has been calling for an Islamic ‘reformation’. Dan Hannan is not so sure that that’s right: What, though, do we mean by “Reformation”? Most people mean that they want a more modern Islam, one which accepts the … Continue reading

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Mystic and Mad

In the Spectator a review by Sean McGlynn of a new book intended to show that there was more to the Middle Ages than mud and blood: For those who imagine the medieval period along the lines of Monty Python … Continue reading

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Too Dangerous a Historical Debate

Writing in the Guardian, Nick Cohen on self-censorship: Unless we find the courage to overcome fear, the self-censorship will spread, and not only in the media. Colleagues who wanted historians at a London museum to talk about the long history … Continue reading

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