Category Archives: history

History Lesson

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Andrew Stuttaford

Brie foe, Chablis fighter and Creationist Tim Pawlenty tries his hand at history: We need to remember as others try to push out or marginalise people of faith—we need to remember this and always remember it—the constitution was designed to … Continue reading →

Posted in history, politics | Tagged , | 3 Comments

A true cultural topography

Posted on January 12, 2011 by David Hume

There are quite often two extreme reactions when it comes to cultural variation. – To assert that cultural differences are to a great extent incommensurable. The more extreme caricatures of this position fall into the class of cultural relativism. – … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, history | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Godwin’s Pope (5)

Posted on November 6, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

Fresh from his remarkably disingenuous claims about atheism and the Nazis, that “subtle historian” Benedict XVI is (it appears from this report on his current visit to Spain) once again offering his own, distinctly unorthodox, take on the past: On … Continue reading →

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Godwin’s Pope (4)

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

The New York Times ran a piece yesterday on a new exhibit on Berlin dedicated to the Third Reich. This passage in particular caught my eye: BERLIN — As artifacts go, they are mere trinkets — an old purse, playing … Continue reading →

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Godwin’s Pope (3)

Posted on October 2, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

One academic’s (the Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College) response to the pope’s claim that the Nazis were atheists (in reality, some were and some were not) can be found here. An extract follows: Christian theologians, Catholic … Continue reading →

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Enslaved on Hajj

Posted on September 22, 2010 by David Hume

Some readers are generally confused as to why I discount to a large extent the influence of official ideology, text, or received tradition, over the long-term course of a religious society. The main reason is that the exceptions to the … Continue reading →

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More is Less

Posted on September 19, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

Here’s the Pope (speaking in London’s Westminster Hall last week) on Thomas More: I recall the figure of Saint Thomas More, the great English scholar and statesman, who is admired by believers and non-believers alike for the integrity with which … Continue reading →

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Godwin’s Pope? (2)

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

One of the pleasures (really) of blogging away on an interesting topic is when a reader alerts you to an angle or a source of which you were previously unaware. That brings me to a book called The Holy Reich: … Continue reading →

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Taking the Western side in religious history

Posted on September 17, 2010 by David Hume

A reader recently asked me about a history of Islam which did not exhibit the strong biases evident in Karen Armstrong’s body of work. I don’t know what to recommend really because I don’t read too many popular works of … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, history | Tagged | 3 Comments

Godwin’s Pope?

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

Here’s a curious passage from the first speech that the pope made on arriving in Britain: “Even in our own lifetime, we can recall how Britain and her leaders stood against a Nazi tyranny that wished to eradicate God from … Continue reading →

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