Category Archives: history

The limits of pluralism, and the necessity of an identity

Posted on November 28, 2009 by David Hume

I just finished Vali Nasr’s Forces of Fortune: The Rise of the New Muslim Middle Class and What It Will Mean for Our World. Very much in the mold of Fareed Zakaria’s The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, history | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Dead political religions

Posted on October 11, 2009 by David Hume

I recently read The Rise and Fall of Communism by Archie Brown. This is a general survey which runs roughly from the late 19th century down to the present day. Though there was a focus on the Soviet Union (for … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, history | Tagged | 9 Comments

The Commanding Heights

Posted on September 13, 2009 by David Hume

U.S. Is Finding Its Role in Business Hard to Unwind: But one year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers set off a series of federal interventions, the government is the nation’s biggest lender, insurer, automaker and guarantor against risk for … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, economics, history, politics | Tagged | 1 Comment

Fundamentalism & Terror

Posted on July 26, 2009 by Andrew Stuttaford

Here’s a review of Timothy Garton Ash’s new book by the distinguished British philosopher John Gray. The following  passages, in particular, caught my attention: The reception of Garton Ash’s writings on Muslim fundamentalism is instructive in this regard. He provoked … Continue reading →

Posted in history, politics | Tagged | 26 Comments

Diverse radicals

Posted on May 23, 2009 by David Hume

In regards to Heather’s post below there are many complex issues here, and frankly I get tired of those who want to claim that religion or anti-religion have some necessary and exclusive association with any given movement, whether it has … Continue reading →

Posted in history, politics | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Watching the Door

Posted on March 18, 2009 by Bradlaugh

My review of Kevin Myers’ book, which I mentioned in a previous post, is now online at Taki’s Magazine.

Posted in culture, history, politics | 1 Comment

The God Who Wasn’t There

Posted on February 22, 2009 by Bradlaugh

While reading my Sunday Telegraph this morning, my eye was caught by an ad for yet another proactive atheist venture, a movie (or at any rate a DVD) titled The God Who Wasn’t There. Its premise seems to be that Jesus of Nazareth … Continue reading →

Posted in history | 57 Comments

Pagans & Christians

Posted on February 17, 2009 by David Hume

In the late 4th century the Roman Empire was diverting its state subsidies from the customary pagan cults to the Christian church.  At the same time the public space was evolving from one where tokens of pagan piety were being … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , | 29 Comments

On Judeo-Christian

Posted on January 15, 2009 by David Hume

I’ve recently triggered a round of discussion on several weblogs around the interwebs relating to the term “Judeo-Christianity,” especially when it comes to definiting the civilization of the West (as in, “our Judeo-Christian culture”).   I started the discussion here, … Continue reading →

Posted in Definition, history, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments

Evolution, Technology, and the Economy

Posted on January 13, 2009 by Bradlaugh

A reader draws my attention to this rather good systems-theoretic piece by Matt Ridley in the London Spectator. Charles Darwin, who was born 200 years ago next month, has spent the 150 years since he published The Origin of Species … Continue reading →

Posted in economics, history, Science & Faith | Comments Off on Evolution, Technology, and the Economy