Tag Archives: Christianity

Castro: The Pope and the Dictator

Posted on November 26, 2016 by Andrew Stuttaford

To Pope Francis, Castro’s death was “sad” news, kind words indeed from someone who the former dictator would once have described as “social scum”. Meanwhile, just two or three weeks ago the pontiff was being quoted favorably on Telesur (a … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Doubt as Sin.

Posted on May 21, 2016 by Andrew Stuttaford

In the course of reading around a story about how the Portland Public Schools board has unanimously approved a resolution aimed at “eliminating doubt” about climate change and its causes in schools, I came across this quote  from Nietzsche (It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Mystic and Mad

Posted on January 24, 2015 by Andrew Stuttaford

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 →

Posted in history, Religion | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Pope, Rush

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Andrew Stuttaford

One of the many advantages of not being religious is that I don’t have to spend any time wrestling with the “contradictions” of my faith. Christianity has—stretching from its murky beginnings to its wildly syncretic present—quite a few of those. … Continue reading →

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In the Beginning

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Andrew Stuttaford

Much as I am not a fan of the public nuisance better known as Karen Armstrong, the opening two paragraphs of a review she has written for the FT today caught my eye: Over the course of his long, distinguished … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Religion | Tagged | 7 Comments

Multiculturalism: Christianity (partly) to Blame?

Posted on June 5, 2011 by Andrew Stuttaford

Getting to grips with the pathologies of multiculturalism is no easy task, but here from the Wall Street Journal is retired (center-right) Dutch politician Frits Bolkenstein having a go. This, in particular, caught my eye: The other foundation of our … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

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 →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Dhimmitude and demise done well

Posted on September 26, 2010 by David Hume

Sometimes readers will ask about a good book on the history of religion, and I’m pretty hard-pressed to recommend something without qualification, caveat, or caution. But I can recommend The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

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 →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , , | 15 Comments

Why Obama is likely to be privately irreligious

Posted on August 21, 2010 by David Hume

The heritability of religiosity is modest in the American environment. In some environments, such as Saudi Arabia, a normal range in variation in religiosity obviously can not express itself. But under more relaxed conditions it seems that around half of … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, politics | Tagged , , | 13 Comments