Politics, Religion

There's a fantastic discussion with Stephen Fry and Christopher Hitchens (recording, mp3 format) on the Guardian blog. It's supposed to be about the proposed Incitement to Religious Hatred Bill, but as Stephen is stauntly atheist and Christopher describes himself as anti-theist, it descends at several points into a general bitchfest about religion. The religious among you may wish to give it a miss. (Though it's not nearly as vitriolic as the Dawkins stuff I linked to a while back).

( My favourite part. Cut for length, not bitchiness. )

But I take issue with one statement made in this conversation, and that is that all religious are inherently creationist; that they imply an argument from design. Even ignoring religions such as Buddhism, where the creation of the world is not discussed, and Taoism, which describes the how but not the why of creation, I think there is a large and oft-overlooked thread of spiritualism throughout most religions that considers irrelevent, silly or even insulting the idea that God has anything at all to do with the physical world.

In particular my thoughts turned to this article in the Scotsman a while ago: Creationism dismissed as 'a kind of paganism' by Vatican's astronomer. The theologist and astronomer of the title basically shuns the entire idea of a God that meddles in the physical plane, either now or at the beginning of the universe.

I guess what I'm saying is that outspoken atheists, and especially the more famous of them, tend to be exposed only to the evangelising and fundamental of theists. It's easy to forget that this vocal minority is outnumbered by their more reasonable and less literal-minded fellow worshippers. And it's easy to pigeonhole religious people as rabid and irrational, a stereotype that alienates more people than it helps.

There may be more on this tomorrow. For now, goodnight.

Stephen Colbert

Oh, and anybody who hasn't seen this yet must do so. Stephen Colbert, a political comedian, making a speech at the 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner. Bear in mind that this is a press event, so the barbs are directed as much at the press as at Bush. This guy has balls of steel, and is my new hero. Just watch the video, mkay?

The speech has been for some reason ignored and played down by the mainstream press, but it's become a runaway hit on the internet. Hmmmm. Anyway, if you enjoyed the clip and feel the need to convey this fact to the world, then the website ThankYouStephenColbert.org would be the place to express your sentiments. Over 56,000 comments logged so far.   8^)

Edit: There's a torrent for a better quality version, too. You can see the taut smile on Bush's face all the more clearly...