atheism – "I of my own knowledge…"

I find it very interesting to watch John Whitehead, head of the Rutherford Institute. He is a conservative in the old sense of the word, and, remarkably, apparently an honest man who does not allow a sense of partisanship or ideological loyalty to blind him to the truth.

Best-Selling Author Chris Hedges Takes Aim at Political Convergence of New Atheists & Radical Christian Fundamentalists in OldSpeak Interview

“The failure of the secular left in this country is that they forgot their Bible. They forgot that there are moral imperatives to which they must remain steadfast, regardless of what happens around them.”-Chris Hedges

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – OldSpeak, an online publication of The Rutherford Institute, hosts a provocative interview with Chris Hedges, author of I Don’t Believe in Atheists (Free Press, 2008). Speaking with John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, Hedges takes aim at so-called “New Atheists” such as Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins for peddling a malformed theology of blind religion and science and attacking religion in order to advance the worst of global capitalism, intolerance and imperialist projects. The interview, “I Don’t Believe in Atheists” is available here (http://www.rutherford.org/Oldspeak/articles/interviews/oldspeak-Hedges_2008.html)

Continue reading Taking on Atheists and Fundamentalists

Because my publishing company put out a book called Discovering The Golden Compass, I first learned of the existence of this very interesting trilogy by English author Philip Pullman. I bought the books and read them straight through. He is a good writer, able to hold you and interest you in characters and plot. But his metaphysical assumptions are — well, pathetic.

The story line, and his intent as an author, have a certain appeal to anyone fighting despotism and cruelty — but his materialist bias and his total lack of experience of anything beyond This World/This Time are embarrassingly obvious.

Summing it up to myself after finishing the third volume, I listed several things that must seem clear to him, but are actually severely confused. I know it’s fiction, but what a writer creates sheds light on what he believes is possible given certain assumptions. Continue reading Pullman’s confused ideology