Wilson's worthy witticism.

At times I wonder whether everything that can be said from the atheist and theist viewpoint has already been articulated. Of course, you hear this frequently as a criticism of new music; there is no new music because all the new genres are references to the old ones.

As a good friend of mine observed to me: We view ourselves as being at the end of time.

I'm guilty of this thought crime, particularly during my daily trawl through blogs and web articles as I look for some new witty thought or reasoning on atheism. On rare occasions I strike gold.

The atheist philanthropist Robert Wilson, who recently and oddly donated unbelievable sums of money to Catholic schools, is quoted second-hand as uttering what I consider to be one of the most subtle, non-compromising and thoughtful atheist retorts. It's almost like a shaggy dog tale; while you have to endure a tedious story you're rewarded with a cracking punchline. Here's the last two paragraphs of the article:

Wilson’s philanthropy produced an unlikely friendship with Cardinal Egan. Both opera and classical music buffs, they have dined together and discussed an array of topics, including the second movement of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony, Egan said. Divine matters and Wilson’s lapsed faith also turn up in their conversations.

“I’ve told him I look forward to the day when you’ll say that you’re not an atheist,” Egan said. “He said, ‘And if you succeed, you’d be out of a job.’”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-09/atheist-robert-wilson-gives-n-y-catholic-schools-5-6-million.html
 

Christopher Hitchens still can't say no to an interview

As sick as he his, Hitchens is still going about his core business. Articles, interviews and opinions. Four items you should not miss.

This is a transcript to a long interview that I really wish was available in audio. In fact, I printed the 32 pages and read it in installments over a few days! The blogosphere has dissected plenty of this already.

http://www.hughhewitt.com/blog/g/3979a77d-720a-4853-8890-1fc4f22c23cb

Hitchens writes about cancer and these subjects you'll then see repeated in the following two interviews.

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/09/hitchens-201009

Interview with Anderson Cooper of "360" (CNN):

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/07/video-extended-interview-hitchens-on-cancer-and-atheism/

A weathered looking Hitchens in interview with The Atlantic. Martin Amis turns up, but it's the same old questions. The interview is most entertaining in the last couple of minutes:

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/08/hitchens-talks-to-goldblog-about-cancer-and-god/61072/

E.T.'s probably just lost our number

A thoughtful article by Edward T. Oakes, S.J.which ponders why extra terrestrials aren't knocking down our door or why SETI has come up empty handed.

http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2010/07/et-phone-here

While clearly Oakes is arguing for a God, he covers some interesting points. However, he's guilty of pushing the tired old argument that the earth is so perfectly endowed for life that it must be a one-off. In an unimaginably enormous universe and given that we can see but a tiny part of it, the assertion that we're unique holds for only a moment of consideration.

Searching for a new idol?

Have you found yourself searching for a new champion in the absence of Christopher Hitchens? Hitchens has missed a number of publicity events recently due to family illness, perhaps more likely related to a seriously unsubstantiated report that he's not well.

Never fear, this well researched article on hot atheist women gave me plenty of consolation and certainly took my mind off Hitchens.

Just to make this blog seem slightly in tune with what the kids are doing, soccer, excuse me, football, has its own declared atheist on one of the more unlikely teams to see anyone admit it. Bellissimo!

Touch of God

Recall that God often strikes out against civilisations who displease him. It was a common sight in the old testament and we've seen recent examples of it in the form of a Haitian earthquake and an Asian tsunami.

Well here He is again, sending a clear message to somebody about something.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/16/touchdown-jesus-statue-burns-down

Not a fan of football or over-sized novelty statues. What I was particularly drawn to was this quote:

Some people were scooping up pieces of the statue's foam from the nearby pond to take home with them, said Darlene Bishop, a church co-pastor. "This meant a lot to a lot of people," she said.

Having had a short and miserable time with economics at University, I couldn't help but wonder just how much meaning "a lot" really was, you know, in dollar terms. I found my answer pretty quickly:

So, somewhere in the region of 99 cents to $15 then. Only time will tell. Let's see if eBay's servers survive the next electrical storm.

Hitchens on Hitch-22 on Daily Show

Hitchens is still doing the publicity rounds for Hitch-22. I had wondered whether Hitchens would be invited back (or even accept an invitation) to the Daily Show after this spot-on article.

The episode is good entertainment...

http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/tue-june-8-2010-christopher-hitchens

... but skip to the last third if you want to head straight to the interview.

Florida's wet season pt. II: The full story begins to emerge?

Turns out that the two teachers involved were more likely stood down for off-colour comments about Haiti than sprinkling around some holy perfume.

http://www.sfltimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4576&Itemid=1

Rainer and Robinson, who profess that they are Christians, were initially accused of sprinkling holy water onto fellow teacher Schandra Tompkinsel Rodriguez, an avowed atheist. School officials backed away from that allegation last week.

The allegations stemmed from a March 11 incident in which Rodriguez was in her classroom with students, discussing the fact that she does not believe in God or the Bible, according to confidential sources and McCray

Too late for the truth though, the public will remember this as the Holy Water case where Christianity was the real victim.