Richard Dawkins is laughing up his sleeve. I wasn’t in any hurry to buy this book. I had already read and admired every other book of Dawkins’, and had read enough in the press to have a good idea of what this book contained, and to know that I would agree with it, as I… Continue reading The God Delusion
Category: opinion
Immigration and Identity in Europe
(originally published in 2002) The assassination of Pim Fortuyn, a Dutch politician, provides food for thought. Fortuyn was “a politician who rejected multiculturalism, called for an end to immigration and excoriated Islam as a ‘backward culture’ for its intolerance of homosexuals, attitude to women and more” and “argue[d] fiercely that immigrants should integrate more wholeheartedly… Continue reading Immigration and Identity in Europe
Oh, Lord, It’s Hard to Be Atheist
I have just read Daniel Dennett’s book Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon. It’s a great book. Unfortunately, I doubt that it will be read by the people who really need it, though the author tries very hard to preach to them, rather than to the choir of convinced unbelievers such as myself.… Continue reading Oh, Lord, It’s Hard to Be Atheist
Violent America: Why I Don’t Feel Safe in My Own Country
I return to the US, my putative homeland, at least once a year, and even when not there, I (like most of the world) have constant access to American culture via movies, TV shows, and websites. In spite of all this, I feel ever more a stranger when I land there. I can’t put my… Continue reading Violent America: Why I Don’t Feel Safe in My Own Country
Anniversaries
This year we must endure, in quick succession, the first anniversary of hurricane Katrina, and the fifth of 9/11. I am so glad I’m not in the US to be bombarded by the news coverage, though I can catch enough of the spatter from anywhere in the world. The politicians who rush to capitalize, claiming… Continue reading Anniversaries