SUNDAY SERMON
October 7, 2012 § 1 Comment
Typical. Jesus and Mo sum up in fewer than 50 words…
…what it took me more than 4000 to argue. OK, so those 4000 words flesh out the argument a bit and add a bit of nuance. But Jesus and Mo invariably hit the spot. If you have not discovered them yet, do check out the site. There is also a new book-form Jesus and Mo collection.
BEYOND THE SACRED
January 29, 2012 § 19 Comments
I gave a talk called ‘Beyond the sacred’, on the changing character of ideas of the sacred and of blasphemy, at a conference on blasphemy organised this weekend by the Centre for Inquiry at London’s Conway Hall on Saturday. Here is a transcript.
To talk about blasphemy is also to talk about the idea of the sacred. To see something as blasphemous is to see it in some way as violating a sacred space. In recent years, both the notion of blasphemy and that of the sacred have transformed. What I want to explore here is the nature of that transformation, and what it means for free speech.
NO OFFENCE
January 12, 2012 § 2 Comments
As students at University College London prove that there is nothing about which someone can’t find something to take offence, Jesus and Mo show how to create a world that might suit our oh-so-sensitive souls:
HOW CENSORSHIP LEADS TO PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE
November 9, 2011 Comments Off
GOD, THE UNIVERSE AND A BACON SARNIE
October 10, 2011 § 1 Comment
The latest strip from the irrepressible Jesus and Mo may seem like a typical dig at the inconsistencies and illogicalities of religious faith. But, in its own inimitable way, it taps into one of the most difficult theological conumdrums for believers.
A common argument in the increasingly tedious ‘God Wars’ is the claim by believers that atheists are naive about religious belief. They read holy books too literally and think of God as an old man with a white beard. But, say believers, religion has long since moved on from such unsophisticated conceptions. It is, for instance, the argument that lies at the heart of Terry Eagleton’s broadside against Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and other New Atheists. Among the latest to join this chorus of ‘We’re more sophisticated than you’ is Ross Douthat in the New York Times.
Atheists can indeed be naïve about religion and theology, and I myself have been critical of many of the arguments. But the apologists for religion are equally naïve, not to mention disingenuous, in their defence of belief. It is true that there has long been a sophisticated strain of theology that sees God not as a person but as the ‘condition of being’, the prerequisite for the existence of the universe and the functioning of life. But there has also been a constant and profound tension between this abstract, non-figurative imagining of God and the God that does all the other things that religion requires of Him: perform miracles, answer our prayers, wrestle with the devil, set down moral law, explain the finer points of sex, punish sinners. And tell us to keep off the bacon sarnies. « Read the rest of this entry »
JESUS AND MO DO PLATO
August 4, 2011 Comments Off
I often riff on the Euthyphro dilemma, so I’m delighted to see Jesus and Mo take on Plato:
All the Jesus and Mo cartoons are here.
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‘THERE OUGHT TO BE A LAW AGAINST IT’
April 13, 2011 Comments Off
Jesus and Mo ponder lewdness, respect and the burqa:
