The Framing Debate: Steve Matheson on what’s been overlooked: I maintain that if we have an “outspoken atheists” problem, the way to solve it is not to silence the voices with which we disagree, but to engage them, debate them, even refute them. Here are some thoughts on how to do that. 1. Put Myers… Continue reading

Tom Stoppard remembers the summer of 1968. This indeed was one of the things I loved about England. The English version of continental eruptions suggested a national character in control of itself. In France, Germany, Italy and Spain, political activism at its extremes included murder, kidnap and bombs. My Italian publisher, one of the most… Continue reading

Always late to the party, but Hitchens as usual does not disappoint. Update: Andrew Sullivan offers a thoughtful response.(Brits, man. You can’t beat ’em.)

Pulling his punches. Surprising to see PZ Myers, who otherwise blanches at nothing, go all wishy-washy on Easter: “This is Easter, the day Christians everywhere set aside to celebrate the day they were hoaxed by a gang of Middle Eastern charlatans into believing a local mystic rose from the dead.” What breed of Middle Eastern… Continue reading

Verses for Good Friday: Matthew 27:52 When the sepulchers ruptured And expelled cadavers haltingly To strut their shrouded knees and elbows forth, Those ashen eyes did not perceive the stars above Or in what orbit Venus moved While the moon obscured the sun. This exalted carrion chased instead the gale Along the streets and roads… Continue reading