For libertarians freedom is central: to act in whatever way we so desire as long as we do not infringe the fundamental rights - to life and property - of other people. Choosing to act one way or another requires freedom of the will: which means, contrary to determinism, that when we choose to act […]

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Little pleases me more than a discussion with a modern-day evangelical conservative who has been told all their life by their conservative parents, teachers or mentors that America was ‘founded on God’ and who hold Thomas Jefferson as the embodiment of their values.
The fact is, as mentioned in this post about deism, that Thomas Jefferson’s […]

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With Easter upon us we enter one of the most religious periods on the year and, as with Christmas, we are treated to endless debates about the historicity and meaning of the events being celebrated. I’ve given our religious brethren a bit of tough time over the past few weekends so thought I’d turn my […]

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Belfast has a brand new shopping centre called Victoria Square and my wife and I went to see it last Sunday. What an amazing piece of architecture, absolutely state of the art and modern. In light of this new development local commentators have been babbling on about how Belfast is now a truly modern European […]

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When he wrote the Ten Commandments on a few chunks of rock held by a young Charlton Heston, God’s omniscience let him down and he neglected to mention a bunch of stuff that was sinful. Thankfully we have the Roman Catholic Church to help us out. As if 10 Commandments and 66 books of the […]

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God bless the House of Lords. As much as I struggle with the fact that they aren’t elected, I can’t deny that they make some very good judgments. The most recent came earlier this week when they refused to hear a case brought by the activist group Christian Voice attempting to prosecute the BBC for […]

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Christian attitudes to sex are so entertaining that it’s become one of my favourite subjects. Consider Book 22, a website for Christian married couples offering a variety of sex enhancement products like oils, aids and toys.
I’ll say this: the site’s founder Joy Wilson is a brave woman. In her native land of […]

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At my sister’s wedding about 8 or 9 years ago an argument broke out between friends of my mum and dad about which of my parents I was most like. From the debate I learnt: I’m too tall to be like my Dad but I have his receding hairline. I have both my mum’s introversion […]

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As Crawley reports this morning, it appears Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has trodden on a landmine of British legality with some comments made as part of his foundation lecture at the Royal Courts of Justice.
In short, Williams’ comments are a thoughtful discussion-opener on the question of whether the United Kingdom should allow Muslim communities […]

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“Be Prepared” is the motto of the Scouts but I seriously doubt anything could have prepared them for a rather bizarre attack by the National Secular Society (NSS) and the British Humanist Association (BHA). The Scouts association is being unceremoniously dragged up in front of the Equality and Human Rights Commission because as part of […]

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Northern Ireland is full of the buggers: Born Again Paramilitaries, or “BAPS” as I prefer to call them. They swan around regenerated, forgiven, no longer the bad guys who terrorised people. They’ve found Jesus. And holy Hell do they know how to moralise. Often you can detect a rather horrible aura of self-righteousness, mixed with […]

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“Children believe in Santa Claus. Creationists believe in creationism. But children grow up and discard Santa. So why not creationists?”
That’s the question by Steve Tomkins of the Christian ezine Ship of Fools, a question sure to outrage creationists of both young and old earth varieties. But, as you’ll guess from reading this blog, I […]

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Having this ideology can be a wearisome thing, because I rarely agree with anyone. Usually I’m up to the challenge of disagreeing with everyone I meet, but in the past few days I’ve just been exhausted by it. Either they’re a religious zealot or they’re an atheist; I’m neither. Either they’re an […]

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The Golden Compass (IMDB) is the film version of the first novel in Philip Pullman’s acclaimed trilogy, His Dark Materials. It’s a family fantasy starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig and is set to be released a week from Friday across the United States. But there’s a controversy. Some people don’t want you […]

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Yes, blasphemy is illegal in the United Kingdom, under common law formed in the 17th century. Yet Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights guarantees the right to free speech, whether sacred, profane, secular, or whatever. Is anybody still in any doubt that the UK needs a complete legal overhaul? […]

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So. Atheist Sue Blackmore is to debate theist Alister McGrath tonight at Bristol University on the motion that that “belief in God is a dangerous delusion”. Interesting!
As a theist myself, I hope McGrath does a better job tonight than he did while being interviewed by his colleague Richard Dawkins several months ago. […]

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A while ago, Crawley discussed an exchange (video) between theist Alister McGrath and atheist Richard Dawkins, recorded in a TV interview. During the exchange, Dawkins asked McGrath about the problem of evil: why would God not protect people from tornados? (Or, better yet, I’d add, steer the tornados away, or, better still, not create […]

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From the title the reader would be forgiven for thinking this article is concerned with some quite grand political and theological concepts. Alas I must begin somewhere a little less lofty: doggy sex.

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