Antiquitopia

A new play, "Next Fall," takes on the intersection of faith and sexuality in an interesting way. Perhaps the usual discussion is a family with a homosexual child, and that child growing up and coming out in the context of a conflict of a more conservative faith and their own sexuality. This play, however, shifts the focus: what happens when there is a conflict of faith between two men in a relationship? It’s easy to mistake Geoffrey Naufft’s “Next Fall” for being slighter than it is. Much of this artful, thoughtful and very moving story of a gay couple agonizing over differences in their religious faiths proceeds with the stinging breeziness of a cosmopolitan comedy. You can imagine its concept being pitched to a television producer as a sort of “Will & Grace” with an ontological conscience: He’s a committed Christian, while he’s a committed atheist, and it’s driving their crazy friends even crazier! But the appealingly acted Naked Angels production that opened Wednesd...

An article at Salon reviews a new book by Terry Eagleton, in which he throws down with "Ditchkin" (Dawkins and Hitchens), claiming that atheism has gone downhill since the good old days of Nietsche. April 28, 2009 | Here is how British literary critic Terry Eagleton begins his brisk, funny and challenging new book: "Religion has wrought untold misery in human affairs. For the most part, it has been a squalid tale of bigotry, superstition, wishful thinking, and oppressive ideology." That's quite a start, especially when you consider that the point of Eagleton's "Reason, Faith, and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate" -- adapted from a series of lectures he delivered at Yale in April 2008 -- is to defend the theory and practice of religion against its most ardent contemporary critics. But Eagleton, a professor of English literature and cultural theory who divides his time between the University of Lancaster and the National University of Irelan...

The NYTimes has an article on the rise of atheist organizations throughout the U.S. In keeping with the new generation of atheist evangelists, the Pastafarian leaders say that their goal is not confrontation, or even winning converts, but changing the public’s stereotype of atheists. A favorite Pastafarian activity is to gather at a busy crossroads on campus with a sign offering “Free Hugs” from “Your Friendly Neighborhood Atheist.” For those in the dark, a "pastafarian" refers to the parodic followers of the flying spaghetti monster: may you, too, be touched by his noodly appendage. I think the name of "atheist evangelists" is quite interesting...quite telling of the orientation of some of the groups. Do click on the hyperlink above: the article shows a rich variety of non-belief.

Since I blogged about the controversy that had surrounded the choice of Rick Warren giving the inaugural invocation, I guess I should comment on the actual prayer. First, the controversy surrounded having someone who gave some rather ridiculous comparisons to gay marriage (like comparing it to pedophilia). Then the issue was whether or not he would mention Jesus or not. Would he represent his particular brand of religiosity, or in an event for all Americans represent all Americans. On that issue, I came down on the side that the most "American" thing to do is just be yourself and not try to water things down to vague generalities. If it were a Hindu giving the invocation, I would expect an invocation of Vishnu, Siva, or whatever god or goddess to which that particular person was devoted. If an imam, I would expect something on Allah. And so on... One objection was what would happen if Warren completed the prayer by "in Jesus' name we pray," in which the ...

My girlfriend just sent me this site that sells T-Shirts. It primarily has a lot of stuff on evolution, which is cool, and pro-atheism stuff, with many of the proselytizing slogans found on England's buses. It still amazes me how much at least a particular new breed of atheists are actually not willing to think, are stuck in their own (outdated 18th-century Enlightenment) worldview, and not willing to dialogue with others just like their fundamentalist counterparts on the right (I personally find this type of atheism extremely conservative, while other atheists are not this way and free to engage others in an open, not ridiculously confrontational manner). If these are the paragons of "free thinkers," we are in trouble. In the site's defense, they are responding to the far religious right, but, in doing so, they have to be careful that they do not replicate the religious right's tactics of failing to recognize everything in between--such as liberal religious f...

I had heard of this a while ago, but NYTimes has posted an article on the atheist advertizing in Britain on the side of buses. This comes in response to various religious groups posting ads on buses. Here are couple of the ads: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." Dawkins, however, objected to the "probably." Others, believers in some sort of deity, objected that they believe in God and enjoy life, as if one excluded the other. "Why believe in God? Just be good for goodness' sake." This is posted with a picture of Santa Claus--a religious figure, by the way. Some people object in general, others, including people of differing opinions, claim every has a right to their own opinions and the right to freedom of speech. Some religious groups are actually happy about it, saying that it is increasing people's interest in discussing God. This just demonstrates what I have thought for a long time now: atheists are ...

I just saw this cartoon strip in the NYTimes . It is a modern day Christmas story. Merry Christmas to all with pinecone necklaces.