Sue Bailey

On Tuesday, The Guardian had a feature on the book that changed my life. I’ve been considering this question every since it arose in Mig’s comments so long ago that I can’t even find the post, and the conclusion I’ve come to is this:

to change a life is a big ask from a book.

Let me make this clear – I love books. If I had to choose between [sex + alcohol + music] or books, I would pick books. If I had to choose between the internet or books, that would be tougher – because it’s all about the reading, innit.

If you want to talk about pivotal moments in my reading, I don’t need whole books: two sentences cover it. Aged 7 or 8, reading that “most evolutionists reckon the natural world to have emerged in the same order as that listed in Genesis”, and realising I didn’t have to disbelieve in science to carry on believing in God. (I expressed my delight to my mother, who responded that the theory of evolution was just a theory, while the Bible was fact.)

(more…)

Some things don’t even need a comment.

The Rt Rev Patrick O’Donoghue, the [Catholic] Bishop of Lancaster… [says] “What we have witnessed in Western societies since the end of the Second World War is the development of mass education on a scale unprecedented in human history [...] these intellectual trends have resulted in a fragmented society that marginalizes God, with many people mistakenly thinking they can live happy and productive lives without him.”

It reminds me of this overheard conversation:

“If you get a bachelor’s degree,” the seasoned student reassured, “you’ll probably be okay. But my professor said that when you get a master’s, and definitely if you go beyond that, you can lose your values. He said that college students have to be watchful because if you get too much education, you could turn – LIBERAL. He’s seen it happen to a lot of good Christians.”

And for the sake of balance, here are several hundred arguments for the existence of god. If I had to buy anyone’s line, it would be Ben Franklin’s: “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”

The British Humanist Association is going to run adverts on the sides of London bendybuses. The posters will read There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.

That “probably” will – almost certainly – raise a few eyebrows if not a few mocking laughs: are atheists not so sure of their beliefs then? It turns out that it’s a requirement of the bus company’s advertising policies that adverts must not offend religious people. I’m not convinced that “probably” will be enough mitigation to avoid offending those who want to be offended, but it does add a tongue-in-cheek note that’s particularly pleasing in contrast to “repent, sinner, the end is nigh” and other such self-confident slogans.

But perhaps the most pleasing aspect of the story was the spokesman for pressure group Christian Voice who told the BBC that “people don’t like being preached at.”

Amen, brother. Amen.