Interesting articles and a book review
Thursday 19th January, 2012The following have been suggested by one of our members as worth a read. If you have any of your own suggestions please email them in!
1. “The Power of a dangerous idea” by Mehdi Hasan. He writes: “secular commentators dismiss religion as a malign force in the world. But from Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi to the Arab spring, faith is inspiring the new peaceful protest.” He draws heavily on the book “The doctrine of the first son of Adam: the problem of violence in the Islamic world” by the Islamic scholar and philosopher Jawdat Said, which explicitly advocated a philosophy of non-violence. His article gives numerous examples of Muslims witnesses for a non-violence protest, and has quotes from the major world religions which support non-violence.
2. “God need not be the enemy of science” by Mehdi Hasan. A review of the tension between science and religion over more than 1,000 years up to today. He is doing something like a headcount of well-known scientists and sceptics. His aim - to demonstrate that there are many eminent scientists who had a religious faith, and that science does not automatically lead to atheism.
3. “Redefining Islam for the 21st century” by Tehmina Kazi - director of British Muslims for Secular Democracy. She is flagging up the role of this organisation which is opposed to extremist Muslim organisations such as Muslims Against Crusades - which was banned from make a protest on Remembrance Day 2011 by burning poppies. This is an organisation, and its quarterly magazine, that some PCN members might be glad to know of.
4. Religion for Atheists by Alain de Botton - reviewed by Terry Eagleton. Eagleton writes: “The book assumes that religious beliefs are a lot of nonesense, but that they remain indispensible to civilised existence.” Eagleton is dismissive of the aim of the book. “What the book does, in short, is hijack other people’s beliefs, empty them of content and redeploy them in the name of moral order, social consensus and aesthetic pleasure.”
Posted by Dave Coaker - PCN Web Assistant