by Andrew Hazlett on January 11, 2010
in Religion
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York said several images of the Prophet Mohammed were removed from a collection and are ‘under review.’
After the cowardice of Yale University Press (not publishing the controversial Danish Mohammed cartoons in a book about the cartoon controversy), a cave-in by the Met would signal a truly depressing collapse of intellectual freedom. The original reporting for this story comes from the slightly sensational NY Post, so I hold out hope that Metropolitan Museum has not really bowed to fundamentalist pressure.
My first review for WETA.org’s The Book Studio is now online. Managing Editor Bethanne Patrick (better known online as The Book Maven has been putting together an outstanding online home for book reviews and fascinating video interviews with authors of all stripes. I’m thrilled that I’ll be reviewing regularly at The Book Studio, though I may have bit off more than I could chew with my first title: The Case for God, Karen Armstrong’s sweeping history of man and God. Here’s my take:
Religion poisons everything… God is a delusion… the end of faith… these are phrases lately found among the burgeoning supply of books by “new atheists” who take arms against a sea of holy rollers and jihadis. In an age of faith-based politics, resurgent creationism, and religious terrorism, aggressive atheists like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens have become bestselling authors.
A new book attempts to take a stand against both the religious fundamentalists and their militant atheist foes. The Case for God is a landmark work of intellectual and theological history by the renowned scholar of religion Karen Armstrong.
The book is nothing less than a comprehensive history of human religion in just over three hundred pages. From painted traces of Paleolithic hunter-shamans on the Lascaux Cave walls to hip postmodernist theology, Armstrong offers a lucid narrative of humanity’s relationship with the divine. In her telling, the story of God and man unrolls like an ancient tapestry richly embroidered with scholarly insights and references from the world’s many religious traditions.
It is a compelling story, but it isn’t clear that many people—secularists or religionists—will find it persuasive.
Read the thrilling conclusion of my review of The Case for God at The Book Studio.
Posted via email from Hazlett’s Occasional
Two very smart people open a dialogue: must right-of-center politics be grounded in religious faith? Ross Douthat, a thoughtful Catholic social conservative, is replacing Bill Kristol as a columnist at the New York Times. Heather MacDonald (though she is profoundly wrong about immigration) is one of the smartest reporters/writers in America. This diavlog highlights a topic long overdue for wider discussion…
Let’s slip the surly bonds of Earth…
