Author Archive for Caspar Melville
Alex the parrot could, or so it appears. Read this lovely piece from the New Yorker on the whole issue of chatty beasts.
Four letters, begins with 'c' ends with 't', got a 'u' in it, you know the one. That’s right 'Cult'.
Turns out it is a criminal offence to use the word in reference to that august institution dedicated to thetan-themed gobblegook, the church of Scientology. At least it is in the City of London - where the chief superintendent appears to have some worrying links to said completely non-cultish religion, though it’s not in the rest of London. An un-named 15-year old faces prosecution for holding a placard with the 'c' word on it during a demonstration outside Scientology's city of London HQ. He was warned that juxtaposing the words Scientology and cult contravened section 5 of the Public Order Act and he was asked to take down the sign. After refusing he was issued with a summons - story here. The teenager's defence was that he was merely quoting the opinion of Mr Justice Lacey who back in 1994 used the ‘c’ word in reference to the aforementioned completely rational belief outfit founded by a scrupulously honest major novelist. Justice Lacey also concluded that said wholly savoury and unworryingly rich and powerful and totally not-at-all-paranoid collection of always-do-wells and marketing geniuses were "corrupt, sinister and dangerous" (expressing of course the Judge's opinion of these tirelessly self-less, community-minded missionaries from another planet).
If you are the anonymous 15-year-old or you know him, do get in touch - we might be able to help you with your case.
The controversial Dutch cartoonist who publishes under the pseudonym Gregorious Nekschot was arrested in a raid on his home by Dutch police last Tuesday. Nekschot is renowned for publishing satirical cartoons about Islam, some of which make the Danish cartoons look like Peanuts (blowjobs and pigs!). The arrest came about because of a complaint against the cartoonist by a convert to Islam Abdul Jabbar Van de Ven, made back in 2005 (why have they only acted on it now?). The Dutch justice ministry has issued a statement saying they found seven cartoons' that are 'illegal'. The cartoonist has been forced to remove these images from his website though they can be seen here. The case continues.
Since I can't read Dutch I can't judge these images on the only basis on which cartoons should be judged in my view- that is whether they are funny- but the whole thing, including a reportedly 30-hour interrogation, seems ridiculously heavy-handed and counter-productive. I thought the Danish cartoons were mostly rubbish (except the 'agent provocateur' one) and the reason given for publishing them disingenuous (is that how you start a debate?); and Geert Wilders Fitna film is just the worst kind of racist propaganda. I also value the freedom to say so. But if it comes down to a battle with the authorities about it we have to stand with Gregorious Nekschot, Jyllands-Posten and Wilders. These debates are nothing to do with the law which should preserve all of our rights to say, write and draw what we think.
Cartooning is not a crime!
Since I can't read Dutch I can't judge these images on the only basis on which cartoons should be judged in my view- that is whether they are funny- but the whole thing, including a reportedly 30-hour interrogation, seems ridiculously heavy-handed and counter-productive. I thought the Danish cartoons were mostly rubbish (except the 'agent provocateur' one) and the reason given for publishing them disingenuous (is that how you start a debate?); and Geert Wilders Fitna film is just the worst kind of racist propaganda. I also value the freedom to say so. But if it comes down to a battle with the authorities about it we have to stand with Gregorious Nekschot, Jyllands-Posten and Wilders. These debates are nothing to do with the law which should preserve all of our rights to say, write and draw what we think.
Cartooning is not a crime!
Two pieces via the ever excellent revealer add depth to our cover story about the role of the evangelical voters in the race for the White House. First Jeff Sharlet looks at Hilary Clinton's closet fundamentalism, and second Mollie Hemingway analyses the increasingly Christian language of Barack Obama. Cripes!
One possibly unconsidered consequence of Mayor Bozza's attention-grabbing ban on drinking on the Tube will mean the end of the great Circle Line Party . (For those of you who don't know this involves commandeering a carriage or several on a Circle Line train and holding a party, as the train chunters round and round). There will be a final send off this Saturday, all you need is an oyster card, natty threads and a flask:
Here's the blurb:
"A dapperly dressed, terribly civilised, gin-soaked drinks party on the Circle Line, before BoJo bans us from drinking on public transport. Let's demonstrate how civilised and social drinking really is."
Boo to Boris, say I.
Here's the blurb:
"A dapperly dressed, terribly civilised, gin-soaked drinks party on the Circle Line, before BoJo bans us from drinking on public transport. Let's demonstrate how civilised and social drinking really is."
Boo to Boris, say I.
From the most recent issue of Granta Magazine (putting all their new money to good use with a snazzy redesign and new website) Tim Lott writes brilliantly about the murder of a friend - a grim tale about the toxic mix of sadomasochism, shame, religion and loneliness.
[Lot makes a passing reference towards the end to the fact that he gave up being a newspaper columnist. I, for one, am very glad of that as I didn't like him as a columnist, whereas he is a very good writer of these kind of long-form reflections]
[Lot makes a passing reference towards the end to the fact that he gave up being a newspaper columnist. I, for one, am very glad of that as I didn't like him as a columnist, whereas he is a very good writer of these kind of long-form reflections]
Regular readers will remember Wayne Bent - the self-styled messiah of the Strong City cult which Ben Anthony visited for us for the Jan/Feb issue of New Humanist. Wayne's been in a spot of bother; he was arrested for sexual abuse of a minor following a complaint by one of the cult's former members. Three teenagers have also been removed from the cult compound. After three days he has been released on bond. Bent denies all charges - he says he did lie down naked with the children because he was ordered to by god, but no sexual contact took place - and found the time to point out that the three days he spent in jail were exactly the same amount of time Jesus was buried before (according to unconfirmed reports) he rose again. Uncanny. The case continues, we'll try and keep you posted.
Here's Ben and former cult members talking ab out it on the Larry King show.
Here's Ben and former cult members talking ab out it on the Larry King show.
Susan Greenfield is a neuroscientist, Vice president of the rationalist Association (that's us) and a Baroness no less. She has a new book out called ID: The Quest for Identity in the 21st Century which continues her explorations into the brain and the latest scientific thinking about it. She will be discussing the book at the Brighton Festival this Sunday, in a session chaired by our own Laurie Taylor. More details here. Read Bill Thompson's review of ID from the latest issue of New Humanist.
"The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this." Turns out that Albert Einstein wasn't really all that religious after all, according to a letter which has just be found.
The Guardian's Science Podcast has started a new feature: Thought from the Pod will be a regular slot based on the Thought for the Day model only with reason in place of the spurious religious wittering. The first one is on this week's, and features New Humanist editor Caspar Melville talking about what the current Pope's attitude to Galileo tells us about the strained relationship between religion and science.
Scenes I wish I'd witnessed #437 in an occasional series – Richard Dawkins demonstrating what a Whirling Dervish does:
In response to a comment by novelist Sophie Kinsella that she had been "rushing around like a Dervish", Richard Dawkins said, "Dervishes don't rush... they whirl." He then rose, outstretched his arms, crouched down and began to spin around at a snail's pace fixing his eye rather hypnotically on Kinsella: "Very slowly, like this."
From Mariella Frostup's column in yesterday's Observer
In response to a comment by novelist Sophie Kinsella that she had been "rushing around like a Dervish", Richard Dawkins said, "Dervishes don't rush... they whirl." He then rose, outstretched his arms, crouched down and began to spin around at a snail's pace fixing his eye rather hypnotically on Kinsella: "Very slowly, like this."
From Mariella Frostup's column in yesterday's Observer
Scenes I wish I'd witnessed #437 in an occasional series – Richard Dawkins demonstrating what a Whirling Dervish does:
In response to a comment by novelist Sophie Kinsella that she had been "rushing around like a Dervish", Richard Dawkins said, "Dervishes don't rush... they whirl." He then rose, outstretched his arms, crouched down and began to spin around at a snail's pace fixing his eye rather hypnotically on Kinsella: "Very slowly, like this."
From Mariella Frostup's column in yesterday's Observer
In response to a comment by novelist Sophie Kinsella that she had been "rushing around like a Dervish", Richard Dawkins said, "Dervishes don't rush... they whirl." He then rose, outstretched his arms, crouched down and began to spin around at a snail's pace fixing his eye rather hypnotically on Kinsella: "Very slowly, like this."
From Mariella Frostup's column in yesterday's Observer
This is me on the Guardian Science Podcast talking about the cover story of the current issue - Dinner With Darwin. Have a listen. There's also interesting stuff about probability, GM Food and an innovative website which nags you into being more green (with the wonderful tagline "changing the world one lazy-assed mouse click at a time"). Presented by the Guardian science team Alok Jha and James Randerson, nice chaps both. Hopefully more collaboration to come.
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