Spectator N0 2682 - Exchanges By Doc
Crosswords11 mins ago
Atheist Authors/broadcasters Talk Rubbish….
112 Answers
….. a cry often seen on these pages – and this from a week or so back.
//I find that the propaganda spouted by such as Fry and Dawkins is just as gibberish rubbish as you think the bible expounds//
If someone asks me why I think the bible contains nonsense I am happy to tell them and to go into detail if necessary, but I asked the author of that gem to explain to me what precisely these people say that makes their opinions “gibberish rubbish”, and was met with silence.
In the hope of obtaining an answer from him or from anyone else who thinks the same I’ll throw the question open to all.
//I find that the propaganda spouted by such as Fry and Dawkins is just as gibberish rubbish as you think the bible expounds//
If someone asks me why I think the bible contains nonsense I am happy to tell them and to go into detail if necessary, but I asked the author of that gem to explain to me what precisely these people say that makes their opinions “gibberish rubbish”, and was met with silence.
In the hope of obtaining an answer from him or from anyone else who thinks the same I’ll throw the question open to all.
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v_e; // Why is it only the baby reference that is "a sentimental view of nature", and not the pig one?//
I think it is because referring to worms burrowing into children's eyes purports to be tear-jerkingly worse than them burrowing into my eyes. Worms in anyone's eyes, pigs in cages, it's all very much the same to me, as Orwell pointed out on reports during the Spanish Civil War of nuns being raped on their refectory tables somehow implied the crime was worse because of the status of the victims, and magnified even further because it took place on a refectory table! In fact today I learnt that what I thought was a bad sprain is in fact burgeoning osteoarthritis, but who gives a damn?
'The old people are dying,
they're falling apart piece by piece
like vintage Studebakers,
but the docs keep pumping diuretics and Prednisone
into them, doing valve jobs,
so it's slow, terribly slow.
..........' from "Going" by August Kleinzahler :0)
Enough! more later.
P.S. and would you believe, I'm reading Barnaby Rudge.
I think it is because referring to worms burrowing into children's eyes purports to be tear-jerkingly worse than them burrowing into my eyes. Worms in anyone's eyes, pigs in cages, it's all very much the same to me, as Orwell pointed out on reports during the Spanish Civil War of nuns being raped on their refectory tables somehow implied the crime was worse because of the status of the victims, and magnified even further because it took place on a refectory table! In fact today I learnt that what I thought was a bad sprain is in fact burgeoning osteoarthritis, but who gives a damn?
'The old people are dying,
they're falling apart piece by piece
like vintage Studebakers,
but the docs keep pumping diuretics and Prednisone
into them, doing valve jobs,
so it's slow, terribly slow.
..........' from "Going" by August Kleinzahler :0)
Enough! more later.
P.S. and would you believe, I'm reading Barnaby Rudge.
Hypo; So you think B.R. is a lot easier than chemistry, well here's the start of summary of the plot so far taken from wiki and up to where I am, and I'm only on page 105 of 614 !!
Gathered round the fire at the Maypole Inn, in the village of Chigwell, on an evening of foul weather in the year 1775, are John Willet, proprietor of the Maypole, and his three cronies. One of the three, Solomon Daisy, tells an ill-kempt stranger at the inn a well-known local tale of the murder of Reuben Haredale which had occurred 22 years ago that very day. Reuben had been the owner of the Warren, a local estate which is now the residence of Geoffrey, the deceased Reuben's brother, and Geoffrey's niece, Reuben's daughter Emma Haredale. After the murder, Reuben's gardener and steward went missing and were suspects in the crime. A body was later found and identified as that of the steward, so the gardener was assumed to be the murderer.
Joe Willet, son of the Maypole proprietor, quarrels with his father because John treats 20-year-old Joe as a child. Finally having had enough of this ill treatment, Joe leaves the Maypole and goes for a soldier, stopping to say goodbye to the woman he loves, Dolly Varden, daughter of London locksmith Gabriel Varden.
Meanwhile, Edward Chester is in love with Emma Haredale. Both Edward's father, John Chester, and Emma's uncle, the Catholic Geoffrey Haredale – these two are sworn enemies – oppose the union after Sir John untruthfully convinces Geoffrey that Edward's intentions are dishonourable. Sir John intends to marry Edward to a woman with a rich inheritance, to support John's expensive lifestyle and to pay off his debtors. Edward quarrels with his father and leaves home for the West Indies.
Barnaby Rudge, a simpleton, wanders in and out of the story with his pet raven ...............
:0)
Gathered round the fire at the Maypole Inn, in the village of Chigwell, on an evening of foul weather in the year 1775, are John Willet, proprietor of the Maypole, and his three cronies. One of the three, Solomon Daisy, tells an ill-kempt stranger at the inn a well-known local tale of the murder of Reuben Haredale which had occurred 22 years ago that very day. Reuben had been the owner of the Warren, a local estate which is now the residence of Geoffrey, the deceased Reuben's brother, and Geoffrey's niece, Reuben's daughter Emma Haredale. After the murder, Reuben's gardener and steward went missing and were suspects in the crime. A body was later found and identified as that of the steward, so the gardener was assumed to be the murderer.
Joe Willet, son of the Maypole proprietor, quarrels with his father because John treats 20-year-old Joe as a child. Finally having had enough of this ill treatment, Joe leaves the Maypole and goes for a soldier, stopping to say goodbye to the woman he loves, Dolly Varden, daughter of London locksmith Gabriel Varden.
Meanwhile, Edward Chester is in love with Emma Haredale. Both Edward's father, John Chester, and Emma's uncle, the Catholic Geoffrey Haredale – these two are sworn enemies – oppose the union after Sir John untruthfully convinces Geoffrey that Edward's intentions are dishonourable. Sir John intends to marry Edward to a woman with a rich inheritance, to support John's expensive lifestyle and to pay off his debtors. Edward quarrels with his father and leaves home for the West Indies.
Barnaby Rudge, a simpleton, wanders in and out of the story with his pet raven ...............
:0)
Hmm, slight plot-hole there, Khandro. If he was a simpleton, he probably wouldn't have been trusted with scissors/clippers or been too poor to afford his own. So, who clipped the ravens' wings for him?
What kind of raven hangs around with humans, rather than breed, in the first place?
Artistic licence of course. Precious few ornithologists in Dickens' day. Why have realism when you can have *sales*. (Entire slow news decades, they had back then. He got those newssheets selling).
What kind of raven hangs around with humans, rather than breed, in the first place?
Artistic licence of course. Precious few ornithologists in Dickens' day. Why have realism when you can have *sales*. (Entire slow news decades, they had back then. He got those newssheets selling).
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