“For pity’s sake, closet atheists of Britain, come out! Don’t “respect” this credulous folly! Don’t let the madnesses of these faith minorities go by default! Stop our politicians kowtowing to nutters! Cease the embarrassed muttering about being “don’t knows” on religion, and shout it out. We do know! It isn’t true! All that is necessary for the triumph of religion is that disbelievers should do nothing. God speed to this ludicrous casket of bones; they have reminded me of an eternal truth: agnosticism is not enough.” The itinary of Saint Teresa’s bones had been announced and have caused quite a stir in the press. The Times religion correspondent Ruth Gledhill reported it on 17th September. Matthew Parris responded the same day in The Times. His is a call for an all out war on religion. This was followed by an equally unsympathetic Minette Marrin in the Sunday Times 20 September.But it was Matthew Parris who makes the call to all out war: “How can bishops sanction this paganistic nonsense? I had been wondering whether Richard Dawkins’s critics were right to complain that his atheism was intolerant; whether we atheists were wrong to rage with such certitude about what is really only an absence of belief. But these relics have performed a miracle: they have re-inspired in me a fiery conviction. We non-believers must rage, insist, proclaim.”
Would Parris really want to join up with Richard Dawkins in having government banning all religion? Whatever I may disagree with, I value a democracy where there is Religious Liberty and Freedom of Speech. Matthew, as comments to your article point out - this was OTT! More on this in the next post.
