This living on the threshold has taken a toll on us. Since the late 1990s, when the scales were first taken from our eyes, we have had to come to terms with new realities and battle for our faith in new and unfamiliar territories. My own journey, like that of many other Catholics, was one that made it impossible for me to consider myself a 'Roman' Catholic. The hierarchy had been – perhaps forever – tainted. It no longer held the moral authority, no matter what the Church taught, to hold my allegiance. The papacy was no longer the infallible and unassailable Rock it had once been.
Rallying Faith in the Culture War
It is now ‘open season’ on any and all forms of religion in culture, in the academy, in the media, and in political life. A new atheism; now the social default, less prepared to engage with the philosophical and theological grammar of religious thought than its classical predecessor, has constructed walls to exclude as much religious expression as it can from the marketplace.
Why Theism isn’t a Reasonable Philosophical Stance
Follow @UrFhasaidh By a single vote tonight the University of Dublin’s Metaphysical Society decided that Theism was not a rational philosophical position in the world of reason. As a now condemned theist it is difficult not to feel a sense of insult that just over fifty percent of my peers believe that my philosophical worldview is … Continue reading Why Theism isn’t a Reasonable Philosophical Stance
Shhh!
Follow @UrFhasaidh Everyone but undergrads knows it is bad form to talk in the library. During my early days as a student in Trinity College I took to sitting up on the fifth floor of the Berkley Library, where the theology books and those on the history of religion were to be found. We called … Continue reading Shhh!
The Great Success of Atheism in China
It is estimated that there are presently eighty million Christians who practice their faith in China, and that by mid-century there will be more Christians in China than in any other country in the world.
Taking Things Literally
Truth cannot be calculated by the application of formulae. People’s accounts of events; the presentation of their truths, be that in books, the newspaper, or their spoken words, stake a claim on truth which cannot be factuality because it speaks to a distinct category of knowledge.
Don’t Take It Personally but you’re a Bigot and a Paedophile
Follow @UrFhasaidh We live in a more equal Ireland today than we did this day last month. Not more equal in the sense that homelessness and economic injustice have been ended, but more equal in that everyone has the right to marry whosoever they choose. This development is overdue and to be welcomed. We would … Continue reading Don’t Take It Personally but you’re a Bigot and a Paedophile
Marriage Equality and the Faith Debate
Follow @UrFhasaidh On Saturday last at the Faith in Marriage Equality Conference at the ISE here in Dublin Professor Linda Hogan, recently rumoured to be Rome’s first appointed lay female cardinal, opened proceedings by saying that “this debate is being framed as religious people being no voters with everyone else voting yes.” Certainly, as a … Continue reading Marriage Equality and the Faith Debate
Random Public Journal 