March 2012
49 posts
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“On my reading, what is being called for by Kierkegaard is a rigorous and...”
– Simon Critchley (HT: @KSMoody)
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as A/Theism (Peter...
While the (more traditional) strands of negative theology in Pete Rollins’ first publication, How (Not) to Speak of God, form a type of ‘believing in God while remaining dubious about what one believes about God’ (p.26), more radical implications can be drawn, since there can be not just doubt about ‘who or what God is’ but, further, ‘doubt about if God is’ (interview with Pete for my PhD...
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as A/Theism (Peter...
There are both more radical and more traditional elements within Pete Rollins’ work.
The latter can be placed squarely within the tradition of negative or apophatic theology, according to which ‘we ought to affirm our view of God while at the same time realizing that that view is inadequate’. The result is both a theism and an atheism, an “a/theism” that is ‘not some agnostic middle point...
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as A/Theism (Peter...
Examining their theories of religion in the “Atheism for Lent” Course, we have seen that for Freud religion is primarily ‘ontological weakness seeking consolation;’ for Marx it is primarily ‘sociological power seeking legitimation;’ and for Nietzsche it is primarily ‘sociological weakness seeking revenge’ (Merold Westphal, Suspicion and Faith, p.229).
But perhaps it is also possible...
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WatchPeter Rollins: “Atheism is such a difficult perspective to grasp, that only the religious believer can do it. Only the Christian can be an atheist”. (“Divine Atheism”)
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WatchThis is one of the videos from which I took quotations to introduce the material I wrote for “Atheism for Lent” on Pete Rollins: “Christianity is a fascinating religion because, whereas lots of religions have a place for doubt, in Christianity God doubts God” (“Doubt”).
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as A/Theism (Peter...
For the final week of the “Atheism for Lent” Course, we will begin to look at the atheist critiques of religion (from Freud, Marx and Nietzsche) in the context of the Lent narrative in which God confesses God’s own atheism. I used some of Pete Rollins’ stuff to create some reading material for the group.
Pete uses a lot of Slavoj Zizek’s work, who in turn likes to...
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Atheism for Lent: Sunday 5 (Ricky Gervais)
Atheism for Lent: Religion as Lie (Ricky Gervais 1)
Atheism for Lent: Religion as Lie (Ricky Gervais 2)
Atheism for Lent: Religion as Lie (Ricky Gervais 3)
Atheism for Lent: Religion as Lie (Ricky Gervais 4)
Atheism for Lent: Religion as Lie (Ricky Gervais 5)
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as Lie (Ricky Gervais...
The supposition at the heart of Ricky Gervais’ (2009) The Invention of Lying is that religion is so closely linked to story-telling and historical embellishment that it is understood as lying.
From Scepticism to Suspicion
In this film, the distinctions made by Freud, Marx, and Nietzsche in their critiques of religion (see here, here and here for “Atheism for Lent” Course...
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Advertising in a world without lying (video link) →
Hi, I’m Bob. I’m the spokesperson for the Coca Cola Company. I’m here today to ask you to continue buying Coke. I’m sure if you drink it, you’ve been drinking it for years, and if you still enjoy it, well, I’d like to remind you to buy it again some time soon. It’s basically just brown sugar water. We haven’t changed the ingredients much lately, so there’s nothing new I can tell you about that....
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as Lie (Ricky Gervais...
Ricky Gervais’ (2009) film The Invention of Lying is set in a world where human beings have not evolved the fictional gene that allows them to lie.
Not only can’t they lie – which precludes the possibility of story-telling, mythology and, therefore, religion – but it seems that they have to actively tell the truth, which means that characters air their thoughts without regard for how these...
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as Lie (Ricky Gervais...
After his “holiday message” in The Wall Street Journal Speakeasy, there was a Q and A with Ricky Gervais, “Does God Exist? Ricky Gervais Takes Your Questions”. It further demonstrates his sceptical atheism, but as the week progresses I’ll also illustrate his hermeneutic of suspicion (see here on scepticism and suspicion).
Question: In your piece you write that,...
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as Lie (Ricky Gervais...
This Wall Street Journal Speakeasy “holiday message” from Ricky Gervais provides another good introduction to his sceptical atheism, that can frame later discussions of his hermeneutic of suspicion and his critique of religion as a lie:
Why don’t you believe in God? I get that question all the time. I always try to give a sensitive, reasoned answer. This is usually awkward,...
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as Lie (Ricky Gervais...
The next few posts in this Atheism for Lent series will focus on Ricky Gervais, and can act as preparatory material before watching his (2009) film, The Invention of Lying.
It’s better to know the truth… My Mum only lied to me about one thing. She said that there was a God… I wish there was a God. I wish there was. It’d be great. From what I’ve heard, he’s brilliant… But you...
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Atheism for Lent: Sunday 4 (Derren Brown)
For the 4th Sunday in Lent, a roundup of the previous Atheism for Lent posts on Derren Brown’ critique of religion as trickery. Tomorrow posts start on Ricky Gervais’ critique of religion as a lie!
Atheism for Lent: Religion as Trickery (Derren Brown 1)
Atheism for Lent: Religion as Trickery (Derren Brown 2)
Atheism for Lent: Religion as Trickery (Derren Brown 3)
Atheism for Lent:...
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as Trickery (Derren...
When I ran this Atheism for Lent with a church group last year, we met up to watch “Messiah”, a documentary made by Derren Brown in 2005, in light of the preparatory reading material I produced (and reproduced here, here, here, and here). The Channel4 blurb for “Messiah” reads,
Derren Brown takes his debunking mission to America. In a country where his mind control skills...
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“How can the theological and material unite to fund resistance to capitalist...”
– Creston Davis summarises the ‘revolutionary political problematic’ in his “Introduction: Holy Saturday or Resurrection Sunday? Stages an Unlikely Debate”, The Monstrosity of Christ: Paradox or Dialectic? (MIT Press, 2009), p. 4.
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as Trickery (Derren...
Discussing Brown’s perspectives on magic (see here, here and here) made me think about Slavoj Zizek’s reflections on Jesus, in The Monstrosity of Christ, where he links the sequence of a magic trick in Christopher Nolan’s (2006) movie The Prestige to the crucifixion.
In The Monstrosity of Christ, Zizek summarises a particular sequence from The Prestige:
…when a magician...
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as Trickery (Derren...
Yesterday I wrote that Derren Brown suggests that as ‘intelligent human beings we should be prepared to question our beliefs and [to question] the people who encourage us to make life decisions based on the information they give us’ (“Messiah”).
Knowledge about what he calls the ‘false logic’ involved in religious, spiritual, magical, psychical and other...
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as Trickery (Derren...
Derren Brown is a performer who ‘combines magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship in order to seemingly predict and control human behaviour’ (website). Behind his performances lie both an atheistic scepticism and a form of suspicion which ask questions about ‘why we believe things’ (Brown, “Messiah”). His study of religion, psychology, magic,...
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as Trickery (Derren...
This week, posts in this Atheism for Lent series will focus on sceptic illusionist Derren Brown. This interview with Richard Dawkins for Dawkins’ Channel4 programme, “The Enemies of Reason”, provides some background on Brown’s scepticism for those unfamiliar with him.
Richard Dawkins: Where does your scepticism come from?
Derren Brown: Well, in terms of my history, I used...
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Atheism for Lent: Sunday 3 (Nietzsche)
Atheism for Lent: Religion as Revenge (Nietzsche 1)
Atheism for Lent: Religion as Revenge (Nietzsche 2)
Atheism for Lent: Religion as Revenge (Nietzsche 3)
Atheism for Lent: Religion as Revenge (Nietzsche 4)
Atheism for Lent: Religion as Revenge (Nietzsche 5)
The Lion King as Master Morality (Nietzsche 5 ½)
“A Poison Tree” as Slave Morality (Nietzsche 6)
Tomorrow, posts on...
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as Revenge (Nietzsche...
Previously (here), I wrote that,
because slave morality is that of the weak, weary, and oppressed, it ‘gives no ground for reproaching’ the evil enemy (Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals, Essay1 S13). This means that whilst revenge is a virtue, as it is for master morality – remembering Nietzsche’s will to power thesis, revenge will be all-pervasive in morality – within...
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as Revenge (Nietzsche...
By further examining some specific moral virtues, it becomes clearer why Nietzsche’s hermeneutic of suspicion interprets Christian morality as slave morality (on slave and master morality, see this post here) and therefore why he disdains it as a ‘great curse’ and an ‘immortal blemish’ of humanity (The Gay Science, Book 5, S343).
Love, Justice and Fascism
For...
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as Revenge (Nietzsche...
It is not hard to see that Nietzsche’s critique of biblical religion (both Judaism and Christianity) will be that it operates within slave morality (see yesterday’s post here).
When he writes that Judaism ‘mark[s] the beginning of the slave rebellion in morals’ (Beyond Good and Evil, S195) and that ‘[o]ne knows who inherited this Jewish revaluation’ of morality...
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as Revenge (Nietzsche...
Moving back from his “death of God” thesis (see here) to his genealogy of moral pluralism, Nietzsche identifies ‘two basic types’ of morality – “master morality” and “slave morality” – within ‘the many subtler and coarser moralities’ (Beyond Good and Evil, S260). The difference between these two moralities illustrates how...
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as Revenge (Nietzsche...
God is Dead
That there is no one morality (see yesterday’s post here), no one perspective from which to judge or to guarantee what is right and wrong, is part of what Nietzsche is referring to when he writes that ‘God is dead’.
Briefly examining his “death of God” thesis will enable us to begin to recognize the relationship between his genealogy of morals and his...
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as Revenge (Nietzsche...
The next set of posts in this Atheism for Lent series focus on Friedrich Nietzsche’s critique of religion as revenge. In many ways, this great atheist critique of religion was one of the hardest to come to terms with for the group with whom I ran this course last year, primarily because Nietzsche’s critique (and especially the death of God) have far-reaching consequences not only for...
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Atheism for Lent: Sunday 2 (Marx)
Atheism for Lent: Religion as Ideology (Marx 1)
Atheism for Lent: Religion as Ideology (Marx 2)
Atheism for Lent: Religion as Ideology (Marx 3)
Atheism for Lent: Religion as Ideology (Marx 4)
Atheism for Lent: Religion as Ideology (Marx 5)
Atheism for Lent: Religion as Ideology (Marx 6)
Posts on Nietzsche’s critique of religion as revenge start tomorrow.
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as Ideology (Marx 6)
In this final Atheism for Lent post on Marx’s critique of religion as ideology, I raise some questions as to how his work might enable self-reflection about religious belief and faith.
Because Marx gives to religion ‘an enormous responsibility for the political and economic shape of human life’ (Merold Westphal, Suspicion and Faith, p.165), it is possible, however, to also read...
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as Ideology (Marx 5)
Marx has a materialist conception of history, which came to be referred to as his “historical materialism”. Just as suspicion (see post here) is directed at the historical question of the extent to which beliefs self-deceptively hide our own operative motives and not the (sceptic’s) metaphysical question of the “truth” of those beliefs, so Marx’s materialism is...
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The Contemporary Church is a Crack House (link) →
Pete Rollins on the role of the church as poet or singer-songwriter:
we need collectives that are more like the professional mourners who cry for us, the stand-up comedians who talk about the pain of being human or the poets singing about life at local pubs.
This post is another formulation of his thoughts in Chapter 4 of Insurrection: To Believe is Human; To Doubt, Divine (Howard Books,...
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CFP: Alternative Salvations
Another Call for Papers, this time for “Alternative Salvations,” a day conference at the University of Chester on September 18 2012.
To speak of salvation is, broadly, to speak about transformation from one present reality into a new, transformed and better reality. While the language of salvation itself is not necessarily found in every religious tradition, the hope of, or...
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CFP: Haunting Memories - Unsettled Pasts and...
The “Haunting Memories” workshop is being organised by members of the Crossing Cultures Research Group in the School of Arts and Humanities at Stirling University (external website here) and will take place on May 18 2012 from 10am until 4pm.
They’re looking for 10 minute presentations that address cultural expressions intersecting conceptions of place, memory and...
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"My God! My God! Why Have You Forsaken Me?"...
I just heard back from the conference organisers for “Poetry and Prayer: Continuities and Discontinuities” (Heythrop College, and the Institute of English Studies, University of London, June 29-30 2012) that the abstract I submitted was accepted.
My paper (entitled ‘“My God! My God! Why Have You Forsaken Me?” Poetry, Prayer and Performance in the Absence of...
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Atheism for Lent: Religion as Ideology (Marx 4)
Religion attempts to overcome evil and sin with ‘high-sounding stories’ of love, justice and forgiveness (Hubert L. Dreyfus and Paul Rainbow, Michel Foucault, p.108), just as the state’s narrative of common good will attempts to overcome individual self-interest. And since ‘religion is the archetype of politics’ (Merold Westphal, Suspicion and Faith, p.151), the...
