GODONG/BSIP/Superstock
RELIGION has given us algebra and the Spanish Inquisition, Bach’s cantatas and pogroms. The debate over whether religion lifts humanity higher or brings out our basest instincts is ancient and, in some ways, reassuringly insoluble. There are so many examples on either side. The last word goes to the most erudite – until someone more erudite comes along.
The latest round of the eternal conundrum was triggered by the seemingly religiously inspired 9/11 attacks in the US, after which “new atheists” rose to prominence. The likes of evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and neuroscientist Sam Harris argue that rational beings…
