Ba's post about Christopher Hitchen's new book God is Not Great reminded me of the Blasphemy Debate at the Hay on Wye Festival 2005. Chaired by Joan Bakewell and inspired by the Incitement to Religious Hatred Bill, which had been announced in the Queen's Speech the previous month.
Click for MP3 (78mins)
It's called a debate but to be more accurate it's a discussion. Stephen Fry and Christopher Hitchens cover issues of freedom of speech, religious tolerance, multiculturalism and orthodoxy. Fascinating, though-provoking and as you'd expect from two such consummate orators extremely entertaining.
Listening to two secular thinkers discussing blasphemy and issues of religion may be preaching to the choir somewhat, but it's lovely to hear my thoughts on a subject being expressed so much better than I could manage. If you can't manage to listen to it let me leave you with Stephen Fry's rather more economical assessment from an episode of QI
"Religion, I shit it."
3 comments:
I will respond in 78 minutes.
That is my standard response to sexual stimuli as well.
Really, Sysm? Is that because you practice coitus reservatus or just because you're so old?
Did I say "response"? I always get that word confused with "endurance."
Sorry.
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