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58 articles from SATURDAY 19.5.2012
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SATURDAY 19. MAY, 2012
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22:30
Richard Dawkins the arch-atheist backs Michael Gove's free Bible plan
Author of The God Delusion says providing free Bibles to state schools is justified by its impact on the English language
It sounds like one of the most unlikely alliances of recent years. Richard Dawkins, arch-atheist and scourge of the praying classes, has announced support for education secretary Michael Gove's plan to send free King James Bibles to every state school.
The proposal aims to help pupils learn about the Bible's impact "on our history, language, literature and democracy" and will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the authorised version's publication, Gove said earlier this year. Church leaders have approved, but the plan has fallen foul of most non-believers. An online Guardian poll showed an 82% opposition, while the National Secular Society said the £375,000 proposal wasted money and favoured Christianity in multi-faith state schools. Nevertheless, several rich Tory party donors agreed to back the plan and the first Bibles were sent out last week, to the derision of secularists – with the exception of their most prominent and pugnacious recruit: Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion and critic of all things clerical.
As Dawkins reveals in today's Observer, support for the Bible plan is justified on the grounds of literary merit and he lists a range of biblical phrases which any cultivated English speaker will instantly recognise. These include "salt of the Earth", "through a glass darkly", and "no peace for the wicked". Dawkins states: "A native speaker of English who has not read a word of the King James Bible is verging on the barbarian."
Rapprochement would seem to be in the air – until Dawkins's thesis is studied more closely. While Gove believes the Bible is a guide to morality, Dawkins is sure it is not. "I have heard the cynically misanthropic opinion that without the Bible as a moral compass people would show no restraint against murder, theft and mayhem. The surest way to disabuse yourself of this pernicious falsehood is to read the Bible itself," he says.
In fact, its pages are riddled with the advocacy of murder, slavery and theft. Hence his support for Gove's plan: opening the Bible is the surest way to put young minds off its contents. From this perspective, the Dawkins-Gove alliance looks dead before it started.
guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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22:30
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22:27
Viewing events, eyewear urged for 'Ring of Fire'
The western United States and eastern Asia will be treated this weekend to a rare solar spectacle when the moon slides across the sun, creating a "ring of fire."
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21:02
App scans faces of pub patrons to guess age, gender
A new app is being launched this weekend that will scan the faces of patrons in 25 bars across San Francisco to determine their ages and genders.
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20:19
A Malaysian researcher known for finding new amphibian species said Friday his team had discovered at least one new species of frog in studies he said highlight Borneo's rich biodiversity.
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20:01
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18:13
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17:58
The launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is aborted seconds before lift off at Cape Canaveral in Florida
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16:24
Is it ripe? Carbon nanotube-based ethylene sensor establishes fruit ripeness
(Phys.org) -- The term ethylene (ethene) generally brings to mind polyethylene plastics, not fruit. However, ethylene is more than just a feedstock for chemical industry, it is also the smallest plant hormone, and it controls physiological processes, such as the ripening of fruit, seed germination, and the blooming and wilting of blossoms. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, American researchers have now introduced a highly sensitive ethylene sensor that could be used to determine the ripeness of fruit. -
16:17
With a potentially spectacular solar eclipse to grace the skies of the western United States on Sunday (May 20), here's a helpful reminder for new eclipse chasers: Be safe. A fraction of a second of magnified, unfiltered sunlight will sear your eye’s retina irreparably.
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16:17
When the moon blots out the sun in a solar eclipse on Sunday (May 20), producing a "ring of fire" in the sky, it will cover roughly 94 percent that of the sun and offer a rare view of our nearest star.
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16:02
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15:02
Clip obtained from YouTube shows a dazzling light show playing out behind the clouds, as spring storms rattled parts of the state on Thursday. Severe thunderstorm warnings were issued in several places across the region
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14:36
Troubled Freighter Drifts Toward Great Barrier Reef
A broken-down cargo ship was drifting towards Australia's Great Barrier Reef Saturday, with fears of major damage if it were to run aground at the World Heritage-listed site. -
14:28
People in the western United States, Pacific and parts of Asia will have the chance to see a partial solar eclipse on Sunday (May 20). While it may be tempting to brush off warnings against looking up at this eclipse bare-eyed, don't: The light of an eclipse really can damage your eyes — though warnings of total blindness are likely overstated.
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14:24A new lawsuit consolidating several complaints about Facebook's privacy policies was filed Friday in California, seeking damages for US users of the social network for improper tracking.
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14:03Mongolia is raising concerns that a rare Tyrannosaur specimen now on auction in New York City may have left the country illegally.
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14:01
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A potential rocket engine problem may be to blame for the unexpected abort of a private SpaceX rocket launch before dawn on Saturday (May 19), officials said.
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14:01
When a privately built rocket aborted its launch attempt at the very last second today (May 19), it was likely a familiar sight to the booster's builders: the California-based company SpaceX.
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13:32
A new private supply ship for the International Space Station remained stuck on the ground Saturday after rocket engine trouble led to a last-second abort of the historic flight.
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13:14
Coffee drinkers have lower risk of death, study suggests
Older adults who drank coffee -- caffeinated or decaffeinated -- had a lower risk of death overall than others who did not drink coffee, according a new study.
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12:53Deep ocean microorganisms are subsisting on nutrients first laid down when dinosaurs still walked the Earth.
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12:24Facebook stumbled on its first trading day as shares ended barely above the starting price, raising questions about what will happen to the share price when the Nasdaq reopens on Monday.
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12:24A US commission sided with Microsoft by moving to ban the import of Android-powered Motorola smartphones based on patent infringement complaints by the software colossus.
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12:24(AP) -- Some investors who thought they had bought Facebook shares at the opening of trading were left without knowing for hours whether they had received the shares.
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Technology Review Feed - Tech Review Top Stories (dnes, 06:56)
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NASA (dnes, 04:11)
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ScienceNOW (dnes, 02:30)
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National Geographic News (dnes, 01:02)
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NYT > Science (18. 6, 18:29)
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Sci-Tech Today (18. 6, 18:14)
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TIME (27. 7, 08:30)
