E Y E W E A R, THE BLOG - FREEDOM MEANS BEING UNAFRAID TO WRITE WHAT YOU THINK

A.C. Grayling 's new academy in London, set to charge twice the government-approved limit, of £18,000 a year tuition to students, has been accused of copying the syllabus of another university , down to very specific elements of modules written by lecturers in no way connected to the new cash cow...

The British news has been filled with the trump of doom - some of the world's leading academics have gotten together and called themselves an institute, as Paul Simon might have said - a private university in London set to charge twice the amount allowed for public universities: £18,000.  What no one seems to have remarked upon is that several of the key figures in this extraordinary move are also the leading British atheist-intellectuals, A.C. Grayling, Richard Dawkins ; also to teach is Ronald Dworkin , not known for his support of religious beliefs, to put it mildly.  Also to be teaching is famous atheist and psychologist Stephen Pinker .  The distinguished astrophysicist Lawrence Krauss , a top American atheist, will teach science.  Historian Niall Ferguson , the famous atheist from Harvard, will also teach.  Steve Jones , the controversial atheist scientist, is also on board.  Indeed, it is striking how little has been made of this intellectually hom...

It being Sunday, this story is particularly resonant - and also demanding of forgiveness.  But the news that a junior British civil servant in the Foreign Office prepared an official memo planning for the Pope's autumn visit - a memo distributed widely to politicians and officials, and called a serious brainstorming document - which recommended the Pope variously open an abortion clinic, and start a new brand of condoms - seems willfully disrespectful, even sacrilegious.  People who wish to suggest I take a chill pill, and see the humour of the document may miss the point: visiting world leaders shouldn't ever be treated to such official government mockery, no matter how ludicrous their beliefs may be.  When their beliefs are a religion practiced by more than 20% of the world, and by a significant minority of one's own nation, even less reason is given for such a Monty Python treatment.  Of course, in pubs and private, let the Protestant (and secular) people of Bri...

Dr Rowan Williams has had a busy Easter.  The other day he appeared in The Guardian as the even-handed, cheek-turning Christian reviewer, who subtly and gently turned the tables on atheist-turned-author P. Pullman , by suggesting the many ironies of the four gospels - four types of ambiguity then?  But the other Archbishop's face seemed turned the other way, to menace.  There he was, quoted on a yet-to-be broadcast BBC interview, scathing on the Irish Catholic Church, for its moral bankruptcy - forgetting, apparently, that the Church is all the people, as well as the steeple, and not just a so-called sinister Pope and the criminals who attacked children (though no less than the shaven-headed ululator of yore has also come out to attack).  It seems an odd display of virtuoso critical and moral authority, but it confirms Williams as a fascinating mind.  This Easter, all of Britain should be proud to have such a curious fellow in their midst.

The latest atheist stunt is an unrolling of UK-wide billboards decrying the fact that children get labelled by their family faith before they can choose themselves. Philosophically this is facile and poorly considered. How else are adults to arrange the lives of children? Parents decide the names, schools, diets and doctors of children; what books they do or don't read; what bedtime stories they are told. Parents and other adults help shape childhood's imagination. Atheist parents are free to raise their kids sans God. It hardly makes sense for a Catholic family to do so. The atheist campaigners argue children should not have to decide a belief system until they are adults. That is rather like saying children should not have to go to school or eat greens until they are 18. Adulthood is precisely the moment for questioning childhood beliefs: not the moment for adopting them. Further, the soul is present at the start and cannot be left unsupported for so long. If adults choose t...