TOPIC, due 31/5/07 - "A Smidgin of Religion"

Snakes and lions and atheists, oh my!

With the recent publication of books by Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens, much of the Western media is holding its biannual flap about the place of religion in society. If you've missed it all, let me summarise: very little is being said that is interesting, and nothing will happen. It's simply an exercise in consciousness-raising that is several centuries old.

What is decidedly less anaemic is the mythologies that the current crop of pundits are taking aim at. Long histories of sordid chaos, genocide, pan-dimensional kink, betrayal and hypocrisy, tied together with the single remaining narrative that the Clog still have to cling to - the Creation Of It All.

Your topic is out there, amongst these grand old tales of lunatics and murderers.

Find it. Beat it.

1000 wds.