Stephen Law

While in Romania, we went out to the countryside and looked round a palace. And there, tucked away behind a wall, we found Lenin. The statue used to stand outside the Ministry in charge of the press. The other statue is a communist Romanian whose name I forget.These things were big. Took some effort to climb up on Lenin's chest. That's me as a shadow by Lenin's shoulder, and Prof. Paul Kurtz of CFI close up. Click photos to enlarge.

Following on from my post on Romania, I want to add that, as a matter of fact, I met only one Orthodox priest while I was there, and he was a lovely chap for whom I've the greatest respect. We stopped off at an Orthodox Church which we spotted to take a look. There turned out to be a funeral in progress, with an open casket in the back of the hearse and the priest doing his thing. Straight after, he beckoned us over and was extremely welcoming, giving us a very informative tour of his church, of which he was rightly proud (it all had to be translated via our taxi driver and host). So let me clarify - I am not attacking religious people per se, many of whom are wonderful. Nor am I really attacking the institution of religion much (though I do argue against religious belief on the grounds that it is false, and, in some forms, dangerous). Fact is, religions aren't all bad. Indeed, I wouldn't like to say they are more bad than good (as Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins do, for exa...

I'm currently in Romania, guests of some fabulous people. I am also doing some talks with Paul Kurtz and Norm Allen for CFI . Religion in Romania: some interesting facts: Only 0.2% of the population claim to be atheists. The main church is the national Orthodox Church, which gets to teach religion to all kids in state schools, unless their parents pull them out. They are teaching creationism. The church has great political influence. As a result evolution has been pulled from the curriculum, as has any philosophy of religion in which religion is critically examined. Only 14% of 10-18 year olds believe the theory of evolution. I spoke to a young woman today who says that because she is an atheist, her academic boss victimizes her and is destroying her career. And this sort of bullying and victimization, she tells me, is not at all unusual. Our CFI sponsored discussion/conference of secularism today was, to the organizer's knowledge, the first ever in Romania. All the press were ...