Posts

What is it like to be alive in a consumer culture such as our own? Lacan had one answer. In a lecture he gave in 1971, he claimed that capitalism creates the illusion that we are no longer slaves to the system, but its masters. This happens when we develop the notion that we are… Continue reading Consuming yourself in a consumer age

I took the superb new Frankenstein – which I saw last night via the brilliant National Theatre Live project – to be a morality tale for our times. The script and production has all the focused, archetypal quality of an ancient Greek tragedy, though the centre of gravity was not so much the vitalism that… Continue reading Frankenstein's shadow

Here are the complete videos and articles stemming from our series on belief and unbelief in an age of uncertainty. Events 13th December 2010: Karen Armstrong and Alan Rusbridger – VIDEO 17th January 2011: Terry Eagleton and Mark Vernon – VIDEO 7th March 2011: John Gray and Giles Fraser – VIDEO 21st March 2001: Stephen… Continue reading Uncertain Minds

Is it just me, or has there been a little run of ‘the self is a delusion’ articles and talks around and about? One used the analogy of a smart phone to deconstruct the sense of selfhood. Much as a smart phone contains applications that together make the phone smart, so the argument goes, the… Continue reading I confound you, therefore I am

My piece is now up at the Guardian’s Cif belief. After the Žižek opener, much as on my previous blog, it continues… Western Buddhism is undergoing its Protestant reformation, Batchelor observed. It is about two centuries behind western Christianity in terms of its critical engagement with its canonical texts. The quest for the historical Buddha… Continue reading Buddhism as the opium of the people

A nice vignette from our Uncertain Minds event on Buddhism last night. Madeleine Bunting noted that whilst watching a programme about the Beckhams, she’d spotted a four foot high, golden Buddha in one of their living rooms. What is it about Buddhism, she wondered, that yields such a perfect fit with modern consumerism? Stephen Batchelor… Continue reading Consuming Buddhism, selling the Buddha

My piece just went up at the Guardian’s Cif Belief, as below… I met Rob Bell at Greenbelt, a couple of years back, because we happened to be staying in the same hotel. Though at first, I didn’t know who he was. Rather, I saw him coming. He was dressed head-to-foot in black and was… Continue reading So what does Rob Bell actually say? Part II

I was listening to the RSA President’s lecture given by David Attenborough – which is worth the time just to hear the Duke of Edinburgh speak too: he is very funny and very well informed, at almost 90 years old. Attenborough’s lecture is about the human population explosion and the damage that does to the… Continue reading Is population growth the right problem?

There was a press screening of There Be Dragons in the UK yesterday – a new film by Roland Joffé (The Killing Fields, The Mission) about the escape from Spain, during the civil war, of Josemaria Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei. Turbulent times and an extraordinary person, whether you think Opus Dei is a… Continue reading There be dragons

Has anyone else felt uncomfortable at the fact that TV news reporters – flown in from the four corners of the globe, equipped with hi-tech cameras, tripods and all-weather gear – are able to reach distant, stricken parts of Japan more quickly than the country’s own rescue services? And to what end: to provide footage… Continue reading The tsunami show