Always Hope

Sorry to indulge in Schadenfreude, but if it was ever justified, this is the moment: Fraser: Richard, I'm sure you could name the full title of On the Origin of Species ? Dawkins: Yes, of course.  Fraser: Go on, then. Dawkins: On the Origin of species by, errr, selection, oh, um, (mumble, mumble), oh God, it's got quite a long subtitle [getting very cross], I, um... Justin Webb: Pretty close! Listen to the whole conversation here What's so delicious about this is that Giles Fraser was accusing Professor Dawkins of creating a whole load of ridiculous and impossible conditions that people must fulfill before he will allow them to be "Christian". His point was that we could do the same thing for atheists and it would be equally ridiculous, because nobody would be allowed to be called an atheist unless, for example, they could name the full title of the Origin. A point which Dawkins then kindly demonstrated for him.

The story of the so-called #OccupyLSX protest has evolved rapidly this week. You will remember that last weekend, having been unsurprisingly told they could not occupy the London Stock Exchange, the campaigners sought an easier target in the City and settled on St Paul's Cathedral . As the police moved in to prevent them, Giles Fraser (one of St Paul's senior clergy) stepped in and Quixotically asked them to move along, allowing the protestors to settle, and defending their right to do so peacefully. This unusual incident drew a lot of publicity to both St Paul's and to the protest, the organisers being quick to exploit the incident. "We are occupying St Paul's!" said their official Twitter stream, "the vicar has given us his blessing and asked the police to leave." And therein lay the seeds of trouble to come.  The Cathedral put out a statement cautiously supporting the right to protest and asking all to respect the day to day work and worship, ...