Welcome to my new blog.
A curious thing happened this year when Kathy and I sent out our Christmas cards. We received reply cards from several of my relatives, and although no one was specific about it, we got the sense that they hadn’t received any cards from us earlier. Like most year end Christmas cards, they all requested for us to write more, stay in touch, etc. Hence this blog.
So why ‘A Good World?’ My brother, Mike, has a blog named after a quote from C. S. Lewis ("Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.") and I felt that to complete the family circle, naming my blog after a quote from Bertrand Russell seemed a good fit. As for the specific quote, it is the longer version of what an English Teacher in my high school had emblazoned on his classroom wall, towering over us in black and white like some Bauhaus version of Times Square.
The quote comes from a talk that Bertrand Russell gave in 1927 at Battersea Town Hall, and subsequently became the title essay of ‘Why I am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects’. The quote is the concluding sentence of the talk and follows a consideration of a number of logical arguments about the existence of God: “Religion is based, I think, primarily and mainly upon fear. It is partly the terror of the unknown and partly, as I have said, the wish to feel that you have a kind of elder brother who will stand by you in all your troubles and disputes.” I agree with this sentiment, although obviously having one’s belief in God motivated by fear does not logically prove that God doesn’t exist.
To the right are links to other blogs and sites. Family and Friends (if you want me to list yours, let me know); political blogs and other sites as well – these I will update and rotate in and out on a regular basis.
