Does He exist ? Do gods generally exist ?
This article is contributed by Pericles, not by Boris Johnson, Mayor of London ; in particular it is not a reflexion of the Mayor’s view of the subject. Let us therefore pray, having issued this disclaimer, that we not see headlines such as ‘Mayor confirms/denies existence of God’. (Fret not, best beloved : I might come up with the winner of the 13.45 to-morrow at Catterick but do not seriously expect to determine on these pages the question of the existence of God.)
The search for truth
At the end of November, in Toronto, as part of the series of Munk Debates organized by the Aurea Foundation, former British Prime Minister and recent convert to Roman Catholicism Tony Blair and journalist and self-described anti-theist Christopher Hitchens wrestled with the motion ‘Be it resolved, religion is a force for good in the world’.
(If you’d like to hear the whole debate, follow the link at the foot of this article.)
Their subject is really only tangential to ours but the debate (which included a session of questions from the Toronto audience) raises a relevant point : the distinction between God (or gods) and religion.