A mere 22 days left in 2006 and WOW! what a year it's been. Full of uxexpected surprises, pleasant for a change.
Seeing & hearing Richard Dawkins on last night's Late Late has really put the cherry on the icing, for me at least. He was a treat, and it was very heartening to note that the audience was not entirely devoid of mature adults with the courage to declare themselves on the side of reason.
A rather daunting prospect, I'm sure, which Kenny exploited to the full by asking for show of hands from the audience at the beginning of that slot.
Smugly aware of the inevitable result, he couldn't resist the triumphalist gesture. Of course, it was good TV, and the Late Late has never been more than an entertainment programme.
This is the only justification for having the Dublin Catholic University quack philosopher, Dr Gerard Casey, on the panel, supposedly to counter Dawkins. If that was the best the Late Late could produce, then reason should have little to worry about in the future!
All my life I have cherished a perception of education, but this guy has succeeded in putting a feel-good factor into declaring to the world at large that I never sought a University degree!
I was always cautious and uncertain on the existence of a truly secular, non-sectarian-based Institute of Learning, as well an awareness of financial constraints. The perpetuation of sectarian-based "Universities" is, in my humble view, a betrayal of education.
Casey's seemingly dogmatic assertion to having sole rights to interpret a two-word phrase by Dawkins, in his weak effort to transfer a charge of dogmatism against Dawkins made me smile. This may qualify him for the highest esteem within a Catholic University, but only in that context.
Sectarian-based Universities are inadequate to serve the needs of today's world, shame on them all! Casey's pseudo-intellectualism will never gain the respect of reasonable people, simply because it has no merit.
May next year be as enjoyable as this has been!
Joe Davis