Religion for Atheists
Leaking roofs and pious atheists
In a rash moment this week, when the brain was too overloaded for productive writing, I started a task I’ve been putting off for years: sorting three decades-worth of medical ethics papers. In my former life I was very methodical about filing things – reports of legal cases, newspaper items, ethical conundrums, erudite musings … documents going back to the 1980s, all carefully labelled and organised by subject. But since I left university life they’ve been stored on a top shelf in my study, eleven feet up, so rarely opened.
It took the discovery of a slow leak in the roof above the said shelves, to jerk me out of this inertia. The shelf had to be emptied, might as well sort things. Ahhh … familiar faces … remembered cases … I confess I was more than once sorely tempted to put the whole lot back, and I felt quite bereft consigning all that history and research to recycling oblivion. Slow recovery underway.
Most of my attention, of course, has been directed at the ongoing Festivals.
So, highlights of this second week?
From the main Festival:
The visual spectacular Speed of Light, described as ‘a fusion of public art and sporting endeavour‘, masterminded by artistic director Angus Farquhar. Edinburgh’s Arthur’s Seat became the stage set for an amazing choreographed spectacle.
Hundreds of walkers (carrying lights) and 
endurance runners (wearing specially designed light suits) wove patterns and created tableau on the hillsides, like fairy-lights wafting in the wind, or streams of fireflies playing catch-me-if-you-can in the darkness. 
‘Tripping the light fantastic‘ came to mind! My son-in-law was one of the runners so this show was a must.
I’m afraid the camera couldn’t do justice to the total effect, but you can see much better pictures and more about how it was made, what it means here.
From the Fringe Festival:
The play, And No More Shall We Part, was billed as ‘an uplifting testament to the power of love and the indomitability of the human spirit.‘ Written by award-winning playwright Tom Holloway, it looks at what happens to a long standing relationship when one partner is terminally ill and makes a brave decision to take matters into her own hands. Bill Paterson and Dearbhla Malloy are convincing in their roles as undemonstrative Scottish husband, Don, and his chattering Irish wife, Pam; they beautifully capture the habits of an aging couple, the essential loneliness of death, and the effect of imminent separation. Clever symbology using doors on a revolving stage, minimal sound effects, and sparse conversations were most effective. The show confirmed one of my suspicions, though: having immersed myself and nearly drowned in the emotions of this subject while writing Right to Die, I don’t react as acutely to things like this play as I once would have. Nevertheless it was well worth seeing.
From the Book Festival:
Undisputed star of my week here was well-known philosopher Alain de Botton. He’s a ‘committed atheist‘ but in his latest book 
Religion for Atheists he argues that non-believers should stop mocking those who profess a faith, and instead learn from them, because the world’s religions are full of good ideas on how to live well and arrange our societies. As he puts it, ‘Religions are in the end too complex, wise and fascinating to be abandoned simply to those who happen actually to believe in them’. He’s a brilliant speaker and he took us on a wander round a ‘buffet table‘ of good things all influenced for the better by religion – education, calendars, oratory, art, institutions, community, travel, relationships, treatment of strangers. As the chairman said, he’s ‘trying in his own way to make the world a better place‘, and by the time we left, there was a distinct sense of benevolence and bonhomie towards our fellow man in the Main Theatre marquee.
Just two more sessions to go before I end my stint as official blogger for Genotype. It’s been great fun. And very good discipline.