Mark Vernon, philosopher and former priest. Dear Mark. I read your articles on line and think they are among the best on the site. Obviously you must have a lot in common with Karen Armstrong . But what exactly will Alan Rushbridger have to say? Does he have a real unmediated view on anything? If I lay my hands over the Guardian and moan a little in prayer and ask for spiritual guidance on what the overall viewpoint of Rushbridger's Guardian is -because I won't read it anywhere in the paper -I would come up with: Highly principled insightful and brave, whilst at the same time shallow opportunistic and cowardly. And I suppose that odd mixture, that response reflects my view of Rushbridger's approach. Now to me, that particular combination of qualities is one that precisely reflects the moral outlook of a humanist and a pragmatist. All pragmaticians must be agnostics. As a pragmatist whether to believe or not is both a clear and a contradictory choice. The nature
Left wing commentary from the heart and the head