It is silly to call fat people "gravitationally challenged", a self-righteous fetishism of language which is no more than a symptom of political frustration.

The Kantian imperative to have the courage to think for oneself has involved a contemptuous disregard for the resources of tradition and an infantile view of authority as inherently oppressive.

Christian faith, as I understand it, is not primarily a matter of signing on for the proposition that there exists a Supreme Being, but the kind of commitment made manifest by a human being at the end of his tether, foundering in darkness, pain, and bewilderment, who nevertheless remains faithful to the promise of a transformative love.

Works of art cannot save us. They can simply render us more sensitive to what needs to be repaired.

Language, identity and forms of life are the terms in which political demands are shaped and voiced.

Scratch a schoolboy and you find a savage.

Evil is often supposed to be without rhyme or reason.