'Can art fulfill the purpose of religion in a pluralist, secular society? Can we reconcile religious dogma with individual artistic creativity?'
Those were the questions asked when Alom Shaha, author of The Young Atheist's Handbook, joined the Financial Times' arts editor, Jan Dalley, history painter Tom de Freston, and art critic Richard Cork, for a lively discussion on the subject.
You can listen to the podcast here, and if you enjoy it I'd thoroughly recommend that you have a read of The Young Atheist's Handbook.
Growing up in a strict Muslim community in south-east London, Alom Shaha learnt that religion was not to be questioned. Reciting the Qur'an without understanding what it meant was simply a part of life; so, too, was obeying the imam and enduring beatings when he failed to attend the local mosque. Shaha was more drawn to science and its power to illuminate. As a teen, he lived between two worlds: the home controlled by his authoritarian father, and a school alive with books and ideas. In a charming blend of memoir, philosophy, and science, Shaha explores the questions about faith and the afterlife that we all ponder. Through a series of loose lessons , he tells his own compelling story, drawing on the theories of some of history's greatest thinkers and interrogating the fallacies that have impeded humanity for centuries. Shaha recounts how his education and formative experiences led him to question how to live without being tied to what his parents, priests, or teachers told him to believe, and offers insights so that others may do the same. This is a book for anyone who thinks about what they should believe and how they should live. It's for those who may need the facts and the ideas, as well as the courage, to break free from inherited beliefs. In this powerful narrative, Shaha shows that it is possible to live a compassionate, fulfilling, and meaningful life without God.
'An honest and often very moving story about valuing truth over hope, even in the face of grief.' Tim Minchin
'Illuminates the route to a better destination for all those who seek what Alom found: namely, that precious liberty of mind which makes its possessor open to all good things.' A. C. Grayling, author of The Good Book