a writer's blog

Stephen Fry at the Intelligence Squared Debate

creed of reason

creed of reason

“The only people who are obsessed with food are anorexics and the morbidly obese. And that, in erotic terms, is the Catholic church in a nutshell.” —Stephen Fry

Today, I’m on the train from Düsseldorf to Hamburg, and back again tonight, to follow a party invite by Elbkind that I couldn’t refuse ;-) So I ’ll leave you with something to watch: The Intelligence2 Debate with Archbishop Onaiyekan, Ann Widdecombe, Christopher Hitchens, and Stephen Fry on the motion “The Catholic Church is a force for good in the world.”

Regrettably, the version just linked to at Intelligence2 is edited down to a quarter of an hour, from a debate that actually went on for around two hours. Instead, watch the full version below! Two hours are quite a bit, of course, so if you have to pick & choose, at least watch the wonderful Stephen Fry, arguing against the motion (his speech starts around 48:00, I think).


Intelligence Squared Debate

As a spoiler (or appetizer, it depends), here’s a quote, shortly before he closes his argument:

It’s the strange thing about this church: it is obsessed with sex, absolutely obsessed. […] The only people who are obsessed with food are anorexics and the morbidly obese. And that, in erotic terms, is the Catholic church in a nutshell.

And there’s another great quote, from the wrap-up statements:

I suppose I’m slightly disappointed that, uh, nobody in particular, said, oh, I knew they’d bring up condoms, and child rape, and homosexuality. It’s a bit like a burglar in court, saying, “you would bring up that burglary, and that manslaughter, you never mention the fact I give my father a birthday present!” You know, its—yes, yes, are you getting the message—there is a reason we hammer home these issues: because they matter.

Enjoy!

Share

If you have something valuable to add or some interesting point to discuss, I’ll be looking forward to meeting you at Mastodon!

Tagged as: ,