Alex Byrne in the Boston Review addresses the existence of God, pointing out that modern debates echo those of Hume and Paley (he of the watchmaker). Byrne talks about the Ontological, Design and Fine Tuning arguments for God.

The article is interesting because it addresses some weak responses to these arguments, from Dawkins's The God Delusion. As gareth_rees said, the popularisation of this debate will hopefully encourage everyone to consider whether the reasons they have for their positions are good ones.

In other news, Father Christmas (who really does exist, otherwise who's bringing all those presents, eh?) brought me Breaking the Spell by Daniel Dennett, Bitches; and Bart Ehrman's God's Problem (about the Problem of Evil). I expect I'll be posting about those once I've read them.

I wish you a hopeful Christmas,
I wish you a brave New Year,
All anguish, pain and sadness
Leave your heart, and let your road be clear.

Greg Lake and the incredibly talented Vienna Teng have some great videos on what Christmas is about. Have a good one :-)

(or whichever seasonal salutation is appropriate to you).