26-01-2003 05:54									#1
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The name seems too coincidental.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/godwin/

William Godwin

William Godwin (1756-1836) was the founder of philosophical anarchism. In his An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793) he argued that government is a corrupting force in society, perpetuating dependence and ignorance, but that it will be rendered increasingly unnecessary and powerless by the gradual spread of knowledge. Politics will be displaced by an enlarged personal morality as truth conquers error and mind subordinates matter. In this development the rigorous exercise of private judgment, and its candid expression in public discussion, plays a central role, motivating his rejection of a wide range of co- operative and rule-governed practices which he regards as tending to mental enslavement, such as law, private property, marriage and concerts. Epitomising the optimism of events in France at the time he began writing, Godwin looked forward to a period in which the dominance of mind over matter would be so complete that mental perfectibility would take a physical form, allowing us to control illness and ageing and become immortal.

(If this has been previously discussed, never mind.)

	26-01-2003 06:49									#2
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Probably just a coincidence.

He had sex *out of wedlock* and his greatest contribution to philosophy was the fact he wouldn't even save his own mother from a fire.

Doesn't sound like a fundamentalist with research penalties to me.

	26-01-2003 19:53									#3
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I still think the best name ever for a fundamentalist extremist is to be found in Anthony Burgess' Earthly Powers (this is a fantastic and weighty book - if you've got the time, it's really well worth a look!).

In that book, a cardinal heals a dying boy at a typhus ward and the boy lives.

The cardinal becomes Pope, but dies shortly thereafter.

In the deep South of the US, a wacko church is founded by a guy named Godrey Manning - people just call him "God" for short, to keep it informal.

Godfrey Manning's church becomes embroiled in a federal case after they brainwash and abduct the daughter of a senator. The senator sends feds to bring back the daughter. A firefight breaks out and the cavalry are called in.

Godfrey Manning poisons his entire cult, sending them to Heaven, and he torches his church, burning it to the ground with several hundred live children inside (who did not eat the bitter cyanide pills as instructed). He escapes to an airport but is picked up there.

As investigators pore over his mysterious past, one English reporter remembers the name given to the boy whom the cardinal saved in the hospital ward, so many years ago.

Earthly Powers is an immense book and this little plotline, in itself already enough to be a book in its own right, is only one of hundreds that Anthony Burgess weaves together. Anybody who likes believable fiction set against the backdrop of the early 20th century would love this title.