02-Introduction

The substance of this tiny work first saw the light of day as an article which I published with, I admit, the less-than zippy title of ‘Christendom in the Raw: “Christian” Last Rites for Unbelievers. Disturbing Thoughts Prompted by the Recent Church Farewell to Stephen Hawking’. Despite its uninviting title, I really did want to reach as wide an audience as possible with what I had to say. So, even as I was publishing the article, I decided to set the material in booklet form. Hence this present work – the substance of the article slightly edited for this purpose.