There was much comment on my last post, both on facebook and by email, on the topic of devout atheism and whether or not it might be an oxymoron. Sadly, nobody commented on the blog itself. Yes, that is a hint.
Definitions being important and on the off chance that Boxsell is reading this, I’ll start by explaining that an oxymoron is not a stupid person hyperventilating, but is in fact an apparently self-contradictory statement. It’s often used as a sort of literary device - “cruel to be kind” is a well known example - and the oxymoron is often used for humorous effect - Oscar Wilde’s “I can resist anything except temptation” leaps to mind - but the word oxymoron has, in recent times, come to be more often associated with accidental incongruity. The old standby being “Military Intelligence”, but Donald Trump noting that “although the budget was unlimited I exceeded it” also seems to work.