Democracy is not one person, one vote plus however many extra votes you’d like on behalf of your invisible friend.… Read the rest
Germany: Reformers Want Pope to Speak Up 
Mar 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The pope should say exactly what he knew about widespread allegations of abuse by clerics in Regensburg.… Read the rest
Irish Arrests Over Plot to Kill Lars Vilks
Mar 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The usual thuggish bullying stupidity.… Read the rest
Muslim Woman Councillor Defies Death Threats
Mar 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Shiria Khatun says, ‘We live in a democratic society and I have the right to dress how I like.’… Read the rest
Massimo Pigliucci on Pseudo-metaphysics
Mar 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Ingeniously put together? By whom? And by what criterion of “ingenuity?”’… Read the rest
Barney Zwartz on the Global Atheist Convention
Mar 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Self-indulgent, disdain, blinkered self-congratulation, militant, noisy, inexorable sense of superiority.… Read the rest
Take One Traumatised Child
Mar 10th, 2010 | By Clare Sambrook‘He looks my age,’ says my nine-year-old son. ‘He looks sort of like me.’
There’s a picture on my screen: a small, slight boy who, for legal reasons, we’ll call M. He’s being cuddled by his 17 year old big brother Z. Both boys are smiling. They have been reunited after a long, hard separation.
Back home in war-torn Afghanistan their parents and a sister were killed. Big brother Z was first to come to Britain, traumatised, in November 2008. He has refugee status, studies for his GCSEs at school in Leicester.
This past October little brother M made his way here. Despite M’s size, his vulnerability, his boyish looks, officials said, you’re not 14, you’re an adult.
Instead … Read the rest
Taner Edis: Theocracy is not the Issue
Mar 9th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Oh but it is.… Read the rest
Living Proof of the Armenian Genocide
Mar 9th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
An orphanage of terror in which Armenian children were systematically deprived of their Armenian identity.… Read the rest
Michael Ruse on Philosophers on Darwin
Mar 9th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
An increasingly vocal cadre of eminent philosophers has doubts about Darwin – but they ignore biology.… Read the rest
Leo Igwe on the Crisis in Jos
Mar 9th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
What we have in Plateau state is a situation where militant Islam has led to the emergence of militant Christianity. … Read the rest
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood
Mar 9th, 2010 11:20 am | By Ophelia BensonNo, I don’t agree with Taner Edis, and I agree even less as he clarifies. This is all the odder in that he doesn’t even agree with himself – he prefers secular liberalism himself, but says he can’t defend it. Yes you can, Taner! Try harder! It can be done. It can’t be done absolutely, or permanently, or in such a way that no one anywhere will disagree – but it can still be done.
Meanwhile…
… Read the restMy political preference is very much the opposite. I would, personally, consider a multicultural regime a dystopia…My reasons for all of this, however, have almost everything to do with my particular interests and aspirations, and next to nothing to do with any
Terry Sanderson on Religious Influence on Politics
Mar 8th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The constant nagging from ‘faith leaders’ about their neglect does seem to be having an effect on politicians.… Read the rest
Australia: Muslim ‘Leader’ Wants a Bit of Sharia
Mar 8th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘We are not calling for the introduction of the penal system which calls for cutting off hands.’ Ah.… Read the rest
Pope Faces New Pressure to Meet Victims
Mar 8th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Bishop cites public anger at pomp and ceremony when the Irish bishops knelt to kiss the Pope’s ring.… Read the rest
More Religious Slaughter in Jos, Nigeria
Mar 8th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Over 500 dead, most of them women and children hacked to death by machete wielding gangs. … Read the rest
How Templeton Works: the Rod Dreher Example
Mar 8th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Templeton creates a climate in which journalists who take a certain line can expect sizable rewards.… Read the rest
Liberalism can be defended
Mar 8th, 2010 11:38 am | By Ophelia BensonTaner Edis thinks Gary Bouma is right about secularism and that Russell Blackford is wrong. I think Taner is mostly wrong that Russell is wrong that Gary Bouma is wrong. Still with me?
Note that, as often in the liberal tradition, the main pragmatic argument Blackford uses to promote a secular regime is that it helps keep the peace between rival sects…Such arguments tend to overlook how such reasoning is difficult to generalize beyond the context of Western European Christianity in the modern era.
Possibly. But then…this may sound crude, but the reality is, Western Europe is a pretty good place to live, and it and its descendants are better places to live than most of the rest of … Read the rest
Virginia: Public Colleges Cannot Ban Anti-gay Bias
Mar 7th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Most of the state’s public universities have policies prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.… Read the rest
The Home-schoolers Respond
Mar 7th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Some of it is ugly stuff.… Read the rest
