There is no evidence that homeopathy works, yet it gets public funding.… Read the rest
A Gift to the Creationists 
Jan 31st, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A book titled What Darwin Got Wrong that’s not by a creationist.… Read the rest
Deciding in advance
Jan 30th, 2010 1:55 pm | By Ophelia BensonWheaton College has a ‘statement of faith’ that everyone at Wheaton has to ‘follow.’ The statement is long, and specific, and detailed. It’s not a mere cloud of benevolent sentiments, it’s a list of concrete factual assertions prefaced by ‘we believe that,’ and agreeing to the whole thing is, as I understand it, a condition of employment and attendance. It includes (and ends with) ‘WE BELIEVE in the bodily resurrection of the just and unjust, the everlasting punishment of the lost.’
Yet Wheaton College considers itself an academic institution of some kind. Wheaton College considers itself a place of higher education, yet a condition of getting the putative higher education that Wheaton College offers is agreement with a long … Read the rest
Simon Singh and Andy Lewis on Homeopathy
Jan 30th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Filmed by Stephen Law at the CFI UK Trick or Treatment event.… Read the rest
‘New Perspectives on Faith and Development’
Jan 30th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Tony Blair Faith Foundation, Islamic Relief et al. to host ‘groundbreaking’ seminars on Faith and Development.… Read the rest
Oliver Kamm on Howard Zinn
Jan 30th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
If your heart is in the right place, the assumption is, then it doesn’t matter if your scholarship is sloppy.… Read the rest
The Boston Globe on Howard Zinn
Jan 30th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
His books and plays are about the power of ordinary people to affect history.… Read the rest
Rules of supermarket deportment
Jan 29th, 2010 1:00 pm | By Ophelia BensonA brief frivolous interlude to consider one small aspect of daily life.
A Tesco store has asked customers not to shop in their pyjamas or barefoot…A spokesman said Tesco did not have a strict dress code but it does not want people shopping in their nightwear in case it offends other customers.
Or not so much offends them as makes them feel sick. That’s how it affects me. The sight of people outside in the world in their bedroom slippers, or with bed hair, or in their pyjamas, makes me feel very queasy indeed. It’s much the same if I see people flossing their teeth or cutting their toenails in public; or picking their noses, or applying unguents to … Read the rest
Iran Executes 2 Mohareb or ‘Enemies of God’
Jan 29th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The prosecutor’s office said nine other detained protesters have been condemned to death as Mohareb.… Read the rest
Orthodoxy Enforcement at Wheaton College
Jan 29th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Wheaton is nondenominational, but has a detailed statement of faith that all at the college must follow.… Read the rest
Ogling Teaches Women to Self-objectify
Jan 29th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
When a female believes her body is being sized up by a male, she’ll diminish her presence by speaking less. … Read the rest
Questioning Homophobic Pseudoscience
Jan 29th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘That a child needs a male parent and a female parent is so taken for granted that people are uncritical.’… Read the rest
Roeder Convicted of First-Degree Murder
Jan 29th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It took jurors 37 minutes to convict Scott Roeder of first-degree murder in the death of George R. Tiller.… Read the rest
Blair is Sorry the War Was ‘Divisive’
Jan 29th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
He acknowledged ‘things obviously look quite different’ now given the failure to find any weapons.… Read the rest
Tesco Says No Shopping in Pyjamas
Jan 29th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Buffoon doesn’t see why, she only wanted a packet of fags, she would have worn clothes for a full shop.… Read the rest
Johann Hari on Corruption in America
Jan 29th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It has reached the point that lobbyists now often write the country’s laws. Not metaphorically; literally.… Read the rest
A Common Problem in Science Journalism
Jan 28th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Science reporters tend to avoid looking hard at research that produces interesting conclusions.… Read the rest
Panel Finds MMR Scare Doctor ‘Acted Unethically’
Jan 28th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Wakefield’s Lancet study caused vaccination rates to plummet, resulting in a rise in measles.… Read the rest
Televangelist Accused of Fraud Over Haiti Relief
Jan 28th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Six televangelist ministries are being investigated by Senate Finance Committee for possible tax law fraud.… Read the rest
‘Europe Must Assert its Religious Identity’
Jan 28th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Italian Foreign Affairs Minister laments lack of ‘common European identity’ which he takes to be Xian.… Read the rest
