“Sweden is still an extremely conformist, authoritarian society, where opinion formers and politicians move together like a shoal of herring.”… Read the rest
Tony Judt on Czesław Miłosz and open minds 
Sep 18th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Miłosz brilliantly dissects the state of mind of the fellow traveler, the deluded idealist, and the cynical time server.… Read the rest
Paul Cliteur on secularism v religious extremism
Sep 18th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Religious neutrality in religiously pluralist societies is the path to tolerance. When will the American president and the American people acknowledge this?
Theocracy in Ireland
Sep 18th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Judge orders a man to “do the four stations of the famous Mayo pilgrimage” as punishment for drunken swearing at a garda.… Read the rest
London: thousands protest papal visit
Sep 18th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Peter Tatchell notes, “When he says no woman is fit to be a priest, that’s an insult to the whole of female humanity.”… Read the rest
Gagging the Mississippi
Sep 18th, 2010 | By PZ MyersThe Mississippi is a mess. I live in the agricultural, rural upper midwest, and one of the nasty surprises lurking beneath the rich green fields is that the rivers are ugly stews of fertilizers and herbicides and pesticides from agricultural runoff. We have data that it hurts people, too: premature births and birth defects show seasonal fluctuations that peak for children conceived in the spring and summer, when the chemicals are being sprayed into the air and are dribbling into the streams. The villains are agribusiness and overproduction and the corn ethanol boondoggle and horrors like the fecal lakes associated with swine farms. Louisiana’s environmental problems are partly the product of Minnesota’s toxic largesse.
It needs to be known. The … Read the rest
Tim Minchin’s pope song
Sep 18th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Beware: could “create divisions.”… Read the rest
Pope makes surprise announcement
Sep 17th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“Science cannot explain everything,” pontiff tells stunned audience of rival clerics.… Read the rest
There are too few of you! Also too many!
Sep 17th, 2010 4:54 pm | By Ophelia BensonJulian Baggini says why he declined to add his signature to a letter protesting against the pope’s visit and why he thinks the pope-protest is a bad thing.
Consider for a moment why almost every secular, liberal-minded person thought that Pastor Terry Jones was wrong to plan to burn Qur’ans on the anniversary of 9/11…The main problem is that by burning the holy book of all Muslims, the protest would fail to target jihadist murderers and would be seen as vehemently anti-Islam.
But jihadist murderers are not necessarily the only problem with Islam; it is not necessarily the case that being anti-Islam is self-evidently bad. It could be the case that there are many things wrong with Islam, and that … Read the rest
Benedict sees that secularism itself can be challenged
Sep 17th, 2010 1:43 pm | By Ophelia BensonAndrew Brown, for some opaque and never-explained reason, devotes himself to explaining what the pope meant in his “atheists=Nazis” speech. He does a kind of ventriloquist’s dummy act, saying “the pope believes” or “according to the pope” throughout, while in fact saying things that he clearly enjoys saying.
… Read the restFor him, a nation that turns away from God entirely has nothing to keep it from treating people as disposable means, rather than ends in themselves. The liberal appeal to reason, to choice, and to human rights doesn’t go far enough. He believes in all three, but he thinks they must be derived from something else. That something else was once generally understood to be Christianity. If that is no longer
Jesus and Mo on the pope
Sep 17th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
And the militant atheist hate campaign against him.… Read the rest
Ashtiani forced to do another tv “interview”
Sep 17th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The judiciary system, the state television, and the diplomatic system have been mobilized against an imprisoned woman.… Read the rest
Ashtiani’s son refused visit again
Sep 17th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
At Tabriz prison he was told: “Sakineh is still not permitted to visit with you. Stop bothering us and don’t come back.”… Read the rest
Andrew Brown speaks up for the pope
Sep 16th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“The invective thrown at the pope and his church over the last week must come partly from people who would like to drive religious faith out of public life.”… Read the rest
Protest the pope on Saturday
Sep 16th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Hyde Park Corner, 1:30 p.m. Be there.… Read the rest
Seattle “Draw Mo” cartoonist goes into hiding
Sep 16th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
No more cartooning for Molly Norris!… Read the rest
Brendan O’Neill defends pope from savage atheists
Sep 16th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Those horrible new atheists think any kind of sexual abuse of a child by a priest is a bad thing. Can you believe it?!… Read the rest
NPR calls pope-protesters “militant” atheists
Sep 16th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Athiests call NPR militant pope-huggers.… Read the rest
Has Karen Armstrong read Feuerbach?
Sep 16th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The real irony is that Feuerbach’s argument is above all applicable to the elusive, ungraspable ‘God’ for which Karen Armstrong makes her case.… Read the rest
Malawi: Children Commit Suicide After Prayers
Sep 16th, 2010 | By Leo IgweOrdinarily, not much is heard about Malawi -a country that was ruled for so many years by the late dictator, Kamuzu Banda. Apart from the recent case of a gay couple convicted and later pardoned by President Mutharika who is also the current Chair of the African Union, Malawi is hardly in the news.
But that does not mean that all is well with this country. No, all is not well with ‘Nyasaland’. Malawi like many other African countries is trapped in the vicious circle of poverty, ignorance, superstition and religious fanaticism. Independence has not brought this nation emergence and prosperity. Education has not resulted in emancipation, civilization and enlightenment. The different religious groups in the country are living together … Read the rest
