People picked at the demons they saw in her eyes; water was forced into her mouth to flush out demons. … Read the rest
All entries by this author
How Dare You Protest Sexual Segregation? 
Aug 15th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Especially at a wedding! You can’t have women mixing with men at weddings. Duh.… Read the rest
Afghanistan Passes Patriarchal Shia Law
Aug 15th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Law permits men to starve wives who refuse sex, requires women to get permission from their husbands to work.… Read the rest
Afghanistan: Taliban Reaches Out to Voters
Aug 15th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Promising to chop off their fingers if they vote.… Read the rest
Indian Muslim Groups Protest Nasreen Visa
Aug 15th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Claim Nasreen committed blasphemy through her writings and hurt feelings of Muslims across the world. … Read the rest
Taslima Nasreen Will Not Apologize…
Aug 15th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘for whatever I have written about the fundamentalists. I am willing to risk my life for that and continue my legitimate fight till the day I die.’… Read the rest
Bryan Appleyard Reviews The Evolution of God
Aug 15th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Takes a few kicks at ‘the absurd rhetoric of militant atheism’ while he’s at it.… Read the rest
The Uses of Common Sense
Aug 15th, 2009 | By Joshua F. LeachA great deal of ink has been spilled in the course of Western
philosophy over the question of whether or not the material
world exists. Some great minds have been led to insanity by
the possibility that it does not; others have accepted their
nihilism cheerfully. But just about all philosophers, whether
they came from the tradition of empiricism and skepticism,
like Hume, or from that of idealism, like Hegel, were
eventually forced into a sort of extreme subjectivism,
concluding that we do not, in fact, exist, and that the world
is merely the product of our imagination. Various
philosophers accepted this solipsism to a greater or lesser
degree, but it formed the essential tenor of philosophy in the
modern … Read the rest
Atheists packing heat
Aug 14th, 2009 1:28 pm | By Ophelia BensonNow it’s Michael Ruse’s turn to do the ‘atheists are evil’ routine using the numbingly familiar ‘atheists are evil’ weapon of shameless exaggeration and misrepresentation. In short, like all his pathetic allies in this tawdry campaign, he paints the people he dislikes as violent and aggressive when all in the world they are is verbally explicit.
In the past few years, we have seen the rise and growth of a group that the public sphere has labeled the “new atheists” – people who are aggressively pro-science, especially pro-Darwinism, and violently anti-religion of all kinds…
‘Violently’ – in the sense of coming right out and saying that they think religion is a bad thing in many ways. That’s a pretty … Read the rest
Akbar Ganji: Open Letter to Ban Ki-moon
Aug 14th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
An appeal to heed the widespread protests of the Iranian people.… Read the rest
India: 3 People Killed for ‘Witchcraft’
Aug 14th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Family members Karmi, 58 and Rahesh, 24 tried to save Munda, 65, but villagers killed them all.… Read the rest
Free Maziar Bahari
Aug 14th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Canadian/Iranian filmmaker and Newsweek correspondent detained in Iran since June 21.… Read the rest
Ottawa Should Do More About Maziar Bahari
Aug 14th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Canadian journalist is one of many charged with inciting a ‘velvet revolution.’… Read the rest
Confronting Tehran’s Vicious Misogyny
Aug 14th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Tarek Fatah notes not even the Saudis have used rape as a tool of subjugation as the ayatollahs have.… Read the rest
Youngest Adults Are the Least Creationist.
Aug 14th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Even religious youth are less Creationist than older age cohorts.… Read the rest
Kenan Malik Asks: Are All Muslims the Same?
Aug 13th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Malik explores how perceptions of Islam have been shaped by the media.… Read the rest
Flying Rabbis Fight Swine Flu
Aug 13th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A group of rabbis and mystics circled Israel in a plane, praying and blowing horns to ward off H1N1.… Read the rest
Greg Fish on Losing Touch With the Real World
Aug 13th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Are people who think science is a gateway to atheism going to change their minds if you sweet talk them?… Read the rest
Jason Rosenhouse on Scapegoating
Aug 13th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Christianity and theism tend to be opposed to freedom of thought.… Read the rest
Palestinian Women’s Attitudes to Wife Beating
Aug 13th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Justified if a wife insults her husband (59%), disobeys husband (49%), goes out without telling husband (25%).… Read the rest
