We can only hope the spirit of beauty will one day crush the plodding literal-mindedness of the misogynists in charge.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Judge Rules Child ‘Neglected’ by Parents
May 16th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonDaniel Hauser stopped chemo; he and his parents opted for ‘alternative medicines’ based on religious beliefs. … Read the rest
What they believe
May 15th, 2009 4:16 pm | By Ophelia BensonLet’s find out what the Child Evangelism Fellowship believes and presumably teaches to very young children immediately after school, on school property.
That the whole entire bible ‘is given by inspiration of God’ and ‘that it is inerrant in the original writing and that its teaching and authority are absolute, supreme and final.’ So if something is in the bible (the translation of the bible into English, that is, though of course they don’t bother to say that) then it is absolute, supreme and final – so no matter what it is, no matter how harsh, no matter how unjust, cruel, tyrannical, interfering, none of anyone’s business, pointless, reactionary, stupid – it cannot be changed or rejected or refused. What … Read the rest
The Banking World’s Responsibility
May 15th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonFT journalist Gillian Tett is a cultural anthropologist, and she saw the wheels coming off.… Read the rest
Pew Forum on the Establishment Clause
May 15th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonCase law on government funding of religion has shifted away from separationism in recent years.… Read the rest
Journalist Talks to Children of the Taliban
May 15th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonLike the teenage boy who asks why women are wandering around outside.… Read the rest
Cleric Says Prayer is Part of Medicine
May 15th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘Every doctor, every nurse needs to be easy and familiar with the language of the spirit in order to express the almost inexpressible.’… Read the rest
Ed Brandon Reviews Robert Park
May 15th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonOn the nature of religious belief in a world increasingly disenchanted by the progress of scientific understanding.… Read the rest
Be afraid
May 14th, 2009 12:14 pm | By Ophelia BensonThis is the scariest thing I’ve read in awhile, at least locally. Schoolgirls being gassed in Afghanistan is much scarier, but locally the Child Evangelism Fellowship is scary as hell. Good News Clubs are terrifying.
Remember the little girl who told her classmate that she was going to hell? Well that was a Good News Club at work.
… Read the restTheir teacher overheard the increasingly heated exchange. When class resumed, she asked everyone to pay attention. People from different religious backgrounds, she explained, have very different perspectives on certain kinds of issues. Emma, feeling good that she had stood her ground, seemed content with the result. But Ashley was crushed. “You mean they lied to me right here in school?!”
Murphy’O’Connor: ‘Atheists Not Fully Human’
May 14th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonCatholic cardinal offers the hand of friendship. Or something.… Read the rest
Global Concern at Suu Kyi Arrest
May 14th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHer lawyer blames the visitor from Missouri for her arrest, calling him a ‘fool.’… Read the rest
Reading, Writing, and Original Sin
May 14th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonChild Evangelism Fellowship targets public elementary schools in Santa Barbara.… Read the rest
Low-calory Water: Only £1.49 the 500ml Bottle
May 14th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBio-synergy Skinny Water is the first in the world to be fortified with l-carnitine and chromium.… Read the rest
Rice Aide Says Bush Admin Wanted to Torture
May 14th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonRefusal to acknowledge legitimacy of Common Article III of Geneva Convention was the sign.… Read the rest
Former FBI Interrogator Says Torture Didn’t Work
May 14th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonNon-threatening interrogation approach got results, then was shut down when CIA took over.… Read the rest
Hooray hooray hooray for FGM
May 13th, 2009 3:12 pm | By Ophelia BensonFuambai Ahmadu is really quite creepy.
… Read the restI am not surprised that the women of Kailahun have taken to the streets to protest what is now becoming a brazen attack by anti-FGM activists against female initiation and excision in Sierra Leone…I have witnessed first-hand the proliferation (and invidiousness) of this alarming multi-million dollar “development” industry, financed largely by western countries and international agencies such as UNICEF, WHO, UNFPA and so on. Faced with a global media onslaught depicting the most insidious and racist types of representations of African men and women witnessed since colonial times and the downright force of anti-FGM campaigns to shame, more and more circumcised African women have come to see and define themselves through these media
Salil Tripathi on Democracy and Dissent
May 13th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBinayak Sen’s advocacy of
India’s ‘wretched of the earth’ has upset the corrupt nexus enriching local politicians.… Read the rest
Classroom Filled With an Odour of Insecticide
May 13th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘What will she do about education in the future, when her life is in danger?’ the distraught father added.… Read the rest
Don’t Mention the Pope’s Hitler Youth Past
May 13th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘The Pope was never in the Hitler Youth, never, never, never,’ spokesman told a press conference.… Read the rest
Frontline Interviews Journalist on the SEC
May 13th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘A thesis emerged within the agency that it was too much of a burden on the American economy.’… Read the rest