Forcing children to take part in religious worship every day is a law worthy of a theocracy, not a liberal democracy.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Jerry Coyne and WSF Discuss the Issues 
May 8th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Dance and literature don’t contradict science; faith and religion do.… Read the rest
Jerry Coyne Refuses Science Festival Invitation
May 8th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
One of the Festival’s sponsors was The Templeton Foundation, so after discussion and thought, he said No.… Read the rest
Denying AIDS
May 8th, 2009 | By Max DunbarThe world’s leaning denialist is Peter Deusberg, a molecular biologist who argues that to prevent AIDS, and even cure the disease, it is necessary only to eat properly and abstain from toxic drugs. The American government’s top AIDS adviser, Anthony Fauci, takes a different view, as the New Yorker reported in March 2007. After hearing Deusberg speak at an AIDS research conference, the normally mild-mannered Fauci erupted. ‘This is murder,’ he said. ‘It’s really that simple.’
Damian Thompson, Counterknowledge
Many delusions are harmless. If you believe that Mossad brought down the World Trade Centre, such a belief won’t kill you – it won’t get you killed, despite so much hysterical insinuation to the contrary. Children do not endanger themselves with … Read the rest
David Aaronovitch on Voodoo Histories
May 7th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Many English-language websites have sprung up to proselytise for the 9/11 Truth movement.… Read the rest
Muslims in Britain: Zero Tolerance of Homosexuality
May 7th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
None of the 500 British Muslims interviewed believed that homosexual acts were morally acceptable.… Read the rest
Quantum Arguments for God as Mumbo-jumbo
May 7th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Thanks to quantum mechanical uncertainty, scientists can’t detect stuff, so that could be God.… Read the rest
Max Dunbar on Fish on Eagleton on God
May 7th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Liberalism, enlightenment and all those cerebral shibboleths can be halted at the barrel of a gun.… Read the rest
National Prayer Day is Even for Unbelievers
May 7th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
And hair gel is for people of all hair styles, and even for bald people.… Read the rest
Pig-headed Mullahs
May 7th, 2009 | By Fawzia RasheedI guess it was predictable. Divine retribution had to rear its ugly head over swine flu. Yes, in case you didn’t know, some mullahs claim that God gave us swine flu. They say the virus will devastate the pig-gobbling-West. Yankee infidels will be doomed, and the faithful spared.
Cries from the mosques have this far resulted in culling pigs, along with spurning their owners and, of course, anyone with a penchant for pork chops. Even in Egypt, which hasn’t reported a single case of swine flu, over 300,000 pigs were butchered. Perhaps not so incidentally, their Christian owners were refused compensation. No doubt more ugly acts will follow wherever excuses can be found to wield power and create rifts between … Read the rest
There are people like that
May 6th, 2009 12:27 pm | By Ophelia BensonRussell encounters an Eaglefish and has one of those epiphanic moments when a few things suddenly “click”.
… Read the rest[A]mong our friends on the political Left – which is where I have my roots – there are people, not just a few but many, who despise everything I hold dear. These are supposed to be my allies, but they despise liberalism, reason, science, progress, and the Enlightenment. They hate the so-called “New Atheism”…because they see people like Richard Dawkins as providing a rallying point for … yes, liberalism, reason, science, progress, and the Enlightenment…It’s not some sort of accident or coincidence that their commitments so often have them opposing liberalism and all the values associated with it. They know that that’s
Oprah Winfrey is Promoting a Vaccine Skeptic
May 6th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Jenny McCarthy’s campaign spreads misinformation that could bring back once-controlled diseases.… Read the rest
Russell Blackford on the Frightening Eaglefish
May 6th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
People on the Left who despise liberalism, reason, science, progress, and the Enlightenment.… Read the rest
Maine Governor Signs Gay Marriage Bill
May 6th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Maine’s Senate voted 21-13 in support of a bill that redefines marriage as the legal union of two people. … Read the rest
Stuck With ‘National Prayer Day’
May 6th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
US Congress in 1988 set date for presidents to issue proclamations asking Americans to pray. … Read the rest
Reproof to Costly Duchy Detox Tinctures
May 6th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Regulator found Duchy advert breached the code in substantiation, truthfulness and medicinal claims.… Read the rest
ASA Ruling on Duchy Originals: Complaint Upheld
May 6th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The ad must not appear again in its current form. Duchy told not to make claims they could not substantiate.… Read the rest
Martin on Fish on Eagleton on God
May 6th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
In the new war against Enlightenment liberalism, pro-faith Marxists and post-modern relativists unite.… Read the rest
Melanie Phillips is All ‘It’s a Secular Inquisition!’
May 6th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Everyone who said she was wrong about ID is so totally wrong.… Read the rest
Oh go soak your head
May 6th, 2009 10:54 am | By Ophelia BensonAnd people wonder why atheists get huffy.
Obama is scaling back White House plans for Thursday’s National Day of Prayer even as his administration defends the tradition in federal court in Wisconsin…The Obama administration has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which claims the day violates the separation of church and state. In a rare alliance, 31 mostly Republican members of Congress and a prominent Christian legal group are joining the administration to fight the lawsuit. Congress established the day in 1952 and in 1988 set the first Thursday in May as the day for presidents to issue proclamations asking Americans to pray.
Okay, it’s a small thing, and we can … Read the rest
