‘The practice of compassion is central to every one of the major world religions – but sometimes you would never know it.’… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Paul Krugman: Depression Economics Returns
Nov 15th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe rules of economic policy no longer apply: virtue becomes vice, caution is risky and prudence is folly.… Read the rest
Matthias Rath and Alternative Health Eurosceptics
Nov 15th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe alternative health sector is lobbying the EU parliament against legislative regulation of their products. … Read the rest
Bad Science: ‘I Married a Horse’
Nov 15th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSurely the magazine had a responsibility to verify medical information before publishing such claims?… Read the rest
Any freedom from religion on offer?
Nov 14th, 2008 5:30 pm | By Ophelia BensonSo the whole UN really is infected with this ‘defamation of religion should be banned’ virus.
United Nations General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann said on Tuesday that the world body should ban defamation of all religions and disagreed that such a move would impinge upon freedom of speech. “Yes, I believe that defamation of religion should be banned,” he said in response to a question at a press conference to highlight the interfaith conference at the UN headquarters. No one should try to defame Islam or any other religion, he said, adding: “We should respect all religions.”
Well now how would you go about banning ‘defamation’ of religion without impinging on freedom of speech? How would anyone? You … Read the rest
Bush Says Freedom is God’s Gift
Nov 14th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonDefends ‘religious dissidents and believers’; no mention of atheists.… Read the rest
Wishful Thinking
Nov 14th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSaudi King is ‘articulating the central Muslim value of religious pluralism.’ The wot?… Read the rest
UN: ‘Defamation of Religion’ Should be Banned
Nov 14th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘Yes, I believe that defamation of religion should be banned,’ official said in reply to question.… Read the rest
‘Christian Voice’ Gets Book Launch Canceled
Nov 14th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPatrick Jones said he had not singled out Christianity in his poems, but was questioning beliefs in society.… Read the rest
Support Political Prisoners in Burundi
Nov 14th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSeveral opposition leaders have been arrested including Jean Claude Kavumbagu and Alexis Sinduhije.… Read the rest
Two blogs
Nov 13th, 2008 6:00 pm | By Ophelia BensonAs you may have seen, Edmund Standing has started a blog, amusingly called ‘I kid you not’ as a compliment to Sarah Palin. Okay not a compliment exactly. Palin has been saying things again, as Edmund notes.
… Read the restThen there’s the whole down to earth ‘mom next door’ persona. Palin, it should be remembered, proudly announced herself to the Republican National Convention as ‘just your average hockey mom’…So, we have a woman who calls herself ‘average’, thinks some ‘God’ or other gives her career guidance, is completely ignorant of evolutionary biology and the history of the world, and conducts political interviews while cooking moose for her ‘guy’…And this woman wants to become President of the most powerful nation on
Burundi Opposition Leader Charged
Nov 13th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe news has sparked anguish at Harvard, where specialists on journalism and human rights have followed Sinduhije’s career.… Read the rest
Burundi: Journalist Jailed for ‘Insulting the President’
Nov 13th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonRichard Wilson on why some thought Nkurunziza was not too bad. Wishful thinking, yes, but more.… Read the rest
Catholic Bishops Warn of Abortion Fight
Nov 13th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBishop Jaime Soto fumed, ‘There really is plenty of choice for women in this culture.’… Read the rest
Thailand: Prison for Lèse Majesté
Nov 13th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonArmy warns it will not tolerate anything that could be interpreted as criticism of the royal family.… Read the rest
Acid Attack on Afghan Schoolgirls
Nov 13th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAttackers have sprayed acid in the faces of at least 15 girls near a school in Kandahar.… Read the rest
Human Solidarity in a World Without God
Nov 13th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHuman solidarity is in fact a rational response to the ‘human condition,’ as Schopenhauer saw.… Read the rest
The Dogma of Halal and Haram
Nov 13th, 2008 | By Jahanshah RashidianIf you walk at random in any Muslim district in Europe, you will certainly find somewhere an Islamic butcher with the word ”halal” written on its shop-window. For meat products, the word “halal” is a badge of Islamic quality.
Muslims believe that since blood is not ritually a pure substance, slaughter is necessary to inhibit the thorough draining of all of the animal’s blood. Furthermore, the verse” Bismillah al Rahman Al Rahim”, in the name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful, is necessary to render the meat halal or lawful to eat.
The word halal refers, here, to meat killed and prepared in line with Islamic dietary laws. Jewish and Islamic religions demand that slaughter be carried out with a … Read the rest
Religious obligation
Nov 12th, 2008 4:18 pm | By Ophelia BensonThis is a familiar subject, but you know how it is – there’s always more to say.
About what? About religious law, religious obligation, religious duty, religious requirements, religious teachings, religious commandments.
… Read the restMotl Brody of Brooklyn was pronounced dead this week after a half-year fight against a brain tumor, and doctors at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington say the seventh-grader’s brain has ceased functioning entirely. But for the past few days, a machine has continued to inflate and deflate his lungs. As of late Friday afternoon, his heart was still beating with the help of a cocktail of intravenous drugs and adrenaline. That heartbeat has prompted Motl’s parents, who are Orthodox Jews, to refuse the hospital’s request to
Haredi Parents Demand Heart Machine for Corpse
Nov 12th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThey haven’t been to the hospital since July, but say ‘religious law’ decides when death occurs.… Read the rest