All entries by this author

PZ on Teaching Evolution Carefully *

Aug 26th, 2008 | Filed by

Always strain to allow students to accommodate science to their personal superstitions.… Read the rest



How to Teach Evolution to Evangelicals *

Aug 26th, 2008 | Filed by

Carefully.… Read the rest



The Ecstasy of Communication *

Aug 26th, 2008 | Filed by

It is possible to minimize this distracted state…by Googling ‘how to develop iron self-discipline.’… Read the rest



India: Mob Torches Orphanage, Killing Woman *

Aug 26th, 2008 | Filed by

The mob torched the orphanage in rising religious violence sparked by the killing of a Hindu leader.… Read the rest



Voices of Disbelief *

Aug 26th, 2008 | Filed by

Russell Blackford says it will be a strong book.… Read the rest



Listen, she kept pestering us about her son

Aug 25th, 2008 12:29 pm | By

Life is exciting in Afghanistan, too.

The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, has pardoned three men who had been found guilty of gang raping a woman in the northern province of Samangan. The woman, Sara, and her family found out about the pardon only when they saw the rapists back in their village.

What a surprise that must have been.

“It was evening, around the time for the last prayer, when armed men came and took my son, Islamuddin, by force. I have eye-witness statements from nine people that he was there. From that night until now, my son has never been seen.” Dilawar said his wife publicly harangued the commander twice about their missing son. After the second time,

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Feeling peevish

Aug 25th, 2008 12:17 pm | By

In Balochistan, Pakistan, three teenage schoolgirls planned ‘to marry men of their own choice through a civil court by defying the centuries-old tribal traditions.’

When the fuming elders of Umrani tribe came to know about the intentions of these girls to appear before a local court, they picked them up from their homes along with two of their elderly women relatives. The crying girls were pushed into official cars and driven to a deserted area. There they were pushed out of the cars, made to stand in a queue and volleys of shots fired at them. As the bleeding girls fell on the sand, the tribesmen dragged them into a nearby ditch and levelled it with earth and stones before

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Karzai Pardons Men Convicted of Gang Rape *

Aug 25th, 2008 | Filed by

Armed men took Islamuddin; his mother confronted them; they raped her and cut her with bayonet.… Read the rest



The Costs of Marital Rape in Southern Africa *

Aug 25th, 2008 | Filed by

Victims of domestic violence, including marital rape, are at increased risk of HIV infection.… Read the rest



Saudi Girl, 8, Seeks Divorce From Man, 58 *

Aug 25th, 2008 | Filed by

Fathers sell daughters for lotsa money.… Read the rest



Catholic Primate of All Ireland Frets About EU *

Aug 25th, 2008 | Filed by

It’s too secular; there’s a loss of Christian values; there’s unease in the hearts of Christians.… Read the rest



Susan Neiman on Idealism and Mockery *

Aug 25th, 2008 | Filed by

Obama’s speech gave Europeans a chance to hear the difference between optimism and idealism. … Read the rest



Jerusalem: Woman Beaten for Being Divorced *

Aug 24th, 2008 | Filed by

Woman was beaten and threatened with death by members of the ‘modesty squad.’… Read the rest



Iran: 2000 Demonstrate Against ‘Honour’ Killings *

Aug 24th, 2008 | Filed by

In Kani Dinar a man stabbed his daughter to death for seeking a divorce. She was forced into marriage at 14.… Read the rest



The Life of Prostitution in Kano, Nigeria *

Aug 24th, 2008 | Filed by

A girl can be married at 12 and divorced at 18, with children to support. The way you change a car is the way you change a wife in Kano.… Read the rest



Pakistan: 5 Women Murdered by Burial Alive *

Aug 24th, 2008 | Filed by

3 girls planned to marry men of their choice; they and a mother and an aunt all killed.… Read the rest



Nigerian Man Told to Divorce 76 of 80 Wives *

Aug 24th, 2008 | Filed by

Told to take only four wives ‘from the herd’ or remain condemned to death according to Sharia.… Read the rest



The MCB and the Muslim Marriage Contract

Aug 24th, 2008 | By Allen Esterson

On 21st August 2008 Reefat Drabu of the Muslim Council of Britain posted an article on the Guardian’s Comment is Free website in which she defended the decision of the MCB to withdraw support from the proposed
Muslim Marriage Contract as follows:

The marriage contract produced by the Muslim Institute is simply one interpretation of shariah. It is not the shariah that needs to be re-invented, but a change in behaviour among some sections of our diverse Muslim communities. This is an onerous task that cannot be achieved through blustering demands and emphatic slogans that will only resonate in the salons of Islington and Notting Hill…

MCB represents and serves diverse Muslim communities…The MCB is a broad-based inclusive organisation of

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Personal and religious views

Aug 23rd, 2008 4:53 pm | By

No that’s not right.

The ACLU sued in January, and Smoak ruled this summer that Davis violated Heather Gillman’s rights. “I emphasize that Davis’s personal and religious views about homosexuality are not issues in this case. Indeed, Davis’s opinions and views are consistent with the beliefs of many in Holmes County, in Florida, and in the country,” Smoak wrote in an opinion released last month. “Where Davis went wrong was when he endeavoured to silence the opinions of his dissenters.”

But that doesn’t work. Davis’s personal and religious views about homosexuality are issues in this case. They’re an issue because they’re not sufficiently convincing or justified or universal or defensible to justify his actions. If they had been, they … Read the rest



Florida School District Sued Over ‘Witch Hunt’ *

Aug 23rd, 2008 | Filed by

Federal judge reprimands school principal for targeting gays; locals consider principal a hero.… Read the rest