The incident in Balochistan, where 5 women were reportedly buried alive, has finally created a national furore.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Despair Over ‘Honour’ Killings in Pakistan
Sep 7th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Girl forced into marriage with 45-year-old man at age 9 killed by her parents when she sought annulment.… Read the rest
A duty to promote ‘community cohesion’
Sep 6th, 2008 5:51 pm | By Ophelia BensonPolly Toynbee is not a fan of ‘faith’ schools.
Years of Labour handwringing over community cohesion hardly squares with dividing children by religion. Ask why and here’s the doublethink answer: religious academies now have a “duty to promote community cohesion”.
Is that what the faith school cheering section says? So…they just don’t have a clue? No idea that religion does promote ‘community cohesion’ but at the price of promoting ‘community hostility’ at the same time? They haven’t read the report on Saudi textbooks perhaps – the one that teaches children that ‘A Muslim is forbidden to love and aid the unbelieving enemies of God…They are the people of the Sabbath, whose young people God turned into apes, and whose … Read the rest
Polly Toynbee on ‘Faith’ Schools
Sep 6th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Years of Labour handwringing over cohesion hardly squares with dividing children by religion.… Read the rest
Sue Blackmore on Opening Minds
Sep 6th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
If someone really understands how natural selection works, all previous ideas are thrown up in the air.
The key is not evidence but understanding. … Read the rest
Evolutionists Flock To Darwin-Shaped Wall Stain
Sep 6th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Pilgrims from as far away as Berkeley’s paleoanthropology department have flocked to the site.… Read the rest
What is right is contested
Sep 5th, 2008 6:06 pm | By Ophelia BensonAh, Norm took issue with Julian’s piece too.
… Read the restBy his choice of example Julian makes life too easy for himself. Mockery of the weak is an egregious practice of course. But what if someone makes a criticism of Islam – or any religion – in perfectly measured terms and some take offence, perceiving this criticism as mockery? What if the satirical treatment of a sacred figure in a work of fiction arouses anger, pleas for censorship, death threats? What if it is disputed between different parties whether certain images or statements are offensive or not? In such cases, the right to say what you think – within the usual limits concerning incitement to violence and defamation – trumps
Duck on the Menu
Sep 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Julian Baggini’s new book, expanding ‘Bad Moves’ column, is now published.… Read the rest
Ben’s Placebo Programme on Radio 4
Sep 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Studies suggest that the placebo effect can have a significant impact on the course of a wide range of illnesses.… Read the rest
More From Ben’s Book: Medicalisation of Life
Sep 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Alt therapists, media, big pharma all sell us bio-medical explanations for problems that are social or personal.… Read the rest
From Ben Goldacre’s New Book
Sep 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Journalists and editors have finally demonstrated that they can pose a serious risk to public health.… Read the rest
AC Grayling Deals With Steve Fuller
Sep 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Fuller seems to forget Popper’s killer point, namely, a theory that explains everything explains nothing.… Read the rest
Think twice before mocking
Sep 4th, 2008 6:03 pm | By Ophelia BensonI don’t entirely agree with Julian here. (Maybe all the commenters have said what I’m going to say; I don’t read comments at Comment is Free any more and haven’t read these. If they’ve already said this just go watch Sarah Palin re-runs or something.)
The piece is about religion and mockery and free speech and the predictability of what people say about them.
… Read the restBut isn’t mockery good, and any belief system incapable of putting up with it deficient in some way? That’s true, but you can’t just ignore the background against which lampooning takes place. Christians, for example, are not oppressed, despite what some wannabe martyrs would have us believe. British Muslims, in contrast, are a somewhat beleaguered
Joke Obscenity Filters
Sep 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Assassination’ becomes ‘buttbuttination,’ ‘passenger’ is ‘pbuttenger,’ and ‘passerby’ is ‘pbutterby.’… Read the rest
Our Brains Do Not Intuitively Grasp Probabilities
Sep 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Thanks to confirmation bias, we remember the coincidences and forget the vast sea of meaningless data.… Read the rest
Racism and Sexism or Neoliberalism?
Sep 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It is exploitation, not discrimination, that is the primary producer of inequality today. … Read the rest
Carlin Romano on Bernard-Henri Lévy
Sep 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It’s that openness to being shaken in his beliefs that makes Lévy more appealing than many of his detractors.… Read the rest
Anti-Wahhabist Journalist Killed in Dagestan
Sep 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Alishayev was an editor at an Islamic tv station who made a documentary countering Wahhabism.… Read the rest
Julian Baggini on Free Speech and Mockery
Sep 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
While comedy speaking truth to power is funny, the powerful laughing at the weak is not.… Read the rest
They’re getting closer
Sep 3rd, 2008 7:29 pm | By Ophelia BensonSpare a thought for the unfortunate people of Yemen. They’re getting their very own Saudi-style virtue squad, which they didn’t even ask for and don’t actually very much want.
For many Yemenis, and for women in particular, this was another alarming sign of the growth of Salafi extremism — an unwelcome import from neighbouring Saudi Arabia where the “mutaween” religious police are part of the scenery. “These people scare the hell out of me,” complained Nadia al-Sakkaf, the editor of the Yemen Times.
Yeah they’d scare me too if they turned up where I live.
… Read the restThe first signs appeared a few months ago in the Red Sea port of Hodeida, where young men and women began to be accosted