He was convicted for writing five articles and giving two interviews.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Chinese Rights Activist Sentenced Last Week
Apr 12th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHu Jia campaigned for the environment, religious freedom and the rights of people with HIV and Aids. … Read the rest
Free at last, free at last
Apr 12th, 2008 11:26 am | By Ophelia BensonOh so that’s how you combat violence against women – by volunteering to wear a hijab.
The purpose of Scarves for Solidarity is to help save battered women while spreading awareness about Islam. The Muslim Student Association is working with sponsors who plan to donate $5 to Battered Women’s Shelter for every female who volunteers to wear a head-scarf/hijab on Monday, April 7th 2007.
That helps ‘save’ battered women because…because…because the hijab broadcasts the message that women need to be concealed. No. Because it conveys the message that women are a distraction to men and therefore have to be muffled from head to foot so that men can get on with their work. No. Because it shows that women are … Read the rest
Jesus and Mo Fall Out
Apr 11th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMo called Jesus’s conscience a bullshitter.… Read the rest
Stanley Fish on French Theory in America
Apr 11th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWhat was involved was less the rejection of the rationalist tradition than an interrogation of its key components.… Read the rest
Andrew Anthony Interviews Salman Rushdie
Apr 11th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThere is no getting away from the current relevance of subjects like foreignness, belonging and group loyalty.… Read the rest
Raymond Tallis on the Neuroscience Delusion
Apr 11th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAcademic literary critics now place the firing of neurons rather than signifiers at the heart of lit crit.… Read the rest
Breaking Open the Temple
Apr 10th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonFLDS lawyers said members were praying in front of the temple as officers dragged them out of the way.… Read the rest
Oh That Kind of Temple
Apr 10th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe kind that provides a bed where men rape underage girls.… Read the rest
What Kind of Extremism Does Blair Have in Mind?
Apr 10th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonCatholic church’s attitudes to gender equality makes development goals almost impossible. … Read the rest
Underage Girls in Texas Sect Forced Into Sex
Apr 10th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSeveral of the teenage girls have children. Many could not spell their last names or state their birth date.… Read the rest
Rabbi Flees to Canada, Israel Seeks Extradition
Apr 10th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHas been described as the ‘spiritual mentor’ of a group involved in the systematic abuse of children.… Read the rest
Religious reasons
Apr 10th, 2008 11:29 am | By Ophelia BensonThis is insane. That camp of horrors in Texas –
The sect’s lawyers had sought to limit a search but have agreed temple records can be scrutinised under supervision. A representative of the sect will be appointed to vet documents, computer files and family Bibles for records that should not be used as evidence for legal or religious reasons, the Associated Press reports.
A representative of this pack of male lunatics that imprisons women and children and forces them to act as baby-factories will be appointed to decide what documents and files should not be used as evidence for religious reasons? What ‘religious’ reasons? They have god’s signatures on them? They might include god’s password? ‘Religious’ reasons are the … Read the rest
In action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god
Apr 9th, 2008 5:58 pm | By Ophelia BensonWhy the human brain evolved. So that it could dream up pastimes like this:
… Read the restA radical rabbi once linked to a plot to fire a missile at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, is hiding in Canada, Israeli police said Monday, announcing that he is wanted for his alleged role in a series of ghastly abuses of his followers’ children…[H]e has been described as the “spiritual mentor” of a group involved in the systematic abuse of children, allegedly using his status as a rabbi to convince a mother of eight that her children’s shortcomings could be beaten and burned out of them…Two of the eight children, aged 4 and 5, were hospitalized in serious condition two weeks ago after Mr. Chen allegedly
On Samantha Power on Sergio Vieira de Mello
Apr 9th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMoving from one hellhole to another, he experienced the conflicting claims of power and morality.… Read the rest
Avishai Margalit on Sectarianism
Apr 9th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe idea of the sacred describes what is indivisible and hence not subject to compromise. … Read the rest
Persecution of Salah Choudhury for ‘Blasphemy’
Apr 9th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonJournalist faces sedition, treason and blasphemy charges for confronting jihad and religious hatred. … Read the rest
Blair Makes up for Lost Time on the God Front
Apr 9th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘He has converted to Roman Catholicism. This requires much thought and reflection.’ Hmm.… Read the rest
All label and no content
Apr 9th, 2008 11:44 am | By Ophelia BensonIssues of faith have clearly been consuming Mr Blair. Since leaving office, he has converted to Roman Catholicism. This requires much thought and reflection. After confessing serious sins, a convert must make the “Rite of Reception”, including saying that: “I believe and profess all that the Holy Catholic Church believes, teaches and proclaims to be revealed by God.”
And saying that requires thought and reflection? Wouldn’t you think it requires something more like the avoidance of thought, the abdication of thought? To say you believe all that the ‘Holy’ Catholic Church proclaims to be revealed by God is to say you believe something very all-encompassing, very broad, very dogmatic, and very evidence-free. What does that have … Read the rest