All entries by this author

‘Faith’ Schools Kick Up Fuss *

Apr 3rd, 2008 | Filed by

‘There is an anti-faith-schools agenda at the moment’ says head of Finchley Catholic High School.… Read the rest



Postcard from Kuala Lumpur

Apr 3rd, 2008 9:20 am | By

Thinking of moving to Malaysia?

Malaysia runs parallel sharia and civil legal systems, with sharia courts dealing only with Muslims and mainly in family disputes or in matters such as khalwat or apostasy. It employs religious police to ensure Muslim compliance with Koranic laws. They sometimes patrol parks looking for young unwed couples holding hands, raid nightclubs to catch Muslims drinking alcohol and ensure Muslims observe the fasting month of Ramadan.

Ah does it. But…how do the religious police know who is Muslim? When they go into a park to try to find some evil couples holding hands, how do they know which couples contain Muslims and which don’t? Does everybody in Malaysia wear a large sign or label … Read the rest



NCSE on California Creationism Case *

Apr 2nd, 2008 | Filed by

The University has a legitimate interest in evaluating the adequacy of high school courses to prepare students for study.… Read the rest



Summary Judgment in California Creationist Case *

Apr 2nd, 2008 | Filed by

Michael Behe scores an own goal.… Read the rest



No Evidence for Benefit of Drinking Lots of Water *

Apr 2nd, 2008 | Filed by

There are lots of claims, but they all seem to be made up. … Read the rest



Ali Eteraz on Difficulties With Sharia *

Apr 2nd, 2008 | Filed by

Sharia is not codified. It can be anything based on the whim of the arbitrator. For law to be law, it needs standardization.… Read the rest



Imam Calls Jews ‘Brothers of Apes and Pigs’ *

Apr 2nd, 2008 | Filed by

‘If you take a sample on Friday, you’re bound to hear incitement against the Jews in the imam’s sermon.’… Read the rest



Distorted Outlook on the Archbishop’s Speech

Apr 2nd, 2008 | By Allen Esterson

On 12 February 2008 the BBC World Service “Outlook”
news magazine programme devoted some fifteen minutes to a report on the reactions in Britain to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s speech the previous week in which he had advocated incorporating certain aspects of less contentious Sharia law (relating to civil matters such as marriage and divorce) into the British legal system. Notoriously, quite what he was advocating was by no means clear – Dr Rowan Williams himself later acknowledged elements of “unclarity” in his speech, and of “clumsily deployed” words.

Now there is no doubt that much of the response to the Archbishop’s speech was based on a knee-jerk reaction to the more unpleasant aspects of Sharia law advocated by extreme … Read the rest



HRW on the UN and Congo and Human Rights *

Apr 1st, 2008 | Filed by

HRC failed to renew the mandate of the special rapporteur for DR Congo despite mass rapes and killings.… Read the rest



Reporters Without Borders on UN HRC *

Apr 1st, 2008 | Filed by

‘The change to the mandate of the
special rapporteur on free expression is dramatic.’… Read the rest



Critics Say UN HRC Undermines Rights *

Apr 1st, 2008 | Filed by

International activist groups accused HRC of acting as a cover for states aiming to restrict free speech.… Read the rest



Parents Indicted in Faith-Healing Death *

Apr 1st, 2008 | Filed by

15-month-old died of bronchial pneumonia and blood infection; antibiotics would have saved her.… Read the rest



Saudi Woman Killed for Chatting on Facebook *

Apr 1st, 2008 | Filed by

She was beaten and shot dead by her father.… Read the rest



Leave Allah out

Apr 1st, 2008 11:20 am | By

I re-read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this morning, to confirm that it’s as secular as I remembered. It is. This is crucial.

If you look at the preamble of the UDHR, you will see that there is no mention of any religion. All religions and cultures are assumed to be equal…But in the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (hereafter called the Cairo Declaration), we can detect a completely different tone. Right from the first paragraph of the preamble, the Cairo Declaration confidently asserts the superiority of Islam by referring to the Islamic Ummah as the “best nation”…This is no implication, unlike in the UDHR, that all cultures and religions are equal. Indeed the rest of

Read the rest


The Cairo Declaration again

Apr 1st, 2008 9:00 am | By

Let’s take another, closer look at the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, focusing on certain aspects of it. This is not a selective excerpt, this is one that pulls out certain words and ideas, so it’s not fair in the sense of quoting a fair sample in context. Be sure to look at the Declaration itself – there is plenty of sensible stuff in it. But it’s startling and interesting what a large amount of non-sensible stuff there is in it – what a lot of Allah there is and what an enormous amount of Shari’ah there is.

Keenly aware of the place of mankind in Islam as vicegerent of Allah…Recognizing the importance of issuing a Document

Read the rest


Because your opponents may become violent

Mar 31st, 2008 12:01 pm | By

This is immensely depressing.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression will now be required to report on the “abuse” of this most cherished freedom by anyone who, for example, dares speak out against Sharia laws that require women to be stoned to death for adultery or young men to be hanged for being gay, or against the marriage of girls as young as nine, as in Iran.

Good, isn’t it? The Rapporteur was supposed to report on violations of freedom of expression, now she will be required to report on the use of it.

There can no longer be any pretence that the Human Rights Council can defend human rights. The moral leadership of the UN system has

Read the rest


NSS on the End of Human Rights *

Mar 31st, 2008 | Filed by

HRC was supposed to be a Council whose members genuinely supported the principles of the UDHR.… Read the rest



Carlin Romano Reviews Susan Jacoby *

Mar 31st, 2008 | Filed by

The Age of American Unreason feeds the notion of American anti-intellectualism as a no-brainer truth.… Read the rest



Aaronovitch Patiently Repeats the Question *

Mar 31st, 2008 | Filed by

Bishop of Durham refused to answer, so what else can he do?… Read the rest



IHEU on the Death of Human Rights *

Mar 31st, 2008 | Filed by

There can no longer be any pretence that the Human Rights Council can defend human rights.… Read the rest