I went to a talk by Austin Dacey yesterday to the Secular Students’ Union at the University of Washington. He’s a philosopher, he has a new book out, The Secular Conscience, and he’s a United Nations representative for the Center for Inquiry. It seems quite a good thing that CFI should have a UN representative, especially now. I’m looking forward to reading The Secular Conscience. Austin mentioned during his talk how reliably predictable it was that new students would be moral relativists, and the secular students lived up to the advance billing: all their questions were about how to ground morality. After about the fifth or sixth such question Austin wondered why people expect the answers to such … Read the rest
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That which is special about religion
Apr 5th, 2008 12:38 pm | By Ophelia BensonWhat’s Blair talking about?
“For religion to be a force for good, it must be rescued not simply from extremism, faith as a means of exclusion; but also from irrelevance, an interesting part of our history but not of our future.” Too many people saw religious faith as stark dogmatism and empty ritual, he added. “Faith is reduced to a system of strange convictions and actions that, to some, can appear far removed from the necessities and anxieties of ordinary life,” Blair said. “It is this face that gives militant secularism an easy target.”
Militant secularism yourself. We’re not the ones who resort to violence when people don’t agree with us, so don’t be so free with your adjectives, not … Read the rest
Unprecedented April 1 Victory for Rationalism
Apr 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Catholic priests in Gateshead will be required to read out a disclaimer prior to Communion. … Read the rest
Steinbeck’s Reputation
Apr 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Required reading in US schools, ignored everywhere else.… Read the rest
Zadie Smith the Dream, Naipaul the Nightmare
Apr 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
For a successful immigrant writer to take the positions he did was seen as a special kind of treason.… Read the rest
Blair Says How Useful Religion Is
Apr 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Faith is reduced to a system of strange convictions.’ But without strange convictions, what is ‘faith’?… Read the rest
‘Abortion’ Search Term Blocked on Website
Apr 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Under Bush policy, USAID denies funding to NGOs that promote abortion. … Read the rest
Vatican Hoping to Build Church in Saudi
Apr 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Authorities cite a tradition of the Prophet M that only Islam can be practised in the Arabian Peninsula. … Read the rest
Part 2 of Rise of the Lifestyle Nutritionists
Apr 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Maybe later in the year there will be a series on big pharma. Tell the BBC yes please.… Read the rest
Austin Dacey Reviews Charles Taylor
Apr 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
There are plenty of naturalistic explanations for the transcendent urge. … Read the rest
Farish Noor on ‘Heftier Penalties’ in Malaysia
Apr 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Let the cameras of the international media film Malaysians being whipped by the morality police.… Read the rest
Khadim Hussain on the Tribal Areas [scroll down]
Apr 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Sharia Nizam-i-Adl Regulation 2008 would make the courts subservient to the clerics. … Read the rest
Sharia Noose Tightens in Malaysia
Apr 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Religious police patrol parks looking for couples holding hands and ensure Muslims observe Ramadan. … Read the rest
Saudi Cleric Says Two Writers Should be Killed
Apr 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The two questioned the view that adherents of other religions should be considered unbelievers. … Read the rest
Anglican Church in Wales: No Women Bishops
Apr 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘If women are good enough to be priests they are good enough to be bishops,’ says Giles Fraser.… Read the rest
Blair to Talk About His ‘Faith Foundation’
Apr 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Murphy-O’Connor adds that ‘the role of faith in our society cannot be ignored.’… Read the rest
Grayling on Murphy-O’Connor
Apr 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Judaeo-Christian’ ethics were taken over from Stoicism and Cicero.… Read the rest
‘Faith’ Schools Kick Up Fuss
Apr 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘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 Ophelia BensonThinking 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 Ophelia Benson
The University has a legitimate interest in evaluating the adequacy of high school courses to prepare students for study.… Read the rest