The FO was in contact with Sudan’s government overnight and will repeat demands for her release. … Read the rest
All entries by this author
Sudanese Ambassador Called Back to Explain 
Nov 30th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Officials at the Foreign Office say the mood has changed as a result of the verdict. … Read the rest
Demo in Khartoum to Demand Tougher Sentence
Nov 30th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Some of the protesters chanted “No tolerance – execution” and “Kill her, kill her by firing squad”. … Read the rest
Tell them we’re overflowing with respect
Nov 29th, 2007 12:15 pm | By Ophelia BensonJoan Smith nails the problem.
… Read the restIn the past, Catholics and Protestants took turns to slaughter each other as Sunni and Shia are doing now, but Christianity has to a large extent been secularised…At the heart of this process is an alteration in the status of religious texts…The idea that a single book written centuries ago has unique authority – in effect, a veto over all other ideas – makes no sense in societies where intellectual curiosity is valued and encouraged. Yesterday Inayat Bunglawala, assistant general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, criticised the arrest of Ms Gibbons in Sudan and described it as a “quite horrible misunderstanding”. But during a public debate in London two weeks ago, he
Normblog on Human Dignity
Nov 29th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Degrade’ carries on its face that there is a standard in light of which some person is being reduced.… Read the rest
Indian Government Will Shelter Nasreen – If
Nov 29th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Expected that the guests will refrain from activities and expressions that may hurt the sentiments of our people.… Read the rest
Tom Clark on The Specter of Scientism
Nov 29th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Tikkun also worries about the supposed dangers of scientism and the need for a spiritual way of knowing.… Read the rest
Turkish Prosecutor Ponders The God Delusion
Nov 29th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Publisher could go on trial if the prosecutor concludes the book incites religious hatred and insults religious values.… Read the rest
‘What can’t be named Muhammad?’
Nov 29th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘What are the rules on using the name?’ Step one: wring hands. Step two: call the MCB.… Read the rest
Gillian Gibbons Taken to Court
Nov 29th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Miliband said he emphasised Britain’s respect of Islam.’ Grovel grovel.… Read the rest
Bunglawala Refused to Condemn Stoning
Nov 28th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It had happened during the lifetime of the Prophet, he said, ‘so you are asking me to condemn my Prophet.’… Read the rest
Fundamentalist Christianity in the US Military
Nov 28th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Many Dominionist soldiers want the US to invade Iran, thereby triggering the Rapture.… Read the rest
Who’s Afraid of ‘Soulless Scientism’?
Nov 28th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
We alone among the animals have the power to create a straw man and spend an entire evening knocking it down. … Read the rest
Jean Kazez on Ishiguro on Compliance
Nov 28th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Why do his clones comply? Why do the women of Saudi Arabia?… Read the rest
Gillian Gibbons Now Charged With Insulting Religion
Nov 28th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Teacher charged with insulting religion, inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs. … Read the rest
Dignitas
Nov 27th, 2007 3:22 pm | By Ophelia BensonOkay, you tell me – what does the phrase ‘human dignity’ mean? I don’t mean look it up, I can do that and that’s not what I’m asking anyway; I mean what does it mean as far as you know? What, if anything, does it suggest to you if you hear it or read it? A commenter pretended to find it scary as well as funny that potentilla and I both consider it meaningless, so I’m curious.
Why do I consider it meaningless? I suppose largely because it doesn’t seem to refer to anything real. What human dignity? I don’t consider humans to have much dignity. We’re too mortal, too fleshy, too fragile, too clumsy, too weak, too dim to … Read the rest
Scientific Method: Evidence, not Faith
Nov 27th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Paul Davies sets up a flimsy straw man and proceeds to flog it mercilessly. … Read the rest
The Teddy-bear: Readers’ Views
Nov 27th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The children themselves should be punished for having chosen the name of our great Prophet for a lowly bear. … Read the rest
Translating Stoppard in Moscow
Nov 27th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
19th-century liberal ideas can sound dangerously modern on the Moscow stage of today.… Read the rest
Teddy-bear Crime All a Misunderstanding
Nov 27th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
There was no apparent intention to offend Islamic sensibilities, Bunglawala said.… Read the rest
