‘At times, his impatience with the smug denial of the self-righteous gets the better of him.’… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Mark Vernon on Philosophy Going Public
May 14th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
High-profile academics working in analytic philosophy want their discipline to become engaged again. … Read the rest
Anthony Gottlieb on Atheists With Attitude
May 14th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Interpreting the nature and prevalence of religious opinions is tricky, particularly if you depend on polls.… Read the rest
Oh who cares about TB, big deal
May 13th, 2007 3:33 pm | By Ophelia BensonJoan Smith considers the Shambo question.
… Read the restThe temple has been served with a notice insisting that he be put down, prompting outrage among representatives of the country’s Hindus, who consider cattle sacred and claim that slaughtering the infected animal would be an affront to their religion. “It strikes at the very core of our beliefs,” said Ramesh Kallidai, the secretary general of the Hindu Forum of Britain…[I]n 1935, when a voluntary testing scheme was introduced for cattle, 50,000 new cases of human TB were recorded annually in this country and 2,500 people died from a form of the disease passed on through cow’s milk. That’s why testing was made compulsory in 1950, along with a raft of other measures
Created partition and called it peace
May 13th, 2007 3:21 pm | By Ophelia BensonNick Cohen takes a critical look at sectarianism.
… Read the restThe old sectarian leaders [Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley] looked like a pair of exhausted warlords, who, after 30 years of a pointless conflict, were content to settle for a division of the spoils. There was no hint of a common political culture, no shared understanding of the principles of secular democracy, just a truce between bosses in which each left the other free to run his fiefdom and the quangos and ministries which went with it. A bus ride through Belfast should convince doubters that the Good Friday Agreement created partition and called it peace. The walls that went up to separate Catholics from Protestants in the Seventies have not
Jonathan Derbyshire Reviews Marc Hauser
May 13th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Hauser argues that there are deep moral ‘intuitions’ that underlie cultural variations in norms.… Read the rest
S Asia Media Watchdog Seeks Explanation
May 13th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
South Asia Media Commission has condemned the harassment of Tasneem Khalil.… Read the rest
Joan Smith on Shambo
May 13th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Are sacred beliefs worth allowing TB to spread?… Read the rest
They Created Partition and Called it Peace
May 13th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
No shared understanding of the principles of secular democracy, just a truce between bosses.… Read the rest
The Flawed Scholarship of Alister McGrath
May 13th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Inaccurate quotation after inaccurate quotation.… Read the rest
Scientology Fights Off BBC Investigation
May 13th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Reporter has been shouted at, spied on, denounced as a ‘bigot’ by star Scientologists.… Read the rest
Closely watched by the outside world
May 13th, 2007 11:51 am | By Ophelia BensonGood.
… Read the restThe South Asia Media Commission has condemned the harassment of Tasneem Khalil, an investigative journalist in Bangladesh, and sought an explanation and apology from the authorities…The four men took Khalil, 26, to the Sangsad Bhavan army camp, outside the parliament building in Dhaka. He was released on Friday night after more than a daylong grilling…“We are very much worried about Tasneem Khalil’s safety. He is being harassed too often,” N Ram, the chairman, and Najam Sethi, the secretary general of the commission, said in a statement welcoming Khalil’s release. “The Bangladeshi military should desist from such arbitrary actions which are being closely watched by the outside world,” they said in the statement issued by SAMC coordinator Husain Naqi.
How does she know?
May 12th, 2007 4:20 pm | By Ophelia BensonI saw a few minutes of a Bill Moyers tv thing last night that included some chat with a fresh-faced young person who had just graduated from something called (unpleasantly) ‘Regent University’ – it’s apparently run by Pat Robertson, and includes John Ashcroft on its faculty. The fresh-faced young person told the camera that she believes in Absolute Truth. ‘Not grey, not relative, Absolute Truth, which is God’s truth.’
Nothing surprising there, of course, but all the same I wondered (as I often do) how she knows. How does she know? How does she know what God’s truth is?
She doesn’t, of course, but that’s what’s interesting, because she thinks she does. Why does she think that?
Largely or entirely … Read the rest
Munira Mirza on the Need for Universalism
May 12th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The struggle for equality, so difficult to win, gave way to an emphasis on cultural difference and identity.… Read the rest
Joan Bakewell on the Need for Secularism
May 12th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
We live in times when religions are keen to enforce the control they once took for granted.… Read the rest
Family Values Rally in Rome
May 12th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Vatican under Benedict has been conducting a fierce campaign to protect traditional families. … Read the rest
Islamic Center of Johnstown Demotes Imam
May 12th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Said a sentence of death would be warranted for Hirsi Ali; board and members repudiate that view.… Read the rest
Nigerian ‘Sharia Police’ Trash Four Theaters
May 12th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘The way they have been spoiling and polluting our culture and religion is no longer acceptable.’… Read the rest
AP Reports Tasneem Khalil’s Release
May 12th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Detention sparked off widespread concerns among international media and human rights watchdogs. … Read the rest
What matters, and why?
May 12th, 2007 10:44 am | By Ophelia BensonLet’s do a thought experiment. Suppose a 24 hour period during which every heterosexual copulation on the planet resulted in conception and then, 48 hours later, spontaneous abortion. Would that be a tragedy?
Then suppose a 24 hour period during which every infant born between 48 and 72 hours earlier, died. Would that be a tragedy?
It seems to me that people who think an embryo is just as important as a neonate would answer yes to the first. But what I wonder is, why? Why would that be a tragedy? More particularly, to whom would it be a tragedy? Can something be a tragedy to no one and still be a tragedy?
The problem is that no one would … Read the rest