Issue is complicated by the fact that the murders are associated mainly with the Kurdish minority.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
On the Right to Give Offence 
Oct 24th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Believers in absolute truth revealed by God are unlikely to allow pestiferous notions of freedom of speech.… Read the rest
Jesus and Mo Have a Guest
Oct 24th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
He made it at last.… Read the rest
In a Sea of Uncertainty, We Grab at Anchors
Oct 24th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Like other subtle biases, anchors influence people at an unconscious level.… Read the rest
Hitchens on Tony Judt’s Persecution Complex
Oct 24th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
We have a right to express an opinion, but not at a meeting of a private group that disagrees.… Read the rest
Mark Lilla and Richard Sennett Open Letter
Oct 24th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
To the Anti-Defamation League, on the cancellation of a talk by Tony Judt at Polish consulate.… Read the rest
Not rocket science, nor brain surgery
Oct 23rd, 2006 10:57 pm | By Ophelia BensonAn interesting (at least in places) discussion at Pharyngula of Eagleton on Dawkins. One of the interesting bits is the one where Andrew Brown drops by to comment. He notes that he reviewed The God Delusion for Prospect with a follow-up at Comment is Free (I put both in News here, and I think commented on one or both; they’re not new). He draws a rather irrelevant analogy.
… Read the restThe shortest form of all these objections is this analogy: Suppose that I, knowing nothing about economics, write a book saying that the world would be better off without money: that money has led people to terrible crimes, and may even be thre root of all evil — “and besides, when
Science Rallies to Save Tripoli Six
Oct 23rd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Time not only to save the six, but also to defend a common vision of science and law in establishing the truth.… Read the rest
Omer Ismail on Darfur
Oct 23rd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Sudanese government denies its role in the genocide, restricting reporters in order to hide the truth. … Read the rest
Columbia Teachers College and ‘Loyalty Oaths’
Oct 23rd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Does stated ‘respect for diversity and commitment to social justice’ amount to an ideological loyalty oath?… Read the rest
Bérubé’s ‘What’s Liberal’ Reviewed
Oct 23rd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘An unrepentant liberal, fond of postmodern culture, but not of Noam Chomsky or Michael Moore.’… Read the rest
Pope Warns Scientists Against Doing an Icarus
Oct 23rd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
By doing research that the Vatican disapproves of. Don’t touch that apple.… Read the rest
Free Speech at Columbia
Oct 23rd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
In the last month Columbia has been embroiled in four separate free-speech controversies.… Read the rest
Deborah Solomon Interviews Harry Frankfurt
Oct 23rd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘People in this country are starved for the truth.’… Read the rest
Sam Harris on Bad Reasons to be Good
Oct 23rd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The link between religion and morality in our public life is almost never questioned.… Read the rest
Might Secularism be a Good Idea?
Oct 23rd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Is it time for Britain, as a state, to turn secular? … Read the rest
Shazia Mirza Off to India to Joke About Veils
Oct 23rd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The British Council is sending her for bridge-building purposes.… Read the rest
Trevor Phillips: Veil Debate Could Start Riots
Oct 23rd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘This is not what anyone intended and it is the last thing Britain needs.’… Read the rest
Anti-gay Catholic Group Harassing a Priest
Oct 23rd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Catholic Truth, a right-wing newsletter, trying to out an Edinburgh priest.… Read the rest
Looney American Foundation threatens to sue the Nobel Committee
Oct 23rd, 2006 | By Ra RavishankarBackground Information: Since last September, Hindutva (Hindu
supremacist) groups have attempted in vain to doctor sixth grade
social science textbooks in California [1]. With the solid backing of
their Indian allies, and aided by a battery of expensive lawyers and
the PR firm Ruder Finn, these groups sought to elide discussion of
caste and sex-based discrimination (in India) in the textbooks [2].
Their efforts were first opposed by a European-American scholar (Michael Witzel,
Professor of Sanskrit at Harvard University), and the California State
Board of Education is predominantly European-American, so the Hindutva groups and
their supporters cynically assumed the mantle of an aggrieved minority
[3]. What follows is an (as yet) imaginary account of the developments
following the announcement of … Read the rest
