Intercessory prayer doesn’t help and, if mentioned, may hinder.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Peer Review and ‘Media Science’ 
Apr 3rd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
How do we tell good science from bad? By looking at how it is published.… Read the rest
Ronald Aronson: the Left Needs More Socialism
Apr 3rd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The left is doomed without a vision, a sense of direction and an effective call to arms.… Read the rest
Letter from No Man’s Land
Apr 3rd, 2006 | By Niala MaharajThe ground on which a United Nations conference takes place is No Man’s Land, outside the legal jurisdiction of the surrounding country. Here, in a barren field on the outskirts of Tunis, it is No Man’s Land par excellence.
Buses shuttle laptops -and their requisite laps- from tightly guarded hotels to a gigantic, tightly-guarded, white plastic tent here. Tunisians aren’t allowed anywhere near either the hotels or the tent. In fact, they’ve been sent on holiday. All schools and government offices are shut. The gigolos that normally press their services on female visitors must take a break or face jail. The streets are empty of traffic.
Inside the tent, the laptops can put conference information on websites, so laptops across … Read the rest
Move over ID, here comes Bhartiya Creationism
Apr 3rd, 2006 | By Ravi RavishankarEven as the intelligent design controversy rages on, California recently
witnessed a concerted push by a coalition of three Hindutva (Hindu
supremacist) groups – Hindu Education Foundation, Vedic Foundation and
the Hindu American Foundation – to doctor sixth grade social science
textbooks. Their strong ideological and organizational links with the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in India makes them all the more
dangerous, for any success here would provide a much-needed fillip to
the RSS family of organizations in India [1]. Fortunately, interventions
by a group of Indologists led by Professor Michael Witzel and strong
mobilizations by the South Asian community resulted in a resounding
defeat for the Hindutva groups.
As repeatedly pointed out by groups at the forefront of the … Read the rest
Yardley Reviews a Memoir by John McGahern
Apr 2nd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘In that one life of the mind, the writer could live many lives and all of life.’… Read the rest
An Alumni Mag Profile Gone Horribly Wrong
Apr 2nd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Scott McLemee notes a confusion between sententious comments and profound thought.… Read the rest
Stephen Greenblatt on Marlowe
Apr 2nd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Is there any connection between his spying and his writing?… Read the rest
LRB Editor Defends Article
Apr 2nd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Some charge anti-Semitism, others call article a shoddy piece of pseudo-academia.… Read the rest
Professors Called Liars and Bigots
Apr 2nd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
LRB article on Israel lobby set off firestorm, drawing condemnation from left and right.… Read the rest
Fouad Ajami on Sen’s ‘Identity and Violence’
Apr 2nd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Almohads’ pitiless warriors put to the sword the fabled world of Andalusian tolerance.… Read the rest
Freedom or Unity
Apr 1st, 2006 8:49 pm | By Ophelia BensonSome more from The Ethics of Identity. Appiah cites on page 124 a term (via Kymlicka via Margalit and Raz) ‘decayed cultures’:
If what we have is a troubled period of cultural transition, though, it isn’t obvious that such conditions diminish our liberty or autonomy – our ability to choose among a wider range of options. Indeed, as John Tomasi suggests, a greater degree of personal autonomy may be afforded by a less rigid “choosing context,” where there are fewer constraints on what counts as an acceptable life plan than there would be in a more stable cultural community.
That’s pretty much what drives my interest in this whole subject, I think – the idea (and the possibility, the … Read the rest
Ian McEwan on The Selfish Gene as Literature
Apr 1st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
In which the pursuit of truth and the excitement of new ideas is conveyed in luminous prose.… Read the rest
Stangroom and Benson Admit to Being Liars
Apr 1st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
But urge others to tell the truth.… Read the rest
Jonathan Rauch on Why Polygyny is a Risky Idea
Apr 1st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘The social dynamics of zero-sum marriage are ugly.’… Read the rest
Danish Muslim Organizations Sue Editors
Apr 1st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Lawyer calls text and drawings ‘gratuitously defamatory and injurious’.… Read the rest
Catholic Bishop Questions Vatican Condom Ban
Apr 1st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Bishop notes papal teaching also includes the law: ‘You should not kill.’… Read the rest
Pakistan Considers Extraditing Blasphemers
Apr 1st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Oregon bloggers on the list because they published the Motoons.… Read the rest
Rigid Boxes
Apr 1st, 2006 2:56 am | By Ophelia BensonAs I mentioned, I’ve been reading a lot of good sense in Anthony Appiah’s book, and here’s some related good sense from Amartya Sen. The identity two-step.
… Read the restWhat we ought to take very seriously is the way Islamic identity, in this sort of depiction, is assumed to drown, if only implicitly, all other affiliations, priorities, and pursuits that a Muslim person may have. A person belongs to many different groups, of which a religious affiliation is only one…[T]o give an automatic priority to the Islamic identity of a Muslim person in order to understand his or her role in the civil society, or in the literary world, or in creative work in arts and science, can result in profound
Reza Moradi Update
Apr 1st, 2006 2:54 am | By Ophelia BensonMaryam has an update today.
Thanks to all those who have asked about Reza Moradi and how they can help. We are now in the process of finding a solicitor and organising a campaign in his defence. We’ll need loads of help then. If you want to know a little bit more about what happened, see the upcoming TV International English programme (broadcast Sunday) where I interview him and also show my speech at the March 25 demo for free expression. We’ll keep everyone posted on any new developments as soon as possible.
Here is a photo of two cops in conversation with Moradi. He looks exactly how I would feel and look in such a situation. One can … Read the rest
