‘Why should people allow a novelist to influence their political views?’… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Arundhati Roy Defends Views on Iraqi ‘Resistance’ 
Nov 10th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Several critics said Roy’s views on Iraq should have disqualified her.’… Read the rest
Kristallnacht March in Oslo Forbids ‘Jewish Symbols’
Nov 10th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Commemoration ended without a single representative from Norway’s Jews.… Read the rest
Calls For End to Violence at van Gogh Funeral
Nov 10th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Anger, hatred, sorrow, fear, remorse, all mix it up in aftermath of murder.… Read the rest
Court Rules Vlaams Blok Party is Racist
Nov 10th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Belgium’s highest court has ruled Flemish far-right Vlaams Blok is racist. … Read the rest
A Word from George Eliot
Nov 9th, 2004 9:34 pm | By Ophelia BensonA bit of old business I’ve been meaning to get to for several days. This question of religion and the focus of its public rhetoric and exhortation on a narrow view of sexual morality with a comparable neglect of social justice – of, if you prefer, poverty, oppression, exploitation, bad working conditions, injustice, and the like. One of our readers took issue with that view of the matter, and I thought I would offer one or two more places where I’d seen the idea discussed.
One is this piece by Ishtiaq Ahmed in the ‘Daily Times’ of Pakistan.
… Read the restThe Islamic position on life on earth was that Muslims should enjoy the good things of life within limits prescribed by Sharia…What
Does Affirmative Action Hurt Black Law Students?
Nov 9th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Study suggests some counter-productive effects; critics respond.… Read the rest
Elaine Showalter on Tom Wolfe’s New Novel
Nov 9th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Not a satiric view of the university but a leering exposé of undergraduate sexual behaviour.… Read the rest
Index on What?
Nov 9th, 2004 2:21 am | By Ophelia BensonThe comments by Juan Golblado on the ‘Paying Too Much Attention’ Comment have prompted me to hurry up and do what I’ve been meaning to do, which is to say a word or two about this bizarre article at Index on Censorship. It is, as Mr Golblado says, a striking case of the fox being invited into the henhouse. Unless of course the Index on Censorship is supposed to be an organization that sings the virtues of censorship, but I kind of thought it wasn’t supposed to be that kind of organization.
… Read the restVan Gogh’s juvenile shock-horror art finally led him to build an exploitative working relationship with Somalia-born Dutch MP Ayann Hirsi Ali, whose terrible personal experience of abuse
Panda’s Thumb on Georgia Case
Nov 8th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Debate over Cobb school district decision taken to courtroom.… Read the rest
Here We Go Again – Scopes Trial #7293
Nov 8th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Biology textbooks, Georgia, evolution, petition, only a theory, ID, law suit.… Read the rest
Why Is the EU Not Talking About van Gogh?
Nov 8th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Anything for a quiet life?… Read the rest
Dutch Muslim School Damaged in Explosion
Nov 8th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Latest attack against Muslim institutions since murder of Theo van Gogh.… Read the rest
The Nation Reviews Books on Islam
Nov 8th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
And has reservations about atheism.… Read the rest
Access Without Quotas for Universities
Nov 8th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The goal is equality of opportunity.… Read the rest
Leon de Winter on Theo van Gogh
Nov 8th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
In multicultural utopia, the Dutch believed radical Muslims and libertarians could co-exist peacefully.… Read the rest
Between God and Gibson: German Mystical and Romantic Sources of The Passion of the Christ
Nov 8th, 2004 | By Andrew Weeks“The Passion held the No. 1 position at the box office for three weeks, then dipped when Dawn of the Dead knocked it out of first position. Now in its seventh week, The Passion beat out last weekend’s No. 1 movie, [the] comic-book action-adventure Hellboy, which dropped 52 percent to $11.1 million . . ” Anne Thompson, New York Times, April 11, 2004.
The German Romantics revolted against the Enlightenment by inventing a poeticized Christianity in literature and art and by incarnating their reinvented religion in a spiritualized poetry, love, and nature. Since their spiritualization of art effected its transformations in an autonomous poetic realm, their political impact was slight. For the same reason, even the deeply … Read the rest
Patience and Absurdity: How to Deal with Intelligent Design Creationism
Nov 8th, 2004 | By Paul R. GrossPhysicists Matt Young and Taner Edis are the editors of a new volume whose contributors are working scholars in the sciences touched by the newest expression of “creation science”: Intelligent Design (ID) Theory. Why Intelligent Design Fails is a patient assessment of all the scientific claims made in connection with ID. The half dozen science-enabled spokesmen for ID are the indispensable core group of an international neo-creationist big tent. Goals of the American movement are sweeping: they begin with a highly visible, well-funded, nationwide effort to demean evolutionary science in American school (K-12) curricula. ID is offered as a better alternative. The hoped-for result is the addition of ID to, or even its substitution for, the teaching of evolution. Which … Read the rest
The Scales Fall From my Eyes
Nov 7th, 2004 3:50 pm | By Ophelia BensonOkay, I give in. I’ve had a conversion experience. I’ve recognized the error of my ways. All these people who have been telling me what a horrible elitist I am have worn me down. I’m convinced. It’s true, I am an elitist, and that makes me a terrible person, so I have to stop. Okay. I’ll stop. I’ll become a better person. I won’t like anything that is not extremely popular, and I won’t dislike anything that is extremely popular. (God, for instance.) I won’t do anything that lots of people don’t do, and I won’t refrain from doing anything that lots of people do. I’ll become as humble and modest and unassertive as the people who tell me what … Read the rest
Encouragement
Nov 7th, 2004 1:40 pm | By Ophelia BensonGo, Manchester City. Go, Paula Radcliffe.
Update. She went.… Read the rest
