Posts Tagged ‘ LSE ’

“We would not condone that at all”

Dec 16th, 2013 11:02 am | By

The LSE Student Union Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society is not impressed by the way the SU has reacted to the gender segregation controversy. It explains on the SU website.

We are disappointed by the LSESU General Secretary Jay Stoll’s statement that the threat of forced gender segregation is “practically non-existent” (despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary) and his accusation that anti-segregation campaigners are ‘Islamophobic’. We also have good reason to distrust LSESU Community and Welfare Officer Anneessa Mahmood’s defence that only “voluntarily segregated” meetings are taking place on the LSE campus, and that there have been “no meetings at LSE where segregation has been enforced upon people“, even if she states that “as an organisation

… Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

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Designs by a wonderfully acid British cartoonist

Nov 24th, 2013 10:25 am | By

Nick Cohen has a piece in the Observer on censorship at UK universities. He starts, as he should, with Chris and Abhishek.

On the morning of 3 October, Chris Moos and Abhishek Phadnis put on joke T-shirts, of the kind students wear the world over, and went to man the Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society stall at the London School of Economics freshers’ fair. The bullying the university authorities visited upon them for the next 36 hours should provoke the most important free speech court case to hit British universities in years. It certainly deserves to.

Damn right.

Both the left and the right complain about censorship, both engage in it, Nick points out.

The Moos and Phadnis case

… Read the rest

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Tragic failure of education

Feb 3rd, 2012 10:34 am | By

Via the LSESU ASH Facebook page and later via Alex Gabriel, a poster advertising an event put on by the LSE Socialist Worker Student Society. It reads:

Religious discrimination is irrefutably on the rise at LSE. Both the Atheist Society’s efforts to publish inflammatory “satirical” cartoons in a deliberate attempt to offend Muslims, and the ‘Nazi themed’ drinking games serve to highlight a festering undercurrent of racism.

What does really lie behind the claim that religious communities cannot be the target of racists?

Is atheism the road to social progress?

Why do Marxists defend religion?

That’s illiterate. “Religious discrimination” is somehow related to Nazism, and then it turns out to be a matter of racism, but then whoops it’s … Read the rest

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“Open to all” does not mean “pleasing to all”

Feb 3rd, 2012 9:33 am | By

The LSESU Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society issued a statement yesterday.

It starts with thanks for support from various groups (including One Law for All) and a chronology of the exciting events of the last couple of weeks, the first being an invitation from the SU to come in for a chat.

Friday 20th

In the meeting, the LSESU advanced that we were not providing a safe space for Muslim students to interact, as the pictures on our Facebook page were offending Muslims.

But again – why is an Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society expected to provide a safe space for Muslim students to interact? Why is that an issue? Are all student societies expected to provide a safe … Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

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Oh no you don’t

Jan 26th, 2012 8:25 am | By

The LSE Atheists, Secularists and Humanists Facebook page has a new logo.

There’s more, but I’m not sure they want me quoting them; I’ve asked and I’m waiting to hear back. The logo however is publicly visible.… Read the rest

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A protection racket

Jan 25th, 2012 11:21 am | By

The LSE student paper reports on the cartoons and free speech and “Islamophobia” and shut-uppery affair. It has details.

On 20th January, members of ASH Society met with Stanley Ellerby-English, Students’ Union Activities and Development Officer, who explained “the situation, the complaints that had been made and how the action of posting these cartoons was in breach of the Students’ Union policy on inclusion and the society’s constitution.” The society agreed to certain outcomes, though these have not been disclosed yet; however, the Students’ Union will “now be telling the society that they cannot continue these actions under the brand of the SU.”

Chriss Moos, President of the LSE’s Students’ Union ASH Society, responded to the formal complaints that

… Read the rest

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One stop shopping

Jan 25th, 2012 10:09 am | By

I’ve done a lot of posts about all this shut-uppery at UCL and Queen Mary U and LSE. I thought it might be useful to collect them all in one place.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/when-certain-muslims-voiced-their-offense/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/jesus-and-mo-and-the-barmaid-resolve-to-say-nothing-offensive/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/remove-that-offensive-image-at-once-please/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/never-anything-more-than-an-informal-request/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/developments/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/they-will-take-more-consideration/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/1-shut-up-2-shut-up-3-shut-up/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/if-i-hear-that-anything-is-said-against-the-holy-prophet-muhammad/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/just-a-kind-request/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/behold-theocracy-in-action/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/jesus-and-mo-promote-peace-tolerance-and-respect/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/who-gave-these-kuffar-the-right-to-speak/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/history-has-told-us-that-these-things-cause-offence/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/london-11-february-2012-defend-free-expression/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/more-from-the-goombahs/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/are-you-now-or-have-you-ever-been-an-islamophobe/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/no-longer-a-safe-space/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/too-much-conflation-of-being-offended-and-being-intimidated/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/it-has-come-to-our-attention-that-you-are-wicked/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/emergency-everybody-to-get-from-street/… Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

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Emergency! Everybody to get from street

Jan 24th, 2012 5:08 pm | By

Great news! The LSE Students’ Union has another statement out. It’s another pip. It’s about an urgent EGM on Thursday – which I take to be an Emergency General Meeting (but perhaps it’s Electric, or Elegant, or Educational, or Elevated*). Emergency, emergency! Why I bet we can guess what that is…

In light of recent events there will be two anti-discrimination motions being discussed and debated at an EGM this week, these are: No to racism – no to Islamophobia! and Stop Anti-Semitism Now.

Guessed right.

Stop racism no to Islamophobia! – in the form of a cartoon image of two guys having a beer on the Facebook page of a student group. That’s racism ‘n’ Islamophobia? No, but … Read the rest

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It has come to our attention that you are wicked

Jan 23rd, 2012 5:22 pm | By

The LSE Students’ Union has put out a statement on its quarrel with the LSE Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society. It’s a horrible little document.

On Monday 16th January it was brought to our attention via an official complaint by two students that the LSESU Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society posted cartoons, published by the UCLU Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society, depicting the Prophet Mohammed and Jesus “sitting in a pub having a pint” on their society Facebook page. Upon hearing this, the sabbaticals officers of the LSESU ensured all evidence was collected and an emergency meeting with a member of the Students’ Union staff was called to discuss how to deal with the issue. During this time, we

… Read the rest

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