That the proposed new law on inciting religious hatred will stifle artistic liberty.… Read the rest
Writers Against Incitement to Religious Hatred Law
Jan 20th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘if religious leaders had their way, we would have little literature, less art and no humour.’… Read the rest
Rappers Face Court for Threats
Jan 20th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonDen Haag Connection sang about wanting to break Hirsi Ali’s neck.… Read the rest
The Independent on Hirsi Ali
Jan 20th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘We are talking about an international phenomenon here, not just a local incident.’… Read the rest
Index on Censorship on Hirsi Ali
Jan 20th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWith useful links.… Read the rest
Scott McLemee on Susan Sontag
Jan 20th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonRecording the experience of a mind trying to map its own labyrinths.… Read the rest
Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali Returns to Public Life
Jan 20th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonVows to continue as MP and in fight against oppression of women.… Read the rest
Bad Legacy
Jan 20th, 2005 3:41 am | By Ophelia BensonA reader sent me the link to this interesting item in the Guardian. The subhead starts things right off – ‘Colonial attitudes linger, finding their most xenophobic expression among liberal defenders of free speech.’ Uh oh.
The argument is basically a ‘taboo’ argument. Every culture has some sacred things, which should be beyond criticism, and certainly beyond mockery. In the UK, it’s the Queen that’s sacred; all cultures have ’em.
Neither is rationalism alien to eastern cultures. Science and mathematics thrived both in the great age of Hindu civilisation and Islamic ascendancy. Eastern cultures have long traditions of theatre, reform movements and of absorbing criticism. But when a creative work offends the sacred, it loses its message.
Well, that’s … Read the rest
New Biography of Francis Galton
Jan 19th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonEugenics, statistics, regression, blathering sermon.… Read the rest
Controversy Over Funding of ‘Jewish’ Schools
Jan 19th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonQuebec government denies that it is creating social tensions.… Read the rest
Full Text of David Bell’s Speech
Jan 19th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonOn teaching ‘reasoned citizenship.’… Read the rest
Speaking Up
Jan 18th, 2005 11:46 pm | By Ophelia BensonI plan to improve N&C by talking less. More links and quotations from the articles linked, and less of me commenting on them. That will be an improvement, right? Right.
There is this article in the Guardian about some reactions to David Bell’s speech to the Hansard Society in which he expressed some reservations about ‘faith’ schools.
… Read the restThe head of the government’s education watchdog prompted an angry reaction from Muslim leaders yesterday after claiming that the growth of Islamic faith schools posed a challenge to the coherence of British society. In a deliberate intervention criticised as “irresponsible” and “derogatory” by senior Muslim representatives, the chief inspector of schools David Bell claimed that a traditional Islamic education did not equip Muslim
Replies to Hobsbawm
Jan 18th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonValid truths only emerge from free, fair and open discussion.… Read the rest
Muslim Schools Promote Education for Girls
Jan 18th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonChairman of Association of Muslim Schools disagrees with Ofsted chief’s comments.… Read the rest
Fatuity Knows no Bounds Department
Jan 18th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHumans pay someone actual money to talk to their pets.… Read the rest
Letters to Guardian on Livingstone
Jan 18th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWhy does mayor talk to fundamentalists but not liberal Muslims or victims of Islamist repression?… Read the rest
Three Muslims Criticize Inspector of Schools
Jan 18th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonArticle labels them ‘leaders’ and ‘senior representatives.’… Read the rest
Faith Should Not Be Blind
Jan 18th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonChief Inspector of Schools warns against religious segregation.… Read the rest
Chatroom Call to Jihad
Jan 18th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonOmar Bakri Mohammed tells listeners: ‘you are obliged to join.’… Read the rest
Two Parents Resist Another Vardy Academy
Jan 18th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonVardy schools accord equal importance to creationism and theories of evolution.… Read the rest