Some British Indian parents force their children to marry.… Read the rest
Shirin Ebadi Summoned to Court
Jan 14th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonLawyer and human rights activist tells BBC summons is unlawful.… Read the rest
Woman Pardoned in Iranian Rape Case
Jan 14th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBe raped or kill the rapist: either way you get the death penalty.… Read the rest
Bad Timing For Livingstone’s Defense of al Qaradawi
Jan 14th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWho says tsunami victims deserve punishment from Allah.… Read the rest
Evolution Disclaimer Sticker Must be Removed
Jan 13th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAnti-evolution sticker violates the constitution.… Read the rest
Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti on ‘Behzti’ and the Aftermath
Jan 13th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonReligion and art have collided for centuries.… Read the rest
Mark Thatcher Gets Suspended Sentence
Jan 13th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe younger generation just can’t get it right.… Read the rest
Colonials and Natives
Jan 13th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAnother proud moment for the ruling class.… Read the rest
Another Undeniable Fact Denied
Jan 12th, 2005 7:52 pm | By Ophelia BensonNick Cohen said something interesting in the Observer the other day:
… Read the restTo take it from the top, the scandal about Britain’s television stations and many of its other cultural institutions is not that they are run by people who are motivated by anything so high-minded as converting the public to a political philosophy, but that they are run by well-educated and very well-paid men and women from the upper-middle class who protect themselves and their privately educated children from competition by feeding the masses mush – the favoured policy of aristocracies down the ages. That they do none the less read liberal newspapers and pretend that their pursuit of profit and market share is a radical blow in the anti-elitist
People are Capable of Rational Thought
Jan 12th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonTo say the people of Jamaica cannot change values inherited from British colonial era is to infantilise them.… Read the rest
BBC Producer Quits Over ‘Blasphemy’
Jan 12th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSenior producer at Radio 3 resigns in protest at blasphemy in Springer Opera.… Read the rest
Waterstone’s, Free Speech, the Power of Books
Jan 12th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBookshop fires employee for saying harsh things about boss on blog.… Read the rest
Ken Livingstone Defends Yusuf al-Qaradawi
Jan 12th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHe’s shared a platform with or met various famous people, therefore…… Read the rest
Hand Waving
Jan 11th, 2005 10:40 pm | By Ophelia BensonSome more on fine phrases and their relationship (if any) to parsnip-buttering.
Yet, as
we shall see, in the moment of ritual divination the exclusive dualisms
of subject and object, mind and matter, what is outside and up there
(including stars) and what is down here and inside (including genes), partially dissolve in awareness of
cosmic connection. Multiplicity remains, separation remains, but there
is also relatedness, there is participation. Bringing an anthropological
perspective to bear on the topic of astrological divination, we see the
true business of astrology as participation in the greatest dialogue of
all, the grand conversation of earth and heaven.
That sounds buttery, right? But what does it mean? Relatedness to what? Participation in what? Jupiter? One … Read the rest
‘Christian Voice’ Guy Gets Some Attention
Jan 11th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAdmits it was a mistake to publish BBC executives’ home addresses: ‘I’m fallible.’… Read the rest
Germaine Greer Has Her Reasons
Jan 11th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘The British university was a club Greer did not want to remain in.’… Read the rest
Male Editors Needed to Sexualize Sontag
Jan 11th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWaspish Sontag might have replied: stiffening of male editors no reason to impute rigor to her.… Read the rest
Nick Cohen on the Silence About Hadi Salih
Jan 11th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia Benson“Do you want priests to be able to control ‘their’ people?” No? Get ready for a fight then.… Read the rest
Kenan Malik on Exaggerated Islamophobia
Jan 11th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPeople struggling to defend basic rights within Muslim communities are called racist.… Read the rest
Minority or Citizen? A Roundtable Discussion
Jan 11th, 2005 | By Hamid Taghvaee, Ali Javadi, Azar MajediWorker-communist review: The debate surrounding the banning of conspicuous religious symbols in schools and government workplaces in France have raised some fundamental questions about religious freedom and freedom of choice and dress. Is the ban a restriction on religious freedom, choice and dress? How far must a ban go? Why?
Hamid Taghvaee: In my view, banning religious symbols in schools and workplaces is completely justified. The ban has nothing to do with religious freedom because it is a social and public ban. In civil societies, religion and religious practices must be free as long as they remain private matters. Civil society can only recognise freedom of religion as a private matter; otherwise it will not be civil society … Read the rest