Daughter wanted to end the marriage, had not spoken to father in two months because of disagreement.… Read the rest
Sally Feldman on Gender Traitors
Jul 7th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWomen who campaign against women’s rights.… Read the rest
John van Wyhe of Darwin Online
Jul 7th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘From now on, whenever we need to check things or explore an aspect of Darwin’s life, the archive is there.’… Read the rest
Chris Comer Sues Texas Education Agency
Jul 7th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonComer’s suit takes to task the TEA’s policy of ‘neutrality’ regarding creationism, a religious view.… Read the rest
Ruth Rendell Speaks Out Against FGM
Jul 7th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘One wants to respect customs, but how can you if they are grossly damaging and cruel to women?’… Read the rest
Bush Admin Witholds Funding for UNFPA
Jul 7th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThreatens to cut off funding to other NGOs because they operate health programs in China.… Read the rest
Annoying is it
Jul 7th, 2008 11:42 am | By Ophelia BensonAnd one more thing. She says something quite rude about Daniel Dennett, and what she says is not accurate. Pp. 9-10.
It is certainly supremely annoying when intellectuals talk down to religious people, speaking as if all smart people are atheists. Philosopher Daniel Dennett is particularly guilty of this. In an op-ed piece in the New York Times, he coined the term ‘brights’ for nonbelievers, suggesting very clearly that the right name for believers was ‘dummies.’
He did not coin the term, as he clearly states in the op-ed piece, right at the top of the second paragraph.
… Read the restThe term ”bright” is a recent coinage by two brights in Sacramento, Calif., who thought our social group — which
Preciousssss
Jul 7th, 2008 11:09 am | By Ophelia BensonAs you read further in Nussbaum’s Liberty of Conscience (or at least, as I do), it gets worse. It gets unendurable in places. Parts of it (yes like the curate’s egg) are good, and readable without too much irritation, but there are patches where it becomes simply maddening. I started counting words. On page 52 she uses the word ‘precious’ four times, and both ‘respect’ and ‘dignity’ more than that, along with ‘deep’ or ‘profound’. All five occur much too often, again, on 53-4. Look…even apart from the philosophical aspect, that’s just not a good way to write. If I’d been her editor I would have called her on it very early in the book. It’s not a good idea … Read the rest
Nussbaum as Freudian
Jul 7th, 2008 10:37 am | By Ophelia BensonIn comments on ‘Reading Nussbaum’ Tea mentioned that Nussbaum ‘is not only delusional about religious believers (and dogmatic about respecting religious beliefs), she is also a Freudian.’ True. I’d remembered the Freudian claims in Hiding From Humanity, but when I found that chapter again I realized I’d forgotten that they’re also heavily present in Upheavals of Thought. She introduces the subject in a very interesting way in the latter book (p. 181):
… Read the restIt has become fashionable in the United States to sneer at psychoanalysis. In part this dismissive attitude results from the fact that Americans are generally impatient with complexity and sadness, and tend to want a quick chemical fix for deep human problems. People who have that
Kenan Malik on the Trap of Identity
Jul 6th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonTo view humans as having to bear specific cultures is to deny a capacity for transformation.… Read the rest
HRW on Ethiopian Plan to Control NGOs
Jul 6th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonEthiopia should ditch plans to impose strict controls and harsh criminal penalties on NGOs.… Read the rest
Bush Edits Jefferson Quotation in Speech
Jul 6th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe chains [under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves].… Read the rest
Ben Goldacre on More Hidden Data
Jul 6th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMore rats, mice, wasps. Can we see the statistics? No, they’re a secret.… Read the rest
Children Defy Child Marriage in Yemen
Jul 6th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIslamic conservatives, whose influence has grown, point to Muhammad’s marriage to a 9-year-old. … Read the rest
RSF Alarmed at Proposed Law in Iran
Jul 6th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonDraft law would apply death penalty to bloggers and website editors who ‘promote corruption or apostasy.’… Read the rest
Reading Nussbaum
Jul 5th, 2008 6:14 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe library produced Nussbaum’s Liberty of Conscience for me yesterday so I’ve read some of it and I must say, I was surprised – it’s way worse than I expected. I think it’s terrible – and it’s also extremely irritating. Tooth-grindingly irritating.
We talked about an interview in which she discussed the book with Bill Moyers last April and then we discussed it some more a couple of days later. I was critical of what she’d said then but I also gave her the benefit of the doubt on a lot of things. My mistake. She does mean what I said I thought she didn’t mean. (I see that H E Baber commented on the second post, which is … Read the rest
People Turn Shirty for World Youth Day
Jul 5th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson11. Thou shalt not annoy.… Read the rest
Special Laws for Catholic ‘World Youth Day’
Jul 5th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAnyone deemed to be causing annoyance could be arrested and fined up to $5,500.… Read the rest
Two Kinds of Patriotism
Jul 5th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPatriotism of affirmation appeals to conservatives, patriotism of dissent is cherished by liberals. … Read the rest
China’s Missing Girls and Restless Boys
Jul 5th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonChina has the largest gender imbalance in the world, with almost 20% more newborn boys than girls.… Read the rest