Bad decisions

Sep 2nd, 2008 3:22 pm | By

Nothing to cheer about.

Lori Viars, a mother of two and evangelical Christian from Lebanon, Ohio, cheered the candidacy as well as the decision of both Palin women to keep their babies. “The whole family is pro-life, and they put that into practice even when it’s not easy,” Ms. Viars said.

It’s nothing to cheer. Palin is adamantly anti-abortion, so her daughter age 17 has to have an unplanned baby, has to be a mother years too early, and has to marry her high school boyfriend, which is a recipe for disaster. ‘Bristol’ Palin has to ruin her life because of inflated concerns about a fetus.

What’s up with ‘Bristol,’ anyway? Chelsea, Bristol – what’s their point? Is everybody … Read the rest



Treat Domestic Workers Fairly This Ramadan *

Sep 2nd, 2008 | Filed by

HRW: employers of domestic workers in the ME and NA should consider the rights of domestic workers.… Read the rest



‘Abstinence Only’ and its Discontents *

Sep 2nd, 2008 | Filed by

The US has one of the worst annual rates of teenage pregnancies in the developed world. … Read the rest



Pakistan: Murdered Women Exhumed *

Sep 2nd, 2008 | Filed by

Only two found. Police have arrested six people, including some relatives of the women. … Read the rest



Telegraph on Women Buried Alive in Balochistan *

Sep 2nd, 2008 | Filed by

No one has been arrested; human rights groups accuse local authorities of trying to cover up the murders.… Read the rest



Royal Berkshire Hospital on Bare Arms Policy *

Sep 2nd, 2008 | Filed by

The Trust Chaplain and Imam agree that the policy is an acceptable professional requirement.… Read the rest



Julian Baggini on Philosophy and the Art of Living *

Sep 2nd, 2008 | Filed by

Self-help promises more than it delivers. For philosophy to do better, it cannot afford to make the same mistake. … Read the rest



Obama Answers Science Debate Questions *

Sep 1st, 2008 | Filed by

The other fella hasn’t answered.… Read the rest



Balochistan Govt Twists Facts About Murders *

Sep 1st, 2008 | Filed by

Seen as a bid to save the perpetrator, said to be the younger brother of a PPP cabinet minister.… Read the rest



Pakistan Post Blasts Balochistan Senator *

Sep 1st, 2008 | Filed by

Defending barbarism in the name of tribal ‘justice’ is a crime in itself.… Read the rest



Literary Prize Blocks Random House *

Sep 1st, 2008 | Filed by

Random House has exhibited cowardly self-censorship so Langum Charitable Trust won’t consider its titles.… Read the rest



NSS not in Accord With the Accord Coalition *

Sep 1st, 2008 | Filed by

The NSS thinks that schools should be secular places and that religion should play no part in them.… Read the rest



Political Islam, Sharia Law and Civil Society *

Sep 1st, 2008 | Filed by

The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain presents its first international conference October 10.… Read the rest



Heresy Corner on ‘Respecting’ the Niqab *

Sep 1st, 2008 | Filed by

Noor Aza Othman of the Women for Justice Support Group Project, Malaysia, posted a comment – which was deleted.… Read the rest



Woman in Niqab Encounters Hostility *

Sep 1st, 2008 | Filed by

‘People never say things to your face,’ she complains. Irony alarm explodes.… Read the rest



The Barbarians’ Raw Deal

Sep 1st, 2008 | By Christopher Orlet

For the past 1,500 years the assortment of Germanic, Slavic and Asian tribes known collectively as the barbarians have gotten a raw deal. Blamed largely for initiating the collapse of the Roman Empire, extinguishing the lamp of learning and precipitating the Dark Ages, they have been unable to defend themselves in a court of inquiry. Here is one case where the victors did not write the history (perhaps because most of them couldn’t write). But while the barbarians (literally “babbler” or one who does not speak Greek) did wreak a great deal of havoc, an impartial look at the facts will show that their role in abolishing Greco-Roman culture was almost nil.

In fact, most barbarian kings and warlords greatly … Read the rest



In Birmingham it is common to see women shrouded in black

Sep 1st, 2008 11:59 am | By

More self-righteous self-pity.

My sister has worn a face veil for six years. She lives in Birmingham, where it is common to see women shrouded in black, however the sight is more unusual in Southampton, where my parents live and where, at the weekend, my sister was called “a ninja woman”.

It’s common in Birmingham to see women shrouded in black, is it – well how appalling. You might as well say it’s common to see black people in chains in Liverpool. You might as well say it’s common to see Jews wearing yellow stars in Manchester. You might as well say it’s common to see gay people wearing pink banners with ‘Dangerous Degenerate’ printed on them. How bizarre … Read the rest



Let’s not make the concept vacuous

Sep 1st, 2008 12:41 am | By

Nigel Warburton talks to Andrew Copson of the British Humanist Association. I particularly liked this bit –

I think it is more coherent to call Christians, for example, ‘Christians’ rather than ‘Christian humanists’ and Humanists ‘Humanists’ rather than ‘secular humanists’. If we try to call any and every philosophy that in some way has something to do with people ‘humanist’ then we make the concept itself vacuous. There is a recent book in the Teach Yourself series by the agnostic Mark Vernon which runs into this sort of difficulty. Thankfully, this is not a very prominent debate within Humanism and I think the common usage of ‘Humanism’ is still that of a non-religious philosophy.

That’s why so much of what … Read the rest



O my holy sleeves!

Sep 1st, 2008 12:39 am | By

When should ‘religious beliefs’ trump medical precautions? Hmm, let’s see. Never.

Many Muslim women all over the UK could be at risk of losing their jobs after the Secretary of State for Health, Alan Johnson, introduced the “bare below the elbow” policy. This policy was first introduced in January 2008 and stated that, when any member of staff is in contact with a patient, they must have their full arm from the elbow and below completely bare.

That doesn’t put Muslim women at risk of losing their jobs; it puts them at risk of having to bare their arms below the elbow when in contact with patients. In other words it presents them with a not very onerous job … Read the rest