Jewel of Medina Banned in South Africa *

Nov 24th, 2008 | Filed by

Johannesburg High Court ruled that the contents were found to be blasphemous.… Read the rest



Irony is Dead. Or Not. We Can Always Hope So. *

Nov 24th, 2008 | Filed by

‘No self-respecting ironist actually uses the word “ironic”.’ Quite.… Read the rest



The Rise of Islamism in Bangladesh *

Nov 24th, 2008 | Filed by

In 1977 references to secularism were deleted from the constitution and Allah ‘the Merciful’ was inserted.… Read the rest



How Best to Prevent Murder of ‘Witches’ *

Nov 24th, 2008 | Filed by

Education or pensions? How about both.… Read the rest



Pope Lets Cat Out of Bag *

Nov 24th, 2008 | Filed by

‘An interreligious dialogue in the strict sense of the word is not possible.’ Just so.… Read the rest



The pope says more than he meant to

Nov 24th, 2008 11:55 am | By

The pope perhaps spilled the beans even more than the Vatican realizes.

[T]he pope said the book “explained with great clarity” that “an interreligious dialogue in the strict sense of the word is not possible.” In theological terms, added the pope, “a true dialogue is not possible without putting one’s faith in parentheses.”…To some scholars, the pope’s remarks seemed aimed at pushing more theoretical interreligious conversations into the practical realm. “He’s trying to get the Catholic-Islamic dialogue out of the clouds of theory and down to brass tacks: how can we know the truth about how we ought to live together justly, despite basic creedal differences?”

How indeed. By thinking about the subject in secular, rational, human-based terms, that’s how. … Read the rest



Forget Joan Didion, ask the Delphic oracle instead

Nov 24th, 2008 11:12 am | By

Oh gee – there might be an irony gap developing. How horrifying, how shocking, how alarming.

Its ill health was noted by, among others, no less an ironist than Joan Didion, the nation’s poet laureate of disillusion. The week after the election, in a talk at the New York Public Library, Ms. Didion lamented that the United States in the era of Barack Obama had become an “irony-free zone,” a vast Kool-Aid tank where “naïveté, translated into ‘hope,’ was now in” and where “innocence, even when it looked like ignorance, was now prized.”

Did she. Well that strikes me as quite a stupid thing to say. Is that ironic?

But Ms. Didion might be on to something. A Nexis

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‘I would rather die for the dignity of women than die for nothing’

Nov 23rd, 2008 1:02 pm | By

Afghanistan at war with Afghan women.

For women and girls across Afghanistan, conditions are worsening – and those women who dare to publicly oppose the traditional order now live in fear for their lives. The Afghan MP Shukria Barakzai receives regular death threats for speaking out on women’s issues. Talking at her home in central Kabul, she closed the living room door as her three young daughters played in the hall. “You can’t imagine what it feels like as a mother to leave the house each day and not know if you will come back again,” she said, her eyes welling up as she spoke. “But there is no choice. I would rather die for the dignity of women

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Malaysia’s National Fatwa Council on Yoga *

Nov 23rd, 2008 | Filed by

Yoga a no-no, it encourages a blasphemous union with God. Also, women mustn’t wear trousers.… Read the rest



Rebellious Women Get Acid Attacks, Rape *

Nov 23rd, 2008 | Filed by

‘But there is no choice. I would rather die for the dignity of women than die for nothing.’… Read the rest



‘Sources Say’ Michael Jackson Has Converted *

Nov 23rd, 2008 | Filed by

To Islam. Meanwhile, $7 million breach-of-contract lawsuit by Bahraini sheik continues.… Read the rest



Tom Clark on Epistemology *

Nov 23rd, 2008 | Filed by

Religiously inspired anti-empiricism, populist anti-intellectualism, disdain for ‘elite’ expertise have gained ground.… Read the rest



Shafaq Escaped *

Nov 23rd, 2008 | Filed by

UK diplomats dash to rescue 15-year-old girl from forced marriage in rural Pakistan.… Read the rest



Al Qaeda ingratiates itself

Nov 22nd, 2008 4:16 pm | By

Al Qaeda sets us all straight about that Obama fella.

In a propaganda salvo by Al Qaeda aimed at undercutting the enthusiasm of Muslims worldwide about the American election, Osama bin Laden’s top deputy condemned President-elect Barack Obama as a “house Negro” who would continue a campaign against Islam…Appealing to the “weak and oppressed” around the world…

Al Qaeda, appealing to the weak and oppressed around the world – that is truly rich. Al Qaeda thinks the weak and oppressed around the world should be kept out of school, out of hospitals, out of the police forces, out of all jobs, off the streets, locked up in windowless houses. Al Qaeda thinks that any weak and oppressed who struggle … Read the rest



Jesus and Mo and the Barmaid on Euthanasia *

Nov 22nd, 2008 | Filed by

It is not enough that we are willing to suffer for our beliefs; everyone else must suffer for them too.… Read the rest



What is the Durham British-Israel Fellowship? *

Nov 22nd, 2008 | Filed by

Edmund Standing explores a mix of Biblical ‘exegesis,’ racial separatism, Christian identity, more.… Read the rest



Statement from South African Feminists *

Nov 22nd, 2008 | Filed by

‘We are appalled at the current context of political intolerance, misogyny, and the language of violence.’… Read the rest



Momeni Charged With ‘Acting Against State Security’ *

Nov 22nd, 2008 | Filed by

It’s widely believed this charge relates to Momeni’s work with the Campaign for One Million Signatures.… Read the rest



Esha Momeni is Out on Bail *

Nov 22nd, 2008 | Filed by

Iranian official says Momeni is free to leave Iran, her father says Iran is holding her passport.… Read the rest



Violence Against Women in Kenya *

Nov 22nd, 2008 | Filed by

Flora Terah describes how women were beaten, tortured and raped to stop them running for office.… Read the rest