Brian Leiter Asks a Question *

May 18th, 2009 | Filed by

Does the NY Times not realize that Stanley Fish is philosophically incompetent?… Read the rest



The Administration Can’t ‘Just Keep Walking’ *

May 18th, 2009 | Filed by

A major cover-up of corruption took place at the Bush Pentagon just six days before Bush left office.… Read the rest



Russell Blackford on the Arrest of Peter Tatchell *

May 18th, 2009 | Filed by

Tatchell puts his body on the line for his causes, when that’s what it means to stand up to authority in the name of human rights.… Read the rest



Fish Offers More God Talk *

May 18th, 2009 | Filed by

‘The religions I know are about nothing but doubt and dissent.’… Read the rest



Shuttle in Silhouette During Solar Transit *

May 18th, 2009 | Filed by

That’s some snap.… Read the rest



Peter Tatchell Arrested at Gay March in Moscow *

May 18th, 2009 | Filed by

Mayor has called gays ‘Satanists’; authorities said the march was banned to prevent ‘moral degradation.’… Read the rest



The enemy of my enemy is my friend…or perhaps not

May 18th, 2009 11:15 am | By

Brandon does some passive-aggressive self-chastisement:

I at least try to follow principles of amiability on this weblog. I do not always succeed; in a recent argument with Ophelia Benson in the comments thread to this post, when her response seemed to me to be a set of equivocations and red herrings of a pernicious kind that should not be tolerated on such an important subject as people’s lives, I became impatient and lost my temper; whatever the reason, however, the lapse of amiability was simply inexcusable.

I would say it’s not really the lapse of amiability itself that is inexcusable; I think a certain amount of heat is to be expected in substantive disagreements, and can be harmlessly … Read the rest



Catholic priorities

May 17th, 2009 5:12 pm | By

The Guardian continues its commitment to publish commentary from excitingly reactionary clerics and fans of clerics with the vomitings-forth of George Neumayr. His comment is an exceptionally lazy and vulgar diatribe.

Notre Dame’s now-infamous president, Father John Jenkins, is very fond of politically correct patter…This year Jenkins has rolled out his broken wheelbarrow of inane PC clichés to justify honouring the most pro-abortion American president ever.

And so on; it’s all like that.

A brilliant commenter posted a list of bishops taken from a Dallas Morning News list of Catholic bishops who protected sexually abusing priests. There are 19 bishops on the list, out of 61 who signed a petition protesting Notre Dame’s invitation to Obama. She suggested a … Read the rest



Thought-crime

May 17th, 2009 4:34 pm | By

I’ve been wrangling for a couple of days with Brandon at Siris. He took exception to my post on Nussbaum and stereotypes, accusing me of resorting to stereotypes myself, especially in replying to a comment:

It is as if you actively doubted that a black man could be an honest, law-abiding citizen. “Why?” Nussbaum asks. “Isn’t this just the stereotype of the violent black man?” Then says Ophelia’s counterpart (I’m very sure Ophelia herself would never say this): “Why do stereotypes have to be the reason for it? Couldn’t some people think that honest, law-abiding citizenship is just more difficult for blacks for a lot of reasons…?

And more of the same unpleasant implication. I asked him some … Read the rest



Wendy Grossman on the Terrible Judgment *

May 17th, 2009 | Filed by

Libel law balks responsible reporting; the public is deprived of knowledge they need to make informed decisions.… Read the rest



‘Evidence’: Scientific Word or Legal One? *

May 17th, 2009 | Filed by

‘Bogus’ is a word with many appealing applications when commenting on business and politics.… Read the rest



Chilling Warning From Top Neuroscientist *

May 17th, 2009 | Filed by

The use of neurosciencey language can make a circular argument appear more plausible to a lay audience. … Read the rest



Guardian Hosts Reactionary Catholic Tirade *

May 17th, 2009 | Filed by

Horrors: Obama ‘seeks to pass a raft of laws that baldly contradict magisterial Catholic teaching.’… Read the rest



Catholic Priest Disses Blair’s ‘Faith Foundation’ *

May 17th, 2009 | Filed by

Cites religious freedom and imposition of a ‘politically correct’ interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures. … Read the rest



Other Inmates of Evin Prison *

May 17th, 2009 | Filed by

The allegations against the Baha’is are as nonsensical as they are unjust.… Read the rest



Can Reform Save Saudi Arabia? *

May 17th, 2009 | Filed by

Wahhabism is, in its essentials, the totalitarian creed espoused by Osama Bin Laden to justify his murderous jihad.… Read the rest



Schools have their job, churches have theirs

May 16th, 2009 5:33 pm | By

About the ‘Good News Club’

The afterschool world at Cold Spring had hitherto consisted of basketball, karate, dance, and other physical fitness activities. In this context, a sectarian religious group that seeks to recruit the very young stuck out like a barstool in a bunny cage…The CEF labels the Good News Club program as “Bible Study,” but the term “study” in this context is a euphemism for indoctrination in and practice of a particular religion. Once class begins, there is no pretense of analyzing the bible as a literary, cultural, or historical document. The program moves directly to the CEF’s stated purpose, which is “to evangelize boys and girls with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, disciple them

Read the rest


Whither the university

May 16th, 2009 1:43 pm | By

People who oppose abortion rights are making a big fuss about Obama’s invitation to Notre Dame, the Catholic university in Indiana.

The vast majority of faculty and students support the invitation. However, a few academics have come out against and are planning a commencement-day protest. Most of the noise, though, is coming from outside the university. Over 60 bishops have publicly opposed the invitation…

But that’s not the best bit. This is:

The ability of Notre Dame to stir Catholic hearts speaks to the role it plays among “subway” alumni – immigrants and their descendants who in many cases have never visited the university but whose devotion to it and its American football team forms part of their Catholic identity.

Read the rest


Credo, non credo, whatever

May 16th, 2009 12:52 pm | By

Watch out for beliefs.

[Judge] Rodenberg found Daniel has only a “rudimentary understanding at best of the risks and benefits of chemotherapy. … he does not believe he is ill currently. The fact is that he is very ill currently.”…Johnson, the parents’ attorney, said everyone should be able to get medical care that follows their beliefs. “The Hausers believe that the injection of chemotherapy into Danny Hauser amounts to an assault upon his body”…The Hausers, who have eight children, are Roman Catholic and also believe in the “do no harm” philosophy of the Nemenhah Band. The Missouri-based religious group believes in natural healing methods advocated by some American Indians.

But what the Hausers ‘believe’ is beside the point here … Read the rest



Daniel Hauser, at 13, Can’t Read *

May 16th, 2009 | Filed by

Daniel says he is a Nemenhah medicine man but can’t say what teachings he has had to become one. … Read the rest