‘Those who scorn God and those who do violence in God’s name, both represent views of religion.’… Read the rest
Egypt: Controversy Over the Niqab 
Oct 11th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
This is the same government that is said to have prosecuted people for breaking their Ramadan fast. … Read the rest
Funds Cut Off for Iran Human Rights Watchdog
Oct 11th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Many see the denial of funds as a shift by the Obama admin away from promotion of human rights in Iran.… Read the rest
Ireland: Library Funding Slashed
Oct 11th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Galway Library has had cut the number of new books to one between all branches.… Read the rest
Which prior assumptions
Oct 11th, 2009 11:39 am | By Ophelia BensonEpistemology is difficult. (Remember that long discussion between G and Ben the other day? Shop talk. Difficult shop talk.) This morning I was trying to figure out the meaning of a comment by Josh Rosenau on Jerry Coyne’s post last week on Dawkins and accommodationism and I followed a link to a three-year-old post by John Wilkins on agnosticism. It’s good, and interesting, and much of it I don’t understand. This for instance:
… Read the restProbabilities are based in this case on prior assumptions – one uses Bayes’ theorem to determine whether or not the hypothesis under test is likely to be true, given other assumptions we already accept. And here is where the problem lies – which assumptions? To adopt
Then Again – Ardi Was Married and Straight! Yay!
Oct 10th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The species may have pair-bonded, therefore, marriage has meant woman and man for 4.4 million years.… Read the rest
Stupidest Article Ever to Appear in Major Media
Oct 10th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Another group of researchers, many of them with advanced degrees in science, are unimpressed by Ardi.’… Read the rest
Journalist Talks to Dawkins About New Book
Oct 10th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Popular science writers trade in awe, the sense of sublime wonder that drew them to it in the first place.… Read the rest
Nigeria’s ‘Indecent Dressing Bill’
Oct 10th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The bill mirrors that article of the Sudanese penal code under which Lubnah Hussain was arrested.… Read the rest
The Murder of Grace Ushang
Oct 10th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
She was a member of Nigeria’s Youth Service Corps; she was raped to death for wearing trousers.… Read the rest
They were bipedal and married: a romance
Oct 10th, 2009 11:44 am | By Ophelia BensonHey the Family Research Council has gone all Darwin and sciencey on us.
Some people believe that religious dogma is the only reason why anyone opposes same-sex marriage. Those who believe the human race began with Adam and Eve, and that their relationship was God’s model for marriage, believe marriage should be between a man and a woman. But those who don’t believe in the Bible, who think Adam and Eve are a myth, and who don’t accept a Christian view of the human person, have no reason to believe marriage is an opposite-sex union. Right?
Well, no, not exactly. Those who don’t believe the Bible is some kind of magic rule-book and who don’t want Christians telling them … Read the rest
As mild as doves
Oct 9th, 2009 12:21 pm | By Ophelia BensonSo the Church Times review of Does God Hate Women? is considerably more favorable than was Sholto Byrnes’s in the Independent or Cristina Odone’s in the Observer, to say nothing of Madeleine Bunting’s reception. There’s a profound irony in that, which I will not belabor.… Read the rest
Obama Adviser Defends Sharia
Oct 9th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Says majority of women around the world associate justice for women with sharia compliance.… Read the rest
Atheism as Class-marker is Beside the Point
Oct 9th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It would be outrageous to say that the reasons for choosing atheism over religion might actually be valid.… Read the rest
US v Freedom of Expression
Oct 9th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Egypt and US co-sponsored a resolution condemning ‘negative stereotyping of religion.’… Read the rest
Nobel Committee Gives Obama a Surprise
Oct 9th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Republicans are grumbling about star power.… Read the rest
Church Times Reviews ‘Does God Hate Women?’
Oct 9th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Surprisingly favorably. (The irony was entirely intentional! I know where ‘whited sepulchre’ comes from!)… Read the rest
C of E Grabs Power Back From Women Bishops
Oct 9th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Committee agreed to automatically remove certain powers from female bishops and give them to their male colleagues.… Read the rest
Your Child is Missing? Here, Meet Our Medium
Oct 9th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
New Zealand public tv station inserts itself into missing child story by offering one of its ‘psychic stars.’… Read the rest
Catholic Cardinal ‘Warns’ of Atheist Clubs
Oct 8th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Unbelief among young people is part of a fashionable “new atheism” every bit as intolerant as Christian fundamentalism.’… Read the rest
