Bright but uneducated, married early, constantly pregnant. She wanted more and never got it.… Read the rest
Despised is despised
Apr 30th, 2011 12:35 pm | By Ophelia BensonI sometimes see indignation about claims that atheists are a despised minority, on the grounds that other despised minorities had it much worse. That was one of Karla McLaren’s many claims.
As you may recall, this word [“accommodationist”] was first used by black Americans in the Voting Rights era against people who were seen as being too subservient and too accommodating to whites. I could write a whole ‘nother post about how interesting it is for atheists to imagine that their struggle is similar to that of African Americans.
But not everyone considers the comparison obviously wrong.
… Read the restLong after blacks and Jews have made great strides, and even as homosexuals gain respect, acceptance and new rights, there is
Mugabe in Rome for “beatification” of JP2
Apr 30th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHoping it will rub off on him?… Read the rest
Blood of pope JP2 to go on display
Apr 30th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIt will be used for his “beatification” tomorrow. The blood is from his body, so it is a “relic of the first degree.”… Read the rest
Why do Americans still dislike atheists?
Apr 30th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia Benson“Our nonreligious compatriots should be accorded the same respect as other minorities.”… Read the rest
Assisted suicide abroad puts families in legal limbo
Apr 30th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonEric MacDonald knows all about that, CTV British Columbia reports.… Read the rest
The savage shaming stunning sullying gleeful fist
Apr 29th, 2011 5:14 pm | By Ophelia BensonI got in a slight brawl with Chris Stedman at Facebook just now. I’m a brawler…but then so is Chris, in his way, only he thinks he isn’t.
He started a thread about “shock horror that atheists sometimes compare the atheist movement and the civil rights movement.” There was lots of obliging shock-horror from his friends – oh yes that is shocking and horrible; that kind of thing. I blew my nose and then commenced brawling, by saying it’s not about saying atheists have it as bad as blacks, it’s about pointing out similarities in the way the movements and the backlashes against them play out. We brawled for awhile, then he had to go get a haircut, but just … Read the rest
Ignore that man between the pictures
Apr 29th, 2011 4:54 pm | By Ophelia BensonNick Cohen on republicanism v the monarchy in Time is very droll, because of a certain inconsequence on the part of the editors. It goes like this:
When the 18th century English dissenter Richard Price, friend of Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, warned that fawning before royalty produced “idolatry as gross and stupid as that of the ancient heathens,” he aptly titled his denunciation “A Discourse on the Love of Our Country.” (See pictures of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding day.)Ha! Never mind all these pesky words about something or other, just look at the pretty snaps. Oooooooo she don’ahf look luvley in that tyara.
But whatever the complicating factors, only royal propagandists doubt that the… Read the rest
Nick Cohen on the royal pain
Apr 29th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWant to drive on the sabbath? Get a thought car
Apr 29th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIt totally works, because thought is not action, so you’re allowed to use the thought car.… Read the rest
Katha Pollitt on the bitter tea of Greg Mortenson
Apr 29th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAfghanistan and Pakistan have many honest aid workers, including many locals—they just don’t get the celebrity media treatment or the celebrity-sized budgets.… Read the rest
Blair and Brown not invited to the royal wedding
Apr 29th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPalace explains. We forgot. No, they’re not knights of the garter. No, it wasn’t a state occasion. No, they’re not Vic’s great-great-great grandsons.… Read the rest
Pop culture interlude
Apr 29th, 2011 12:28 pm | By Ophelia BensonSo James Spader is one of the group of possible successors to Steve Carrell. That would be fun. I thought he was brilliant in Boston Legal.
I liked the red mittens. The oven mitt thing was really mean. The red mittens repaired that.… Read the rest
China scolds Salman Rushdie about human rights
Apr 29th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonRushdie called for the release of Ai Weiwei. China calls this “blatant interference in China’s judicial independence.”… Read the rest
Jerry Coyne on the archbish on evolution
Apr 29th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBuried within the leaden prose is a deep and abiding dislike for evolutionary biology and genetics in particular.… Read the rest
Charles Freeman on reliquaries at the British Museum
Apr 28th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonGlittering opulence risks concealing the anguish poured out at the shrines as those desperate for salvation pleaded with a saint to intercede with God for them.… Read the rest
This is not a job for bomb makers
Apr 28th, 2011 4:43 pm | By Ophelia BensonAnother thought about “Why Do We Need New Atheists?” (subtle way of announcing a desire to get rid of us, that title). The post is actually a pretty rich study in scapegoating and other forms of disguised hostility, so despite its nastiness and wrongness, it repays a close look.
(The disguised part really interests me. I’ve said before, probably more than once, that one thing I really dislike is hostility or rivalry that tries to dress itself up as its own opposite. I really hate it when people are obviously brawling or competing but pretend that they’re just joking or “teasing” or being absent-minded. I especially hate it when women do that, because it fits a stereotype about us.
This … Read the rest
God is loving and holy
Apr 28th, 2011 11:13 am | By Ophelia BensonGreta Christina pointed out a little nightmare of a post by William Lane Craig at his wittily-named blog “Reasonable Faith,” saying that genocide is ok because God decided.
I haven’t properly read Greta’s article yet because I wanted to read Craig first. I’m doing that now.
He says about the genocide of the Canaanites.
… Read the restThese stories offend our moral sensibilities. Ironically, however, our moral sensibilities in the West have been largely, and for many people unconsciously, shaped by our Judaeo-Christian heritage, which has taught us the intrinsic value of human beings, the importance of dealing justly rather than capriciously, and the necessity of the punishment’s fitting the crime. The Bible itself inculcates the values which these stories seem to violate.
Hitchens on the upcoming nuptials
Apr 28th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBy some mystic alchemy, the breeding imperatives for a dynasty become the stuff of romance, even “fairy tale.”… Read the rest
Stupid “birther” ravings carry on regardless
Apr 28th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia Benson“It’s easier psychologically to come up with a rationalization than it is to admit that you were wrong,” said Ronald Lindsay.… Read the rest