Wait, isn’t it only new atheists who bully people?… Read the rest
A force beyond, giving our lives meaning 
Jun 3rd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It’s not god though, Ronald Aronson notes. It’s the vast web of social processes that make human lives better.… Read the rest
Kids with bombs
Jun 3rd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
An alarming number of children in Pakistan and Afghanistan believe immortality is at their fingertips – provided they’re detonating the bombs strapped to their bodies.… Read the rest
Jack Kevorkian dies at 83
Jun 3rd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The desperation that drove dozens of dying people to travel to Michigan to be hooked up to his “mercy” machines helped convince many of the need for a right-to-die.… Read the rest
The Philippine Atheists and Agnostics Society
Jun 3rd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Founded to promote atheism, agnosticism, humanism, rational thinking, and education through science, PATAS is growing rapidly.… Read the rest
GP who championed assisted suicide dies
Jun 3rd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Dr Ann McPherson, who was a strong advocate for assisted suicide, has died after a long battle with cancer, just days after writing of her frustration at not being able to die.… Read the rest
The putative harmony between science and faith
Jun 3rd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Look here. Scientists like doing science. That’s faith. See?… Read the rest
Their Feet Don’t Touch The Ground
Jun 2nd, 2011 | By Bruce EverettIn the middle of May, a report, The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950-2010[1], was presented to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops by researchers from John Jay College. Circulated more broadly on the 16th of May, the document has (not without reason) been viewed as flawed to the point of being suspect.
Almost predictably from the usual quarters, the way in which the mere laity have viewed the report has been met with a near pre-reformation style of contempt. Apparently the masses need the clergy to spell it out for them!
In Australia, this high-handed misanthropy finds archetypal expression in Scott Stephens’ Catholic sexual abuse … Read the rest
Washington state is full of stupid anti-vaccine hippies
Jun 2nd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Washington ranks among the worst in meeting childhood vaccination targets, ranging between 88 and 93 percent for “required” vaccinations.… Read the rest
It’s a mistake to engage with these morons
Jun 2nd, 2011 2:21 pm | By Ophelia BensonJust a few points about “Brave Rieux tells it like it is…“
I don’t have time for the new atheist idiots right now. But I wanted to flag up this remark by some bloke on the internet called Rieux.
There’s something a little skeevy about saying “on the internet” when the link goes here. Jeremy could have said “some bloke at Butterflies and Wheels.” It seems evasive to pretend this is all just random.
The context is the usual thing: some person writes something critical about the new atheists; new atheists go berserk; the mob arrives; insults are flung around;
“New atheists go berserk” is an exaggeration. One, the people who commented here and on McLaren’s post … Read the rest
Classifying ‘corrective rape’ as a hate crime
Jun 2nd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Seventeen years into its democracy, South Africa should not be tolerating crimes of this nature.… Read the rest
Alan Johnson on Slavoj Žižek’s Theory of Revolution
Jun 2nd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
What is being described here is fanaticism and it licenses within Žižek’s thought what John Holbo has called Žižek’s ‘towering un-thoughtfulness’.… Read the rest
Catholic doctors offer homeopathic ‘gay treatment’
Jun 2nd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
In Germany the Union of Catholic Physicians has been offering homeopathic “Therapy Options for Homosexuality” on their website.… Read the rest
Guy has himself buried alive, dies by mistake
Jun 2nd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
He thought being buried alive for a night would bring him luck.… Read the rest
Everybody wins
Jun 1st, 2011 5:17 pm | By Ophelia BensonManal al-Sharif, age 32, drives a car. Manal al-Sharif goes to jail. Manal al-Sharif is released from jail upon signing an undertaking never to do such an outrageous thing again.
… Read the rest“Concerning the topic of women’s driving, I will leave it up to our leader in whose discretion I entirely trust, to weigh the pros and cons and reach a decision that will take into consideration the best interests of the people, while also being pleasing to Allah, and in line with divine law,” she said, according to a translation of her statement.
“On this happy occasion, I would also like to affirm that never in my life had I been anything beside a Muslim, Saudi woman who aspires to
A friend remembers Saleem Shahzad
Jun 1st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
His book on “Inside Taliban and Al-Qaeda” was about to be published and it was going to name names. Some of his colleagues suspect intelligence agencies.… Read the rest
Committee to Protect Journalists presses Pakistan
Jun 1st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“The protection of journalists is in my mandate,” you told us.… Read the rest
Journalists rally to condemn murder of Saleem Shahzad
Jun 1st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Shahzad wrote his last article in the aftermath of the attack on PNS Mehran, which revealed al Qaeda infiltration in the navy.… Read the rest
Manal al-Sharif released after promising not to drive
Jun 1st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“I will leave it up to our leader to reach a decision that will consider the best interests of the people, while also being pleasing to Allah, and in line with divine law.”… Read the rest
“We’ve Never Seen Such Horror”
Jun 1st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Victims and witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch described systematic killings, beatings, torture using electroshock devices, and detention of the injured.… Read the rest
