All entries by this author

James Kirchick on Bruce Crumley on Charlie Hebdo *

Nov 12th, 2011 | Filed by

What made Crumley’s entry into the genre singularly poisonous is that it was written by a working journalist, not an academic, politician, or anti-“Islamophobia” activist.… Read the rest



PSU protesters blindly ignore real victims *

Nov 12th, 2011 | Filed by

Petulant chants of “One more game” and “We want JoePa” united the crowd in a  bond of youthful stupidity and shortsightedness… Read the rest



How is college football like the Catholic church? *

Nov 12th, 2011 | Filed by

The football program at Penn State was so sacrosanct as to be almost untouchable.… Read the rest



Spiked sneers at humane animal slaughter law *

Nov 12th, 2011 | Filed by

Portrays it as a “sign of religious intolerance.” What the animals might think is not mentioned.… Read the rest



Separation of church and state essential for civil liberties *

Nov 12th, 2011 | Filed by

“When we are dragging religion into politics, then we are not searching for  truth, but we do it to support our agenda in order to preserve our position.”… Read the rest



Go all fucking Gandhi on their arses

Nov 11th, 2011 5:46 pm | By

Hipster guy tells Rebecca Watson what’s what. Really funny stuff that nobody’s thought of saying before, like hey you’re an adult and you’re all upset that some guy wanted to fuck you, grow up, people like to fuck, especially at 4 a.m. See what I mean? Witty.

Tim Minchin commented. Hmph. Rebecca has all the fun – well, except for being called a cunt 85 times a day. Anyway Tim Minchin commented.

No permalink – how tiresome. Use CTRL F.

I stay in a lot of hotels and travel in a lot of elevators. They are very helpful, what with their elevating properties and all. Sometimes, I am in an elevator with a woman. Just me and her. In

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Kurt Metzger totally pwns Rebecca Watson *

Nov 11th, 2011 | Filed by

Then Tim Minchin says go all fucking Gandhi. Even if you hate them. Little glasses, sandals, chilling out and drinking chai. Trying not to have sex with your great niece. Lovely.… Read the rest



Colbert defends the religious right to bully *

Nov 11th, 2011 | Filed by

“That’s not me, that’s God, the all-knowing all-loving creator who made all things and hates some of them.”… Read the rest



“Reformed” atheist turned rabbi says religion is good *

Nov 11th, 2011 | Filed by

This is all a real search for something transcendent because that transcendence exists in the world.… Read the rest



Prepare for FTB outage

Nov 11th, 2011 2:45 pm | By

There is a big upgrade in the works for tonight so FTB will be down for 2 to 3 hours starting at 7 pm my time which is 10 pm in New York and 3 am in London and…I’m not sure what time in Sydney. Late morning or noonish maybe – yes that should be right – it’s late there when it’s early for me and early there when it’s late for me, so around midday should be close.

4 hours and a quarter from now, anyway.… Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Ethan Clow on CFI, skepticism, and women *

Nov 11th, 2011 | Filed by

It’s been reported that CFI Vancouver, and presumably CFI Canada, have decided not to sponsor feminist-skeptical meet ups.… Read the rest



More personhood for zygotes *

Nov 11th, 2011 | Filed by

64 Republicans are pushing a bill that would extend personhood to all zygotes in America.… Read the rest



Whether it is morally outrageous to suppose

Nov 11th, 2011 2:11 pm | By

Andrew Brown goes out of his way to misunderstand William Lane Craig and Richard Dawkins on William Lane Craig. Does he really misunderstand or is he just playing silly buggers? I often think coat-trailing is all Andrew Brown ever does. He only does it to annoy, because he knows it teases.

What he misunderstands is the part about the slaughtered children of Canaan.

…if we believe, as I do, that God’s grace is extended to those who die in infancy or as small children, the death of these children was actually their salvation. We are so wedded to an earthly, naturalistic perspective that we forget that those who die are happy to quit this earth for heaven’s incomparable

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



It’s the spook or nothing, punk

Nov 11th, 2011 12:25 pm | By

I should at least read to the end before I throw a verbal punch, but you know sometimes it just can’t wait. Rabbi Adam Jacobs, ornamenting the Huffington Post with his wisdom.

He just doesn’t get it about believers, he confides. They keep making him jump with surprise.

 Often, I’ve inquired of non-believers if it at all vexes them that nothing that they have ever done or will ever do will make the slightest difference to anyone on any level?

Stupid man. He thinks because we don’t believe in the omni-god, we believe nothing makes any difference to anyone on any level. He thinks either there’s an omni-god, or nothing makes any difference to anyone on any level. On Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Rabbi Adam Jacobs asks damn fool questions *

Nov 10th, 2011 | Filed by

“Often, I’ve inquired of non-believers if it at all vexes them that nothing that they have ever done or will ever do will make the slightest difference to anyone on any level?”… Read the rest



Suzanne Moore on internet misogynists *

Nov 10th, 2011 | Filed by

This is a conversation we needed to have a long time ago. Let’s talk.… Read the rest



Sandals with socks? A whiff of wet dog?

Nov 10th, 2011 3:16 pm | By

Another rather heavy-breathing piece by Julian in his “Heathen’s Progress” series. Once again he’s saying very much what “new” atheists have been saying all along, so why is it again that he’s so annoyed by “the new atheists”? Loud voices was it? Bad haircuts? Garlic breath?

I’m very much in sympathy with this view*, and this series is largely an attempt to try to find more constructive points of engagement that can only emerge if we ditch lazy and tired preconceptions about those with whom we disagree. At the same time, however, I’m all too aware that “you just don’t understand” is a card that is often played far too swiftly and without justification.

On the one hand, but on … Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



After she was raped, she was charged with adultery

Nov 10th, 2011 2:13 pm | By

The EU commissioned a documentary film on women in Afghanistan who get shoved into prison for doing outrageous things like leaving abusive “husbands” they never wanted to marry in the first place. The documentary was duly made, at which point the EU got cold feet and said on second thought let’s put this documentary in a locked drawer and never think about it again.

The documentary told the story of a 19-year-old prisoner called Gulnaz.

After she was raped, she was charged with adultery. Her baby girl, born
following the rape, is serving her sentence with her.

“At first my sentence was two years,” Gulnaz said, as her baby coughed in her
arms. “When I appealed it became 12

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Rick Perry wants to close all the things *

Nov 10th, 2011 | Filed by

Only he can’t remember what they are.… Read the rest



EU withdraws its own film on Afghan women prisoners *

Nov 10th, 2011 | Filed by

Half of Afghanistan’s women prisoners are there for being victims of rape or forced marriage or violence or all three.… Read the rest