All entries by this author

Robert Fisk on a vicious patriarchal system *

Sep 7th, 2010 | Filed by

Forced to marry her own rapist, Hanan now lives in terror of losing her son – and of being murdered by her family.… Read the rest



“Psychic” says a sanctuary croc ate 2 missing children *

Sep 7th, 2010 | Filed by

So many of the crocs in the sanctuary were killed, and the sanctuary was demolished. Good work.… Read the rest



Robert Fisk on “honour” killings *

Sep 7th, 2010 | Filed by

How should one react to a man who rapes his own daughter and, when she becomes pregnant, kills her to save the “honour” of his family?… Read the rest



Muslim stonemason models for church gargoyle *

Sep 7th, 2010 | Filed by

A far-right group pitches a fit; no one else is perturbed.… Read the rest



Bernard-Henri Lévy updates news on Ashtiani *

Sep 7th, 2010 | Filed by

Only one thing, in fact, is sure. The stoning has been suspended, not canceled.… Read the rest



What about evidence?

Sep 6th, 2010 5:23 pm | By

I don’t understand what Tim Crane is trying to say. Maybe it’s just the usual (the ingredients of which are present): religion isn’t science, it’s about meaning; the end. Maybe, but Crane says more than that, and some of what he says doesn’t go well with “religion isn’t science, it’s about meaning.”

Atheists, he says, ask for evidence for religious claims, and reject the claims when the evidence is not forthcoming. Yes that’s right. Then he says in their view those claims are

a bit like scientific hypotheses. In other words, they are claims — like the claim that God created the world — that are supported by evidence, that are proved by arguments and tested against our experience

Read the rest


52 victim cards per deck

Sep 6th, 2010 12:59 pm | By

The Catholic church is pitching another fit, this time complaining that the BBC is anti-Christian and liberal and secular when it should be pro-Catholic and reactionary and theocratic like – well like the Catholic church.

Cardinal Keith O’Brien said the BBC’s news coverage is contaminated by “a radically secular and socially liberal mindset”…

“Senior news managers have admitted to the Catholic church that a radically secular and socially liberal mindset pervades their newsrooms. This sadly taints BBC news and current affairs coverage of religious issues, particularly matters of Christian beliefs.”

They certainly do think they’re owed a great deal of deference and air time, don’t they, especially for people who are mired in an institutional scandal about pervasive child-rape and … Read the rest



Cardinal says BBC has anti-Christian bias *

Sep 6th, 2010 | Filed by

Complains of “a radically secular and socially liberal mindset”; demands more air time for clerics.… Read the rest



Tim Crane on religion, mystery and evidence *

Sep 6th, 2010 | Filed by

Science and religion are different, yet religions rest on historical claims, but – uh – whatever.… Read the rest



Vatican tools say gay marriage is like decaf coffee *

Sep 6th, 2010 | Filed by

“A gay relationship is like decaffeinated coffee, you do not wake up,” said a priest/bioethics professor at Regina Apostolorum U.… Read the rest



Lose Your Illusion: Essays by Joumana Haddad

Sep 5th, 2010 | By Max Dunbar

Here are a few statistics you may or may not be familiar with. The 2002 Arab Human Development Report estimated that the Arab world translates around 330 books annually, one fifth of the number translated by Greece. Taking the long view, the authors also estimated that the Arab world had translated 100,000 books since the Caliph Ma’mun in the ninth century. This is just under the average number translated by Spain in a year. How many books are actually produced? We don’t really know. While they admitted that there were ‘no reliable figures’, the researchers indicated that ‘many indicators suggest a severe shortage of writing; a large share of the market consists of religious books and educational publications that are … Read the rest



From the other direction

Sep 5th, 2010 3:34 pm | By

Here’s something a good deal better than the BBC and its revolting pandering to the mullahs in Iran and their friends – here is Network against honour related violence. I met a splendid woman who works with it – perhaps she founded it and runs it, I’m not sure – at the book launch in Stockholm. The launch took place starting at 7 pm the day I arrived, so my memory had gone to bed by that time – I don’t remember most of the launch very clearly. This means I don’t remember what she told me, or if she told me her name, or what I told her, apart from something about wanting to be sure to retain … Read the rest



The BBC defends the mullahs, silences their critics

Sep 5th, 2010 11:40 am | By

Update: RDF provides the video for non-UK viewers, so I’ve seen it now, and so can you.

The BBC has outdone itself this time. BBC1’s Sunday Live did a programme on whether it is right to condemn the Iranian regime for the stoning of Ashtiani. Maryam Namazie was supposed to take part (and it is not difficult to guess what she would have said, and how firmly she would have said it), but somehow the programme never got around to her. It did get around to two people who said the other thing, but it did not get around to Maryam. Yes that’s right. It found the time to talk to two apologists for the fascist reactionary mullahs’ regime in … Read the rest



Mark Vernon tells such a cute little story *

Sep 5th, 2010 | Filed by

All about Stephen Hawking, and his daddy, and not knowing where everything came from, and the name for that is “God.”… Read the rest



The Guardian endorses God *

Sep 5th, 2010 | Filed by

God is too superior to be interested in our arguments about “Him” but the Graun knows all there is to know on the subject.… Read the rest



BBC’s pathetic coverage of stoning in Iran *

Sep 5th, 2010 | Filed by

Talked to two people defending stoning but somehow never got to Maryam Namazie.… Read the rest



Ashtiani receives new sentence of 99 lashes *

Sep 5th, 2010 | Filed by

Because the Times published a picture purportedly of her without a headscarf.… Read the rest



Interview with Ashtiani’s son Sajjad *

Sep 4th, 2010 | Filed by

The outside pressure works. “You’re all we have. There is no one else, except for you, to give us a hand.”… Read the rest



Atheists are murderers and terrorists *

Sep 4th, 2010 | Filed by

PZ Myers “vandalized sacred religious property”; run for your lives.… Read the rest



Kenan Malik reviews Tariq Ramadan *

Sep 4th, 2010 | Filed by

There is a willfull shallowness about this work, a refusal to think deeply or to pose difficult questions, that is truly shocking. … Read the rest