Will the new coalition government think twice about welcoming this ghastly bigot to the UK?… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Pope denounces abortion and gay marriage
May 14th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonInexplicably, he still assumes he is a moral authority.… Read the rest
Paul Anderson responds to City University Islamic Society
May 13th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAll speaker meetings held on university premises should allow participation by all members of the university.… Read the rest
Peculiar George
May 13th, 2010 5:21 pm | By Ophelia BensonMore Pitcher. He’s an embarrassment to the Anglican church and to the Telegraph (whether the Anglican church and the Telegraph know it or not) so let’s by all means rub it in.
He was so pleased with his stupid abusive self-admiring reply to Sholto Byrnes that he re-posted it on the Telegraph blog. Well all right then, that makes it worth ridiculing.
(I’m doing what I’m criticizing him for doing, of course, and I do it all the time. But 1) I’m not an Anglican vicar 2) I write more restrainedly when I write on other people’s sites and 3) I do it better than he does. Plus did I mention I’m not a vicar?)
He starts by alluding … Read the rest
Therapists want to be free to…whatever
May 13th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonFox, henhouse.… Read the rest
“Nicky”?
May 13th, 2010 12:36 pm | By Ophelia BensonI think I’m going to start being more thorough about observing the antics of George Pitcher. I find him really remarkable, and all the more so because he’s an Anglican vicar. He’s such a bizarre ambassador for his institution.
Yesterday he extruded a little heap of sneers at Nick Clegg and atheism and Nick Clegg’s atheism.
One aspect of this new Con-Dem Government that hasn’t got an airing yet is that David Cameron is a devout Christian and his new deputy-dawg Nick Clegg is an atheist…I’ve had a right ear-bashing from Nicky’s press office in the past for describing his atheism as “numbskull”. I’m sorry, I’m sure he’s up there with AC Grayling and Dr Simon Heffer.
Really. This is … Read the rest
Psychotherapists must address failure of self-regulation
May 13th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThousands of psychotherapists are considering adopting new titles to avoid government regulation.… Read the rest
More impressive eloquence from George Pitcher
May 13th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson“I’ve had a right ear-bashing from Nicky’s press office in the past for describing his atheism as ‘numbskull’.” … Read the rest
MEMRI on Iran’s enforcement of hijab
May 13th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson“Sister, sister, the reward for wearing the hijab is Paradise,” “Violating the Islamic dress code leads to the spread of corruption.”… Read the rest
Michael Totten talks to Paul Berman
May 13th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe Flight of the Intellectuals begins and ends with Tariq Ramadan, who has been glorifed by the people who talk trash about Ayaan Hirsi Ali.… Read the rest
Brave new world
May 12th, 2010 6:30 pm | By Ophelia BensonAnd then there’s this whole idea that we can make morality a science by basing it on universal desire for well-being.
One problem with that is that we don’t all have the same view of what constitutes well-being, to say the least. We don’t agree on what constitutes well-being in general and we certainly don’t agree on what constitutes it for self as opposed to other.
And suppose someone did come up with a survey that found – convincingly – that aggregate well-being was higher when women were more or less forced, by the lack of opportunity to do anything else, to be wives and mothers and nothing else, and lower when they had wider opportunities and correspondingly more freedom. … Read the rest
The detention and execution of Shirin Alam Holi
May 12th, 2010 | By Shirin Alam HoliShirin Alam Holi, born in 1981 in a small village near Maku, was executed in Evin Prison on May 9th 2010 after passing one year and nine months in prison. She was charged with cooperating with Pajak (the Iranian branch of PKK) on Nov. 29th 2009 and sentenced to death. Her lawyer and family had no information about her execution.
Shirin was arrested in June 2008 in Tehran by Sepah Pasdaran and transferred to Evin Prison after 21 days interrogation and torture in an unknown place. She described what happened to her completely in a letter which she gave to her family. In this letter she related many physical as well as mental pressures she endured during the interrogation and … Read the rest
George Rekers resigns in wake of rent boy fuss
May 12th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonDan Savage suggests that the term “whatever floats your boat” be changed to “whatever lifts your luggage”.… Read the rest
The new war between science and religion
May 12th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThis one pits those who argue that science and religion are compatible worldviews against those who think they are not.… Read the rest
Rick Ungar on Palin’s ignorance of history
May 12th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe truth is that nowhere in the United States Constitution can you find the word “God”.… Read the rest
Lars Vilks attacked during free speech lecture
May 12th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonUppsala police say about 20 people tried to attack Vilks. He was shoved into a wall, but is unhurt. … Read the rest
Byrnes on Harris, Pitcher on Pitcher
May 11th, 2010 5:13 pm | By Ophelia BensonSholto Byrnes did a nice job of defending Evan Harris.
… Read the restA consistently strong voice for the NHS and for science, he shared the title of “Secularist of the Year” with Lord Avebury in 2009 for their work in helping abolish the offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel. He has campaigned against faith schools and argued courageously in favour of abortion, euthanasia, immigration and gay rights…I think he has been one of the most principled MPs in parliament, sticking to his convictions and standing up for a true-liberal view of free speech and of the idea of liberty itself.
The fact that some of the policies he advocates led “one Labour MP” in this peculiarly nasty Daily Mail profile to
Kenan Malik reviews What Darwin Got Wrong
May 11th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIronically, it is Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini who confuse artificial and natural selection.… Read the rest
Theory was no hoax
May 11th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIt was intended as the most imperialist of cognitive campaigns, having designs on all the disciplines.… Read the rest