On the peculiar form of naïve rationalism that currently labels itself the ‘rational actor’ approach.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
16 Organizations Rebuke Yale Over Motoons
Dec 12th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonACLU and others sign statement chastising Yale for not including the cartoons in Jytte Klausen’s book.… Read the rest
Victims Left Cold by Pope’s Statement
Dec 12th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘No one has taken responsibility for what went on in Dublin. There is no accountability.’… Read the rest
Jesus and Mo Want Tolerance
Dec 12th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAnd the barmaid to cover up.… Read the rest
Jesus and Mo and the Bloody New Atheists
Dec 12th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAlways asking how we know what we claim to know – it’s so obnoxious.… Read the rest
Accountability
Dec 12th, 2009 11:01 am | By Ophelia BensonThe victims of the Catholic church also see the pope’s eyewash as self-serving and beside the point – and above all as a gross evasion of accountability.
… Read the restMarie Collins, who was abused in 1960 by a priest when she was a patient at Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children…pointed out the statement “doesn’t deal with the past. No one has taken responsibility for what went on in Dublin. There is no accountability.”…Andrew Madden, who was abused by Ivan Payne when he was an altar boy in Dublin’s Cabra parish…[said it was] “self-serving nonsense”…and he for one, as a survivor, hadn’t asked for prayers. “And they say they listen to survivors?” The statement was “an attempt to deflect attention away from
Diddums
Dec 11th, 2009 12:45 pm | By Ophelia BensonReally. Really. There is a limit.
After meeting Ireland’s most senior Catholic clerics in Rome, Pope Benedict said he shared the outrage, betrayal and shame felt by so many of the faithful in the country.
Don’t insult us. Don’t insult everyone over the age of two. Don’t insult the victims of your horrible tyrannical authoritarian unaccountable church. Don’t talk self-serving self-flattering nonsense. Don’t pretend you’re all shocked and upset and distraught now when this crap has been going on for decades upon decades! Don’t pretend you’ve only just found out about it. Come on, Ben – you know we know that’s ridiculous – so don’t insult us.
The Vatican said ‘the Holy Father was deeply disturbed and distressed.’ … Read the rest
Spain: Men Planned to Stone a Woman to Death
Dec 11th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonNine men kidnapped a woman, held her prisoner, and sentenced her to death by stoning for ‘adultery.’… Read the rest
Religion and Jurisprudence
Dec 11th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSix of the nine Supreme Court justices are Catholics, but it’s impermissible to talk about that.… Read the rest
Greta Christina on the Atheist Ladies’ Auxiliary
Dec 11th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWomen don’t want to argue about what’s true, we just want to get along. Not.… Read the rest
Pope ‘Distressed’ by Irish Child Abuse Report
Dec 11th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonNow that it’s all been public, he expresses ‘his profound regret.’ Too late, diddums.… Read the rest
Irish Abortion Law in the Dock
Dec 10th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIreland’s AG pleaded with judges to accept that Ireland’s abortion laws sprang from ‘profound moral values.’… Read the rest
Bishop of Limerick Resigns Over Abuse Scandal
Dec 10th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHe was a professor of moral theology with a particular expertise in ethics; the report said he acted ‘inexcusably.’… Read the rest
Are We Better Off Without Religion?
Dec 10th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonGregory Paul’s research suggests that popular religious belief is caused by dysfunctional social conditions.… Read the rest
See-no-evil Piety Controls the Abortion Debate
Dec 10th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBy making women fearful to open their mouths, the anti-abortionists have won already.… Read the rest
Women Challenge Irish Abortion Ban in Court
Dec 10th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonLawyers argue that the ban breaches several articles of the European convention on human rights.… Read the rest
The Many Ways Africans are Dying
Dec 10th, 2009 | By Leo IgweThe Nigerian author, Ben Okri in his book, A Way of Being Free, said, “There are many ways to die, and not all of them have to do with extinction. A lot of them have to do with living. Living many lies. Living without asking questions. Living in the cave of your own prejudices. Living the life imposed on you, the dreams and codes of your ancestors.” I quite agree with him. The author did not make specific reference to any nation, race or continent. But any time I read this piece, it seems to me as if he is addressing Africans. Because I think Africans are dying in so many ways, in ways that many of them do … Read the rest
Let’s get snitty
Dec 9th, 2009 4:28 pm | By Ophelia BensonJust to be thorough about it, I also disagree with Hemant Mehta. (I’m not crazy about his title, for one thing – it implies that atheists in general are not ‘friendly’ and perhaps that they are hostile and mean and crabby.) He starts out well, pointing out that ‘aggressive’ and ‘friendly’ atheists actually want the same things and aren’t as distinct as Stephen Prothero claims. But then…
The difference is that the “aggressive” types don’t care who they offend. They’ll go after religion in all its forms — it doesn’t matter if they criticize the Vatican or the local church down the street or your sweet neighbor who happens to be religious.
That just isn’t true. It just … Read the rest
You gave a simply lovely speech, dear
Dec 9th, 2009 12:11 pm | By Ophelia BensonI’m late in doing a meany-atheist dance on Stephen Prothero’s sweet little valentine to the laydeez but here it is anyway.
Today, most Americans associate unbelief with the old-boys network of New Atheists, but there is a new generation of unbelievers emerging, some of them women and most of them far friendlier than Hitchens and his ilk. Although the arguments of angry men gave this movement birth, it could be the stories of women that allow it to grow up.
So men are angry and women are friendly. So angry is the opposite of friendly and vice versa. Well that’s wrong for a start – it’s perfectly possible for people to be both. Being angry about particular things does not … Read the rest
Marcotte on Sexism and Atheist-baiting Combined
Dec 9th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWhether or not there is a god is not a matter of personal preference or inherent tendencies.… Read the rest