All entries by this author

Birther Billboard Stirs ‘Debate’ *

Nov 23rd, 2009 | Filed by

No it doesn’t. Invented ‘facts’ don’t stir debate, because there’s nothing to debate.… Read the rest



Where we have human rights we would not have in Muslim nations

Nov 23rd, 2009 11:32 am | By

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown is having a hard time putting things together.

Among western elites – artistic, political, scientific, media – I notice more expressions of abhorrence of Islam and its diverse adherents than ever before…Influential anti-Muslim voices are no longer bothering with nuance. Douglas J Hagmann, director of the non-governmental Northeast Intelligence Network in the US writes: “The latest murderous rampage should be enough to illustrate that Islam is totally incompatible with freedom, democracy and the western culture.” I wonder how many of my British friends think exactly this…Radical Islamists peddle partial narratives about the Crusades, forgetting the Nato interventions to save Bosnian Muslims from genocide and the fact that millions of us would never leave the West where we

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Cognitive Shortcomings of Belief in God *

Nov 22nd, 2009 | Filed by

There are no good reasons to believe that reality is split between two categorically different realms.… Read the rest



The Onion: Montessori School of Dentistry *

Nov 22nd, 2009 | Filed by

Students are encouraged to break away from medical tradition and discover their very own root canal procedures. … Read the rest



Nick Cohen Asks: Where Are the New Atheists? *

Nov 22nd, 2009 | Filed by

When we need them, as the government tries once again to ride the Islamist tiger.… Read the rest



Shock: Vicar Criticizes Atheist Bus Campaign *

Nov 22nd, 2009 | Filed by

Who are the BHA to tell parents to stop labeling their children? Who is Jan Ainsworth to tell the BHA to stop?… Read the rest



John Denham Talks Sickening Bossy Nonsense *

Nov 22nd, 2009 | Filed by

‘As communities secretary I am formally responsible for the government’s engagement with faith communities.’… Read the rest



Sentimental bullying

Nov 22nd, 2009 10:22 am | By

John Denham really does talk the most rebarbative kack.

As communities secretary I am formally responsible for the government’s engagement with faith communities. Lacking some depth of knowledge I set about recruiting a panel of advisors (retained on an expenses-only basis) to advise me on relations with these communities.

And to encourage him to think in communalist terms and to use the word ‘community’ a minimum of six times whenever he opens his mouth, lest any foolish person somehow lose track of the fact that New Labour is obsessed with ‘communities’ to the point of insanity.

Outside of polemic is the real question of how a modern government should relate to the fact of faith. One view is that

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Don’t cross that line

Nov 21st, 2009 12:46 pm | By

Massimo Pigliucci is patrolling the borders again.

Take, for instance, my recurring argument that some (but not all!) of the “new atheists” engage in scientistic attitudes by overplaying the epistemological power of science while downplaying (or even simply negating) the notion that science fundamentally depends on non-empirical (i.e., philosophical) assumptions to even get started.

But if science depends on those assumptions why aren’t those assumptions simply part of science? Why aren’t the assumptions part of what is meant by the word ‘science’?

We already have science to help us solve scientific problems, philosophy does something else by using different tools, so why compare apples and oranges?

But if science rests on philosophical assumptions, then philosophy doesn’t (exclusively) do something … Read the rest



John Gray on the Leninist Cabaret *

Nov 21st, 2009 | Filed by

Zizek is at least honest, while Hardt and Negri mix strangulated jargon and toe-curling uplift.… Read the rest



Russell Blackford on the Move to Ban Blasphemy *

Nov 21st, 2009 | Filed by

Deep concern about the implications for freedom of speech is totally appropriate. … Read the rest



Ben Goldacre on a Delayed Warning *

Nov 21st, 2009 | Filed by

A story about how risk information is disseminated to patients and doctors, and how it can be disappeared.… Read the rest



R Joseph Hoffmann Reviews Karen Armstrong *

Nov 21st, 2009 | Filed by

Armstrong, friend to all religion, needs to write less and read more. And think about what she reads.… Read the rest



The Manufacture of Conspiracy Theory *

Nov 21st, 2009 | Filed by

Chomsky, free speech, the Bosnian Serb camps, ITN v Living Marxism, Moral Maze.… Read the rest



The Problem of the Oblivious White Male Atheist *

Nov 20th, 2009 | Filed by

The women of atheism seem to be semi-invisible.… Read the rest



UK: Many Muslim Schools Out of Money *

Nov 20th, 2009 | Filed by

Non-state Muslim ‘faith schools’ may close; some parents may send children to Pakistan.… Read the rest



Archbishop to Pope: We Disagree *

Nov 20th, 2009 | Filed by

About women, and about other things. Maybe this ecumenical stuff won’t work after all.… Read the rest



Algeria, Pakistan et al. Seek Blasphemy Ban *

Nov 20th, 2009 | Filed by

The OIC countries are lobbying a UN committee to agree that a treaty protecting religions is necessary.… Read the rest



Behind the Public Face of Scientology *

Nov 20th, 2009 | Filed by

Scientology is a joke, but people still subscribe to its pseudo-Freudian science fiction beliefs. … Read the rest



Peter Tatchell on Tomorrow’s ‘No Sharia’ Rally *

Nov 20th, 2009 | Filed by

‘The religious right, which exists in all faiths, is a serious threat to human freedom wherever it manifests itself.’… Read the rest