‘Do not dismiss religion and believe in the traditional wisdom of science. We have to be wary of scienticism.’ [link fixed]… Read the rest
All entries by this author
The incredible disappearing god
Nov 15th, 2009 5:25 pm | By Ophelia BensonYou know how people like Armstrong and Eagleton and – well most of the ‘we hate the new atheists’ crowd are always saying that the ‘new’ atheists are clueless and naïve and stupid and wrong to talk about that literal God that is a person who lives in the sky and answers prayers that nobody believes in and that according to Armstrong most people always did not believe in? You know, right? Well somebody forgot to tell philosophers, apparently, because the ones who wrote essays for Philosophers Without Gods talk about that literal God. They don’t talk about the God that is the ground of being, or the God that is a sign for something beyond whatever – they talk … Read the rest
The Misery of Australia’s Child Migrants
Nov 15th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonChildren were deported from Britain without parents’ consent, handed over to abuse by the Christian Brothers.… Read the rest
Ian McKellen on Religion and Gay Rights
Nov 15th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘I increasingly see organized religion as actually my enemy. They treat me as their enemy.’… Read the rest
CFI Issues Statement by Ibn Warraq on Ft Hood
Nov 15th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonTo pretend that Islam has nothing to do with the Fort Hood massacre is willfully to ignore the obvious. … Read the rest
Battered Caroline Rescued from her Assailants
Nov 15th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonShe is four years old; for months she has gone from village to village to escape those who seek her death. … Read the rest
Nigeria: Humanists Against Witch Killing
Nov 15th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonRead it and weep.… Read the rest
A Prisoner of Gender Apartheid
Nov 15th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonDespite Saudi claims of reform, women continue to be treated as a lower species.… Read the rest
Greek Church Upset About Crucifix Ban
Nov 15th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonArchbishop Ieronymos frets that the court is ignoring ‘the role of Christianity in forming Europe’s identity.’… Read the rest
Rally Against Sharia London November 21
Nov 15th, 2009 | By Maryam Namazie, One Law for AllOne Law for All campaign is organising a rally on Saturday 21 November 2009 at 1200pm in London’s Hyde Park. The rally aims to oppose religious laws in Britain and elsewhere, show solidarity with people living under and resisting Sharia, and to defend universal rights and secularism.
Simultaneous acts of solidarity and support for the rally and its aims will take place in countries across the world including Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Kenya, Nigeria, Serbia and Montenegro and Sweden.
Moreover, winners of the campaign’s art competition exposing the discriminatory nature of religious law and promoting freedom and equal rights will be announced at the event.
One Law for All Spokesperson, Maryam Namazie, commented, ‘Sharia law is becoming a … Read the rest
Idylls of childhood
Nov 15th, 2009 11:59 am | By Ophelia BensonMeanwhile Nigeria has a different child abuse problem. Small children are accused of being witches and if they’re lucky turn up at the CRARN center scarred and emaciated. Nwanakwo, age 9, had acid poured down his throat by his father after a pastor at a prayer meeting told him he was a witch. Sam Ikpe-Itauma, president of the Child’s Right and Rehabilitation Network (CRARN) in Akwa Ibom State bids him a sad and angry good-bye.… Read the rest
Cheap (white) labour for the commonwealth
Nov 15th, 2009 11:29 am | By Ophelia BensonApparently the British government after World War II deported a lot of children to Australia without their parents’ permission. I did not know this.
On arrival in Australia, the policy was to separate brothers and sisters. And many of the young children ended up in what felt like labour camps, where they were physically, psychologically and often sexually abused.
Did they indeed – well doesn’t that sound familiar.
… Read the restIn testimony before a British parliamentary committee in the late 1990s, one boy spoke of the criminal abuse he was subjected at the hands of Catholic priests at Tardun in Western Australia. A number of Christian brothers competed between themselves to see who could rape him 100 times first, the boy said.
Just point to the right page
Nov 14th, 2009 12:30 pm | By Ophelia BensonSuppose the Nazis are out looking for Jews, and they ask you where some Jews are, and you know – what do you do? Do you lie, or do you say ‘yes, I know, they’re in the cellar at number 22 Goethestrasse’? Well let’s think about it, says Bodie Hodge of Answers in Genesis. Jesus said (Mark 12:28-31) that the first commandment is to love God and the second is to love your neighbor, so the first trumps the second (because Jesus said so Mark 12:28-31).
… Read the restJesus tells us that all the commandments can be summed up into these two statements. But of these two, the first is to love the LORD your God with all
Answers in Genesis on Lying to the Nazis
Nov 14th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe first commandment is to love God; that means obey God; God said don’t lie; that’s the answer.… Read the rest
The Onion: US Deports Lou Dobbs
Nov 14th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonCNN comments: ‘He was willing to take the job most American newscasters didn’t want.’… Read the rest
Ideology Does Not Equate to Insanity
Nov 14th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIt can be, and often is, all too coherent.… Read the rest
Passionate Defender Of Imaginary Constitution
Nov 14th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHis admiration for the vague half-notions he calls the Constitution has only grown over time.… Read the rest
Arkansas Boy Age 10 Takes a Stand on Principle
Nov 14th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHe refuses to ‘pledge allegiance’ until there really is liberty and justice for all.… Read the rest
The Holocaust and Common Humanity
Nov 14th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonCommon humanity impelled Muslims to sacrifice their lives for everyone’s freedom in WW II; Ahmadinejad undermines that.… Read the rest
Water on the Moon
Nov 14th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘Here at Goddard the auditorium erupted in cheers.’… Read the rest