‘is the responsibility of our own people to fight for their rights, to achieve values like democracy and women’s rights.’… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Islam, Women, Double Standards, the West
Jul 23rd, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe argument about chastity in Christianity and Islam is undermined by the difference in outcomes for women.… Read the rest
Malaysian Court Sentences Woman to Whipping
Jul 23rd, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonShe drank beer in a nightclub. Six strokes of the cane and a $1400 fine.… Read the rest
Mirror mirror on the wall
Jul 22nd, 2009 12:03 pm | By Ophelia BensonRussell Blackford said in More on H.E. Baber’s piece in The Guardian that yes there are such people as knee-jerk atheists, who are far less nuanced and thoughtful than Dennett and Dawkins and so on, but –
… Read the restBut that is inevitable. What movement doesn’t attract a lot of people who adopt a relatively crude version of its ideas? It’s very unfair to write in a way that perpetuates the myth that Dennett, Dawkins, etc., themselves are unnuanced and dogmatic. Any fair reading of their work shows the opposite. If anything, there is now some urgency in dispelling that myth, which is not only unfair but also making it more difficult for the individuals concerned to get a decent hearing, i.e.
Historians Misrepresented by Creationists
Jul 22nd, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPhil Bell, CEO of Creationist Ministries UK, acknowledged that Fathom Media was established as a front company.… Read the rest
Creationist Film Company Tricks 3 Historians
Jul 22nd, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonFathom Media was revealed to be a subsidiary of Creation Ministries International.… Read the rest
Greg Fish on Mooney and Kirshenbaum
Jul 22nd, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThis is another case of picking on a minority rather than telling the truth.… Read the rest
Fairies at the Bottom of the Schoolyard
Jul 22nd, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonA tour of Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophical Twilight Zone.… Read the rest
Steiner Schools and the Diversity Agenda
Jul 22nd, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘Disagreement would not be allowed to frustrate the government’s plans to meet its intentions under the diversity agenda.’… Read the rest
Jeffrey Shallit on Stephen Meyer’s Problem
Jul 22nd, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIt has to do with telling the truth.… Read the rest
Steven Pinker to the Boston Globe
Jul 22nd, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonShame on you for publishing two creationist op-eds in two years from the Discovery Institute.… Read the rest
Johann Hari on ‘Bruno’ and Missing the Point
Jul 22nd, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBaron Cohen is taking a prejudiced position to its logical conclusion, in order to expose its absurdity.… Read the rest
Express your opinions forcefully and colourfully
Jul 21st, 2009 12:03 pm | By Ophelia BensonI haven’t said enough yet about Sholto Byrnes. I’ve said a little, but that little was a mere note – a mere listing of the things he said about Does God Hate Women? that were not true. I’m not sure that was quite adequate. I’m not going to say all that I could say about Sholto Byrnes, but I am going to add a little something.
For instance I’m going to point out that his vituperative and inaccurate review was apparently not enough for him; he had to take another swipe, just in passing, while talking about a different book.
Armstrong’s god is beyond our little explanations etc etc; ‘any suggestion of literalism is to fall into a … Read the rest
Jerry Coyne on NSF Funding and the Golden Age
Jul 21st, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThere is no indication that there was a post-Sputnik “golden age of science” that has now vanished.… Read the rest
Sholto Byrnes Reviews Karen Armstrong
Jul 21st, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAnd takes a gratuitous swipe at ‘Does God Hate Women?’ while he’s at it. … Read the rest
OB Chats With The New Statesman
Jul 21st, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonCo-author of the new book Does God Hate Women? discusses patriarchy, the burka and capitalism.… Read the rest
Multitasking While Driving: the Documents
Jul 21st, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonOver 250 pages of undisclosed material obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. … Read the rest
Data on Risks of Distracted Driving Witheld
Jul 21st, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonFederal agency hid hundreds of pages of research and warnings about the use of phones by drivers.… Read the rest
Saudi Woman Given Asylum in UK
Jul 20th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonShe had an ‘adulterous affair’ which would get her stoned to death in Saudi,… Read the rest
Alain de Botton Reviews Karen Armstrong
Jul 20th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonArmstrong ‘wishes to remind us of the mystery of God’ – and to say how stupid atheists are, of course.… Read the rest