All entries by this author

Laura Secor: Behind Iran’s Silence *

Jul 15th, 2009 | Filed by

The Iranian authorities had an interest in making this story disappear, and they have done an effective job.… Read the rest



Meet ‘the Family’: Creepy Secret Religious Group *

Jul 15th, 2009 | Filed by

Has a secretive network of fundamentalist Christians had undue influence over American policy? … Read the rest



Iran: 5 Years in Jail for Insulting Sanctities *

Jul 15th, 2009 | Filed by

Singer sentenced for insulting sanctities, ridiculing the Koran, dishonouring the holy book of the Muslims.… Read the rest



New Culture Wars: History Classes in Texas *

Jul 15th, 2009 | Filed by

Reviewers urge emphasizing the Bible, Xianity and the ‘civic virtue’ of religion in the study of US history.… Read the rest



Sotomayor Defends Herself *

Jul 15th, 2009 | Filed by

Did anyone mention Dred Scott? Plessy v Ferguson? Bradwell v Illinois?… Read the rest



Free Speech in a Plural Society

Jul 15th, 2009 | By Salil Tripathi

The Conference Room, British Library, London
February 20, 2009

Ian McEwan’s novel, Saturday, begins with the image of a sharp, bright light in the sky
that the neurosurgeon Henry Perowne sees from the corner of his eye on a restless
night when he is unable to sleep. It is a troubling time for Britain; it is February 15, 2003, the
day of the big march, where hundreds of thousands of people from around Britain are
going to come to central London, with the vain hope of stopping the impending war in
Iraq.

Perowne is a liberal; he does not like torture – in fact, he has learned much about Iraq by
treating an Iraqi refugee fleeing the terror of … Read the rest



At long last, have you no…

Jul 14th, 2009 1:42 pm | By

I want to say a few brisk words about a new piece by Mooney and Kirshenbaum in Newsweek. First a few extracts.

As soon as Francis Collins, an evangelical Christian geneticist who headed up the pioneering Human Genome Project during the 1990s, was floated as the possible new director of the National Institutes of Health-he was officially named to the post on Wednesday-the criticisms began flying. Evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne of the University of Chicago, for one, said Collins is too public with his faith…The poster boy for the so-called New Atheist movement today is biologist Richard Dawkins…The New Atheist science blogger PZ Myers, for instance, has publicly desecrated a consecrated communion wafer, presumably taken from a Catholic mass,

Read the rest


Mooney and Kirshenbaum Jump the Shark *

Jul 14th, 2009 | Filed by

They write an article for Newsweek all about what meanies Jerry Coyne and PZ Myers are. No, really.… Read the rest



Jerry Coyne Reviews Unscientific America *

Jul 14th, 2009 | Filed by

For a book advocating science literacy, it offers surprisingly little evidence to support its claims. … Read the rest



Ben Goldacre and Evidence-based Revenge *

Jul 14th, 2009 | Filed by

Taking revenge ends up making people feel worse, not better.… Read the rest



Saudi Arabia Still Treats Women Like Children *

Jul 14th, 2009 | Filed by

‘It needs to stop requiring adult women to seek permission from men, not just pretend to stop it.’… Read the rest



Yasmin Alibhai-Brown on Wearing the Burqa *

Jul 14th, 2009 | Filed by

‘Neo-conservative Islamic codes spread like swine flu, an infection few seem able to resist.’… Read the rest



Libel Laws Threaten to Stifle Scientific Debate *

Jul 14th, 2009 | Filed by

BMJ: ‘Weak science sheltered from criticism by officious laws means bad medicine.’… Read the rest



Knowledge of the Bible in Decline in UK *

Jul 13th, 2009 | Filed by

That’s too bad, people are missing some good poetry and stories and rants.… Read the rest



Cats Manipulate Humans by Purring *

Jul 13th, 2009 | Filed by

Cats use a special ‘soliciting purr’ to annoy their humans into granting their every wish.… Read the rest



Sudan: Women Whipped for Wearing Trousers *

Jul 13th, 2009 | Filed by

Several Sudanese women have been flogged for dressing “indecently”, says a local journalist among them.… Read the rest



Karen Armstrong Explains What Religion Is *

Jul 13th, 2009 | Filed by

‘Religious doctrines make no sense unless accompanied by such spiritual exercises as yoga and a consistently compassionate lifestyle.’… Read the rest



Questions still outstanding

Jul 13th, 2009 11:43 am | By

I’ve made a list of questions for Chris Mooney (largely for him, since he’s done nearly all the posting on the subject and the questions arise from his posts as well as his book with Sheril Kirshenbaum). He’s ignored or evaded many questions over the last few weeks, and I thought it would be useful to have a list of the most pressing ones. Feel free to suggest additions.

1) What do you want? What do you mean? You say religion is private so we have no business prying into what people believe, but Kenneth Miller and Karl Giberson wrote books, Francis Collins wrote a book and has a website. The National Center for Science Education has … Read the rest



Big stupid honking mistake!

Jul 12th, 2009 12:21 pm | By

Cristina Odone occupies the first three paragraphs of her review of Does God Hate Women? pointing out a factual mistake – the name of one Afghan woman murdered for acting like a human being with a mind exchanged for the name of a different Afghan woman murdered for acting like a human being with a mind.

It’s a fair cop. The mistake is real. It’s mine. I have no idea how I managed it, but I did.

I didn’t realize I’d done it until the literary editor of The Observer asked our publisher (who asked us) about it, and I looked it up. That was Thursday I think. Jeremy and I had a set-to this morning about whether or not … Read the rest



Ireland: Catholic Clergy Brace for Next Report *

Jul 12th, 2009 | Filed by

Report will scrutinise how some of the country’s most senior prelates handled child abuse allegations.… Read the rest