Organisers of the festival in Sindh have had to cut the 10-day festival to 3 days because of the threats. … Read the rest
All entries by this author
Vermont Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage
Apr 7th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe Vermont Legislature overrode Gov. Jim Douglas’s veto of a bill allowing gay couples to marry… Read the rest
Caspar Melville Replies to Madeleine Bunting
Apr 7th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWhat does she add in her latest strike against the godless heathens? Not much.… Read the rest
Say No to State Religion in Pakistan
Apr 7th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSupport the campaign to say no to state religion in Pakistan; sign the statement and wish them luck.… Read the rest
If only
Apr 6th, 2009 6:00 pm | By Ophelia BensonIf only this were true.
“In a dramatic development in Islamabad Pakistan, a little girl who was slapped by a Mullah Abu Jahil on the street ran into her school crying only to run out again with some forty girls between the ages of 6 and 10. The girls captured the Mullah and dragged him to the Square area outside the Faisal Masjid, where the Mullah was whipped. Unable to bear this public humiliation, this Mullah has asked for asylum from the British High Commission.
However, the leader of the Mullahs R Us support group for Mullahs – Maulana Fazal Ur Rehman has denied this report. He has suggested that some foreign element is behind this to malign them … Read the rest
They should have the right to live as human beings
Apr 6th, 2009 5:58 pm | By Ophelia BensonPervez Kambaksh is hanging on to his hopes.
“I want an Afghanistan where the mothers of this country and the daughters of this country have the same rights that you and I have as men,” he said in an interview inside the Walayat prison where he has languished since June. “They should have the right to education. They should have the right to work in any organisation they want, and they should have the right to live as human beings in this society.”
They should have the right to live as human beings. Yes they should.
Back atcha, Pervez (if I may – I think of you as a friend). We want an Afghanistan where you have the right … Read the rest
Bryan Appleyard Reviews Kenan Malik
Apr 6th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSplitting the world into ‘communities’, celebrating difference at all costs, is a counterEnlightenment strategy. … Read the rest
Bunting Pitches Fit About ‘New’ Atheism
Apr 6th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘The New Atheist debate has drowned out any other kind of conversation about religion.’ Really?… Read the rest
Kambaksh Hopes While Karzai Flails
Apr 6th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonKambaksh wants an Afghanistan where women have the right to live as human beings.… Read the rest
Spain, Universal Jurisdiction, War Crimes
Apr 6th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonA federal court in Miami recently convicted Chuckie Taylor of torture that occurred in Liberia. … Read the rest
Texas Freedom Network Looks Ahead
Apr 6th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonCreationists will use the flawed standards to force publishers into dumbing down instruction on evolution.… Read the rest
The epithet question
Apr 6th, 2009 11:26 am | By Ophelia BensonI’m curious about something. To the best of my knowledge, a sexist epithet is a sexist epithet. There’s not generally a lot of ambiguity about it, although there’s always room for ironic uses in private conversation and so on. In public discourse, a sexist epithet is what it is. Yet – I keep encountering people who dispute that, in places where I wouldn’t expect to, such as comments on Jesus and Mo. So I’m curious about what other people think.
A commenter said ‘the god of Islam is such a pussy. He is unable to do a thing to protect himself or his reputation and must rely on his minions to do his dirty work.’ I took exception, and … Read the rest
‘New’ atheism chapter 27,439
Apr 6th, 2009 11:05 am | By Ophelia BensonMadeleine Bunting takes a minute to remind us how stunningly predictable, how jaw-droppingly selective, how risibly but irritatingly woolly she can be and pretty much always is.
Increasingly, one hears a distaste for the polemics of the New Atheist debate and its foghorn volume, and how it has drowned out any other kind of conversation about religion.
Does one? Does one not rather rush about attempting to create such a distaste one’s very own self? Much of this putative distaste comes from Bunting herself, so it’s a little sick-making to see her pretending to be too modest to mention her own energetic campaign. And then of course the drowning out is completely ridiculous – witness Bunting herself, and all the … Read the rest
Swedish Parliament Votes to Allow Gay Marriage
Apr 5th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe fifth European country to do so, after the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Norway.… Read the rest
Kurt Westergaard ‘Still’ Not Apologetic
Apr 5th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘I think we are in a period in which this democratic value is under pressure, so it has to be defended.’… Read the rest
Antarctic Ice Bridge Breaks
Apr 5th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘A strong indication that the warming on the Antarctic is having an effect on yet another ice shelf.’… Read the rest
The Joy of Scanning the Scientific Literature
Apr 5th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonA barrage of studies that challenge your preconceptions, demonstrating the weakness of intuition.… Read the rest
Media Ignore UN Anti-blasphemy Resolutions
Apr 5th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSurely this is a story worth covering.… Read the rest
Arab Liberals Denounce Islamist Al-Nafisi
Apr 5th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIslamist membership leads to deepening of the abyss of hatred for others – even if this member holds 50 doctorates.… Read the rest
Karzai Says He Will Review Family Law
Apr 5th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIf there is anything in contradiction with Shariah, he will take action in close consultation with clerics.… Read the rest