Believe ‘many religions can lead to eternal life.’ All at the same time, but in different hats.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Poland: Priest Blocked Rape Victim’s Abortion 
Jun 23rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Priest, anti-abortion campaigners, doctors gang up on 14-year-old who doesn’t want a baby.… Read the rest
Secularism Meets Islamism on Big Brother
Jun 23rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“This is nothing to do with religion!” “Tell it to Allah!”… Read the rest
UK Government Should Do More to Stop FGM
Jun 23rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Ann Clwyd calls it an absolute disgrace that no one has been prosecuted under the new regulations.… Read the rest
Ziauddin Sardar on New Koran Translation
Jun 23rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Words things in a nicer way than the Dawood translation did. Also more accurately? Or not?… Read the rest
What Darwin and Wallace Thought
Jun 23rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
150 years ago next week, a notion, more radical even than Marx’s, was set loose on the world.… Read the rest
Theodore Dalrymple Reviews Julian Baggini
Jun 23rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Dalrymple is not sure that the intellectually sophisticated and critical are the most balanced complainants.… Read the rest
Bali Bombers Issue Encouragement from Cells
Jun 22nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Use laptops to call for violent jihad and give advice about how to avoid detection by the security services.… Read the rest
Tsvangirai Pulls Out of Election
Jun 22nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
MDC says some 86 supporters have been killed and 200,000 forced from their homes by Zanu-PF militias. … Read the rest
Support for Iranian Women on Demo Anniversary
Jun 22nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Scores of women’s rights activists in Iran have been summoned, arrested and sentenced.… Read the rest
Abdi Sentenced, Safarzadeh Awaiting Trial
Jun 22nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Both are active members of Campaign for Equality, which seeks an end to discrimination against women.… Read the rest
Iran: Hana Abdi Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison
Jun 22nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Abdi has been in detention since November for advocating for greater freedoms for Iran’s women.… Read the rest
Shocked, shocked
Jun 22nd, 2008 11:37 am | By Ophelia BensonThey still don’t get it. (Who? I don’t really know – I don’t really understand who these people are. The people who think Islamism is okay. Who are they [apart from Islamists of course]? I don’t know. I don’t understand what this tendency or ideology or grouping is. They baffle me. I encounter them here and there, but what they think their politics might be remains opaque. I know they get very irritable with people who have reservations about Islam [let alone Islamism], but that’s not exactly manifesto-quality thought, is it.) They find it astonishing that a clever literate person would despise Islamism. Because – what? Because they themselves would find life in Jeddah perfectly pleasant? Because they … Read the rest
Slow down
Jun 21st, 2008 6:11 pm | By Ophelia BensonNot so fast. Harvey Silverglate, a civil liberties lawyer, disagrees with Anthony Lewis’s suggestion that some speech is genuinely dangerous even if it doesn’t imminently threaten anyone. (I agree with that, in case you’re wondering. I don’t think there is no danger until one says ‘Here, kill this person right here, now, hurry up.’ I wish it were that simple, but I don’t think it is.)
… Read the rest“Free speech matters because it works,” Mr. Silverglate continued. Scrutiny and debate are more effective ways of combating hate speech than censorship, he said, and all the more so in the post-Sept. 11 era. “The world didn’t suffer because too many people read ‘Mein Kampf,’ ” Mr. Silverglate said. “Sending Hitler on a speaking
Interview With Philippe Sands
Jun 21st, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Why torture is not such a clever idea.… Read the rest
Hindu Activists Upset Over Satirical Movie
Jun 21st, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Say it will ‘hurt the religious sentiments’ of millions of Hindus worldwide.… Read the rest
Shirin Ebadi Scolds Switzerland over Iran
Jun 21st, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Laws ratified after the 1979 Revolution, which are contrary to women’s freedoms, are still in place. … Read the rest
Louise Arbour Opposes Taboos in UNHRC
Jun 21st, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Council is dominated by a bloc of states that often condemn ‘defamation of religion’ and ‘Islamophobia.’… Read the rest
Criticism of Sharia or Fatwas Forbidden at UNHRC
Jun 21st, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Ruling follows attempts by Egyptian and Pakistani delegates to silence criticism of human rights abuse.… Read the rest
UNHRC Bars All Debate on Sharia
Jun 21st, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
President ruled that only Muslim scholars can be permitted to talk about Islam in the Council.… Read the rest
