How the Bangladesh military abuses its power under the state of emergency.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
HRW Report on the Torture of Tasneem Khalil
Feb 14th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘They were hitting me so hard that I’m not sure whether it was just the force that hurt like this or if it was electricity.’… Read the rest
Organisation for Women’s Liberation Conference
Feb 14th, 2008 | By Azar MajediIn commemoration of the 8 March centennial, OWL is organising a conference against religious and traditional misogynist practices. Violence against women justified by defence of family honour, forced marriages and imposition of the veil on underage girls are only a few brutal examples of such practices. In light of the Islamist movement’s offensive on women’s rights and lives, not only in counties under the rule of Islam but also in the west, and a global campaign to promote Shalria law, OWL feels the urgent need to mobilize a global force to counter political Islam and promote secularism in order to safeguard women’s rights and safety. Secularism is an important pillar of a society free of misogyny. This conference is a … Read the rest
Bangladesh gives itself a free hand
Feb 14th, 2008 11:24 am | By Ophelia BensonRemember last year when we heard that Tasneem Khalil had been arrested in the middle of the night? Well now we know what happened to him while he was held. He was violently beaten, threatened, and terrorized, that’s what. He’s safe now – but Bangladesh has successfully gotten rid of a reporter who had been investigating human rights abuses of just the kind perpetrated on him. So Bangladesh can presumably do what it likes without any pesky reporters telling the world what Bangladesh likes to do – not unless those pesky reporters are eager to be beaten up and probably killed.… Read the rest
When was this thing last renewed?
Feb 13th, 2008 5:47 pm | By Ophelia BensonAndrew Anthony zeroes in on the problem.
All the subclauses in the world can’t disguise the intention that underpins these positions. In seeking to incorporate a disputed deity’s authority (which, by the way, it is blasphemous to question) into the common law, and by challenging the principle of equality under the law, Dr Williams launched a strategic attack on secularism.
A disputed deity’s authority. Just so. And it’s not only the deity that is disputed, it is also that deity’s authority, and the content of the resulting commands, and above all how and if anyone knows any of this. This is the theist four-step I talked about last year. We tend to think there’s just one step – believe … Read the rest
Archbishop Defends Attack on Secularism
Feb 13th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘We ought to keep an eye on this trend’ of increasing secularism.… Read the rest
Deborah Orr on Sharia and Women
Feb 13th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe rights of Muslim women might be termed a high-awareness, low-action area.… Read the rest
The Crux of the Matter: It is Not ‘God’s Law’
Feb 13th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIn seeking to incorporate a disputed deity’s authority into the law, ABC launched an attack on secularism.… Read the rest
Hitchens on the Archbishop
Feb 13th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘There’s one law for everybody and that’s all there is to be said’ stands out like a diamond in a dunghill.… Read the rest
Anne Applebaum on a Western Prejudice
Feb 13th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonEvery time police shrug when a Muslim woman complains of forced marriage, they are acting in the spirit of the archbishop.… Read the rest
Mo Speaks Up on Kambaksh and Blasphemy
Feb 12th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonNobody has the right to blaspheme Allah; that is why there are Islamic Human Rights.… Read the rest
How to Be Wise
Feb 12th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonDon’t pretend to know what you don’t know. Watch out for the hemlock.… Read the rest
Murder Plot Against Danish Cartoonist
Feb 12th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonDanish police have arrested several people suspected of conspiring to kill a Danish cartoonist.… Read the rest
Crooked Timber Defends the Archbishop
Feb 12th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHe is merely muddling and tinkering to achieve ‘rough fairness’. Very rough.… Read the rest
Johann Hari on the Archbishop’s Sharia Problem
Feb 12th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe claim that women can choose shows a near-total disconnection from the reality of Muslim women’s lives. … Read the rest
Ali Eteraz on Why Not Sharia
Feb 12th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSharia courts are outgrowths of local communities which exert ‘piety-pressure’ upon average believers. … Read the rest
Knowing better
Feb 12th, 2008 11:06 am | By Ophelia BensonI had thought I could leave the poor archbishop in peace now…but another item or two has come along to drag me back to his doings. One is the Crooked Timber thread on the subject. Harry B is commenting on a piece by Minette Marin in the Sunday Times.
The comment about wooliness of mind is, presumably, a charge that anyone who recognises complexity is stupid, or something like that.
No, it isn’t. The archbishop’s speech is indeed woolly. I’ve already quoted from it more than enough to illustrate (and demonstrate) that, so I won’t quote any more. Joe Hoffman – who can handle complexity – called the speech badly reasoned mud. The speech is not simply a … Read the rest
No exceptions
Feb 11th, 2008 6:05 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe archbishop issued a clarification on Friday. He
sought carefully to explore the limits of a unitary and secular legal system in the presence of an increasingly plural (including religiously plural) society and to see how such a unitary system might be able to accommodate religious claims. Behind this is the underlying principle that Christians cannot claim exceptions from a secular unitary system on religious grounds (for instance in situations where Christian doctors might not be compelled to perform abortions), if they are not willing to consider how a unitary system can accommodate other religious consciences.
Fair enough. So here’s how to deal with that: Christians cannot claim exceptions from a secular unitary system on religious grounds. Problem solved. Nobody … Read the rest
Sharia for toddlers
Feb 11th, 2008 5:58 pm | By Ophelia BensonIt’s kind of the BBC to explain about sharia for us.
Sharia rulings have been developed to help Muslims understand how they should lead every aspect of their lives according to God’s wishes.
Well, not exactly – not according to God’s wishes, because no one knows what those are (or if there are such things); according to what they think are God’s wishes. The BBC tactfully skipped over that rather important difference, but that is what’s at stake here. Not God’s wishes but what believers believe are God’s wishes (and the rest of us don’t).
… Read the restApostasy, or leaving the faith, is a very controversial issue in the Muslim world and the majority of scholars believe it is punishable by death…The
Cardinal Connell Withdraws Legal Challenge
Feb 11th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWithdraws attempt to withold documents from Government inquiry into allegations of sexual abuse. … Read the rest