Science standards are up for review this year; 7 out of 15 Board of Education members are creationists.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
PZ Asks: What’s Your School Board Like? 
Jan 21st, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Like the ones in Florida? Texas?… Read the rest
Martin Bright: Ken Livingstone is a Disgrace
Jan 21st, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Attempts by Mayor’s office to smear a brave anti-racism campaigner are a step too far. … Read the rest
Philosophy Said to Make Religion More Credible
Jan 21st, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
There is a tension between advocating something religion-neutral and a curriculum where one religion is privileged. … Read the rest
Cutting Little Girls in Indonesia
Jan 21st, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Three benefits: stabilizes her libido, makes her pretty in husband’s eyes, balances her psychology.… Read the rest
Little mundane personal private harmless sharia
Jan 20th, 2008 12:12 pm | By Ophelia BensonAmnah is going through a divorce and is baffled at being told that she must wait for three months to remarry, considering that she hasn’t seen her estranged husband for two years. Dr Hasan with an intense look…[Dr Hasan] meets this with a simple reply: “These rulings are all in the Koran. The rulings are made for all.” Amnah has little choice but to comply: Dr Hasan is a judge, and this is a sharia court – in east London.
She has little choice but to comply? Why? If it’s a sharia court in east London, then she does have other choices, doesn’t she?
… Read the restIt is one of dozens of sharia courts – also known as councils
Secularism Far Worse Than Terrorism
Jan 20th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Chaplain to the Stock Exchange talks raving nonsense.… Read the rest
Men’s ‘Honour’ and Women’s Sexuality
Jan 20th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘When I challenged their double standards they gave cultural and religious reasons to justify their controlling and abusive behaviour.’… Read the rest
‘Honour’ Killing in Dallas?
Jan 20th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Or just a bad mood?… Read the rest
Dallas Cab Driver Accused of Killing Daughters
Jan 20th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Yaser Abdel Said is accused of shooting 17-year-old Sarah Yaser Said and 18-year-old Amina Yaser Said.… Read the rest
David Papineau Reads John Searle
Jan 20th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
He remains suspicious of the pretensions of philosophical argument to overturn everyday opinion. … Read the rest
Have Some Nice Sharia Law
Jan 20th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Once, just only once, if an adulterer is stoned nobody is going to commit this crime at all.’ Yay.… Read the rest
Moving the markers
Jan 19th, 2008 6:18 pm | By Ophelia BensonFrom Catharine MacKinnon’s ‘Turning Rape into Pornography: Postmodern Genocide,’ which is about videotaped rapes as propaganda in Croatia and Bosnia. From Are Women Human? pp 162-3:
… Read the restSome of the rapes that are made into pornography are clearly intended for mass consumption as war propaganda. One elderly Croation woman who was filmed being raped was also tortured by electric shocks and gang-raped in the Bucje concentration camp by Serbian men dressed in generic camouflage uniforms. She was forced to “confess” on film that Croatians raped her. This disinformation – switching the ethnic labels – is especially easy when there are no racial markers for ethnic distinctions. It is a standard Serbian technique…Serbian propaganda moves cultural markers with postmodern alacrity, making ethnicity
Ian McEwan on Atheism and Other Things
Jan 19th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
I think it is important that people with no religious beliefs speak up and speak for what they value. … Read the rest
Two Philosophers Feud Over a Book Review
Jan 19th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The view from Cornell, The Philosophical Review’s home, is that the fuss is overblown. … Read the rest
Turks Remember Hrant Dink
Jan 19th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Thousands of people gathered in Istanbul to commemorate the murder with flowers and candles.… Read the rest
Hani Ramadan Wins Compensation Payment
Jan 19th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Geneva teacher, brother of Tariq, was fired for Le Monde opinion piece defending stoning.… Read the rest
Mo Has a Cunning Plan
Jan 18th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Tell the barmaid he’s offended. Yes but will she care? Poor Mo.… Read the rest
Anniversary of Murder of Hrant Dink
Jan 18th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The victim of a state-endorsed nationalism that bans any mention of certain aspects of Turkish history.… Read the rest
RSF: Mullahs Call for Death Penalty for Journalist
Jan 18th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Religious fundamentalists try to prevent any debate about Islam and the status of women. … Read the rest
