‘The roots of this new terrorism are not in religion but in a political ideology which uses religious language.’… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Charlie Hebdo Trial ‘Under Anti-racism Laws’
Feb 8th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonOrganisations suing for ‘public insults against a group of people because they belong to a religion.’… Read the rest
Communities Secretary Notices a Problem
Feb 8th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘Government has relied too much on engagement with traditional leadership organisations.’… Read the rest
Is Morality Hard-wired?
Feb 8th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMarc Hauser and other researchers do experiments to find out.… Read the rest
Cohere, dammit!
Feb 8th, 2007 8:54 am | By Ophelia BensonIt’s good that they’ve figured it out at last, but they do make me laugh while they’re doing it, sometimes.
The government must rely less on Muslim leadership organisations, Ruth Kelly said yesterday…The communities secretary said: “There are many people in Muslim communities who are already taking a brave stand…this new, more local approach will help reach directly into communities…”
In other words, the communities secretary used the word ‘communities’ several hundred times in the course of a short announcement. Oh well – I suppose it’s only to be expected.
… Read the rest“In the past, government has relied too much on engagement with traditional leadership organisations.” But there is concern in the Muslim community that the government is marginalising groups which
The libidinal pleasure of gazing at torture
Feb 7th, 2007 2:34 pm | By Ophelia BensonJohann Hari has some thoughts on the Chapman brothers.
… Read the restIn 2003, the Chapmans bought some of Goya’s original prints – and vandalised them. Where Goya drew with documentary clarity the agonised victims of war, the Chapmans painted the jeering faces of clowns and puppies over them. “Goya’s the artist who represents the kind of expressionistic struggle of the Enlightenment with the ancien regime,” Jake Chapman explained, “so it’s kind of nice to kick its underbelly.” Goya famously said “the sleep of reason produces monsters”. The Chapmans say the opposite: it is when reason is wide awake that it produces monsters…The Chapmans trashing Goya is a pure expression of postmodernist philosophy. They vandalise and ridicule the fruits of reason –
Why are atheists atheists?
Feb 7th, 2007 2:32 pm | By Ophelia BensonSo Julian turns up on Comment is free.
If there’s one thing philosophers are not in short supply of it’s confidence and self-esteem…The unexamined life, we are fond of repeating, is not worth living. It sounds very noble, until you realise that the subtext is that not only are the Big Brother-watching masses unfit for existence, but even those engaged in less fundamental academic pursuits are lower forms of life.
But is that the subtext? It depends how you decide what a subtext is, I guess (the subness of a subtext gives a certain leeway for accusing people of saying things they haven’t actually literally said, which can be interesting but unfair or fair but uninteresting or various other … Read the rest
Jake Chapman’s Impressive Reply
Feb 7th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonLiterary castration…cheap fat-faced ugly four-eyed shot…shoddy thoughtcrimes…Hari is a fascist.… Read the rest
Johann Hari on the Chapman Brothers
Feb 7th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘Jake Chapman has declared that “the Enlightenment project…virulently infects the earth”.’… Read the rest
David Thompson on Phantom Guilt Syndrome
Feb 7th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPolitics as taking umbrage can end up with ideology unmoored from external reality.… Read the rest
Julian Baggini on Poppycock About Socrates
Feb 7th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘If teachers really were subjecting toddlers to Socratic grillings, the child protection agency would be onto them like a shot.’… Read the rest
David Thompson’s Review Unedited
Feb 7th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAnything that deviates from a sanitised depiction of Muhammad can arouse extraordinary indignation.… Read the rest
David Thompson on ‘The Truth About Muhammad’
Feb 7th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonA tradition of hagiography and censorship has created a woefully inadequate picture.… Read the rest
Women at the Back of the Bus Fight Back
Feb 6th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSecular passengers report being harassed or kicked off for what other passengers deem inappropriate dress.… Read the rest
Rejoice! Ted Haggard Says He’s not Gay
Feb 6th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIt was just the one guy, the one who told. Praise the lord.… Read the rest
Mark Vernon on Plato’s Symposium
Feb 6th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIt opened up for MV when he realized it could be read and re-read; it operates simultaneously at many levels.… Read the rest
Geras, Garrard and Lappin on Independent Voices
Feb 6th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘Self-proclaimed independent-mindedness is no guarantee of anything.’… Read the rest
Sylvia Browne Attempts to Silence a Critic
Feb 6th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHe receives a letter from her lawyer.… Read the rest
Review of Why Truth Matters
Feb 6th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonNot startling but covers a lot of ground.… Read the rest
Launch of ‘Independent Jewish Voices’
Feb 6th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonCommitments to human rights and fairness, not ethnic or group loyalties, define the limits of legitimate debate.… Read the rest