All entries by this author

They’re after the school curriculum again…

Jan 24th, 2006 10:44 pm | By

Well this came as a shock. How had I managed to miss it until now? And is there never going to be an end to this kind of nonsense?

The State Board of Education, California, is currently engaged in approving the history/social science textbooks for grades six to eight in schools, an exercise undertaken periodically. The Hindu Education Foundation and the Vedic Foundation (based in the U.S.) have used the occasion to push through “corrections” in the textbooks approved. Shiva Bajpai, who constituted the one-member ad hoc committee set up by the Board, succeeded in getting virtually all the changes requested by these organisations incorporated into the textbooks. Professor Emeritus at California State University, Northridge, and a Hindutva-leaning adviser

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Report Says Reform Will Lead to Segregation *

Jan 24th, 2006 | Filed by

Research suggests selectivity in school admissions would increase social segregation.… Read the rest



Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Radio 4 *

Jan 24th, 2006 | Filed by

‘I wanted a chance at a life where I could shape my own future.’… Read the rest



Kristeva to Lecture in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem *

Jan 24th, 2006 | Filed by

‘In Kristeva’s view, clarity and direct logic are not a sought-after value.’… Read the rest



Festival of Muslim Cultures Refuses Gay Event *

Jan 24th, 2006 | Filed by

Director says festival is non-ideological and non-political and non-sectarian. Eh?… Read the rest



Friends of South Asia v Vedic Foundation *

Jan 24th, 2006 | Filed by

Repetition of recent attempts in India to inject sectarian doctrines into history books.… Read the rest



Historians and Hindu Nationalists in Sacramento *

Jan 24th, 2006 | Filed by

Disagreeing over revisions to history textbooks.… Read the rest



Salman Rushdie

Jan 24th, 2006 2:15 am | By

Stewart gave us a report on seeing Salman Rushdie at a reading on Friday, and I thought I would make it more visible. Hit it, Stewart:

He had a few nice obvious laugh lines like his reply to the question as to why he now lives in the States: “Well, you know, of course the real reason is I’m an enormous fan of George W.Bush.” Also, a somewhat unnecessary disclaimer that got the reaction he expected: “Let’s just be clear: I’m not in favour of Islamic terrorism. I mean, in case there was any doubt about that, that’s not my view.”

He mentioned his grandmother being “scary” and followed up with: “And my grandfather was the opposite. My grandfather was … Read the rest



There is a Reason

Jan 23rd, 2006 7:55 pm | By

Norm quoted a question the other day that I’ve been thinking about on and offishly. It’s from a theologian or professor of ‘divinity’ (wot?) called Keith Ward (who wrote a presumptuous godbothering book called ‘God is Better Than Science’ or some such thing which I’ve read and disliked very much). He wonders why Richard Dawkins can ‘only see the bad in religion’. (He means ‘see only the bad,’ but never mind). That’s what I’ve been pondering, as a general question, not a specifically Dawkins-directed question. Why do some atheists ‘see only the bad’ in religion? Or, at least, why do we (because I’m one, although I do in fact sometimes note what one could call ‘the good’ or at least … Read the rest



Science Journals and Scientific Fraud *

Jan 23rd, 2006 | Filed by

‘Journals cannot be investigating prosecutors or detectives.’… Read the rest



Julian Borger Talks to Michael Ignatieff *

Jan 23rd, 2006 | Filed by

Demonstrators denounce Ignatieff as a cheerleader for torture.… Read the rest



Scholars Resist Hindutva ‘Corrections’ in California *

Jan 23rd, 2006 | Filed by

Vedic Foundation nearly pulled a fast one, but scholars raised the alarm.… Read the rest



Alison Lurie on Narnia *

Jan 23rd, 2006 | Filed by

‘It is no surprise that conservative Christians admire these books. They teach us to accept authority.’… Read the rest



Daniel Dennett Answers a Lot of Silly Questions *

Jan 23rd, 2006 | Filed by

The idea of a God that can answer prayers and intervenes in the world – that’s a hopeless idea. … Read the rest



From Universalism to Identity *

Jan 22nd, 2006 | Filed by

Brilliance of civil rights universalism was critique of racialised ways of viewing individuals.… Read the rest



Forward Interviews Bernard-Henri Lévy *

Jan 22nd, 2006 | Filed by

When a person thinks God is an old pal or helping to mow the lawn, this is idolatry and paganism. … Read the rest



Laurie Taylor Argues with John Gray *

Jan 22nd, 2006 | Filed by

Gray’s pessimism rests on some sweeping generalizations and untestable ideas.… Read the rest



Irshad Manji Asks Questions *

Jan 22nd, 2006 | Filed by

Independent thinking and reasoning, ijtihad, was something Islam always prided itself on. … Read the rest



Nick Cohen on the Trouble With Trotsky Jokes *

Jan 22nd, 2006 | Filed by

Ariel Dorfman tries out a quintuple tease, succumbs to Stockholm syndrome.… Read the rest



Odd Cult Claims

Jan 21st, 2006 11:16 pm | By

Garry Wills says something odd in his review of Jimmy Carter’s new book.

I was surprised when [in 1976] so much was made of his religion as he ran for president. It began when he was asked, while visiting Baptist friends, if he thought of himself as “born again.” He answered yes – not surprisingly, since the Gospel of John (3:5) says that one must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven, and Saint Paul says that baptism is being reborn into Christ (Romans 6:4). Reporters did not know this as a basic belief of Christians – they treated it as an odd cult claim.

Uh – yes. Because, what is the difference? What is the difference … Read the rest