Convert to Islam, ditch constitution, abolish banks, jail homosexuals, sign Kyoto treaty. How touching.… Read the rest
Pinochet Says God Will Forgive the Mass Murder
Nov 18th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘Everything that I did, all that I carried out, all the problems I had, I dedicate to God.’ How touching.… Read the rest
Anguished Archbishops
Nov 17th, 2005 8:04 pm | By Ophelia BensonOkay so these seventeen archbishops. All tied up in knots they are. All frantic and agitated and unhappy. Tearing their episcopal hair, rending their purple robes, chewing their anglican nails. And for why? For because that the Archbish of C isn’t being harsh enough toward non-heterosexuality. That’s why. Okay – why? Why is that a reason? Why are they so agitated about non-heterosexuality? Why does it upset them? Why does it worry them? Why do they think it’s so terrible?
They don’t really say. Maybe it’s too much to expect them to, in a letter to the Archbish, since they probably expect him to know. But still – since religious types never do seem to manage to come up … Read the rest
Archbishops’ Letter to Archbishop
Nov 17th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe whole letter, so that you can judge for yourself.… Read the rest
Conservative Anglican Archbishops Worry
Nov 17th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAbout sexual behavior – perhaps a little more than strictly necessary.… Read the rest
Richard Webster on ‘Care’
Nov 17th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonA tv drama based on real people but with some of the evidence left out.… Read the rest
Austria Arrests David Irving
Nov 17th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonJudge in libel hearing called him ‘an active Holocaust denier’. Holocaust denial against law in Austria.… Read the rest
UK Political Bloggers
Nov 17th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonNorm Geras, Harry’s, others. Mostly male, Guardian notes.… Read the rest
Saudi Teacher Sentenced for ‘Mocking’ Islam
Nov 17th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonForty months in prison and 750 lashes. HRW condemns decision.… Read the rest
In Our Time on Pragmatism
Nov 17th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonGrayling, Baggini, Fricker discuss.… Read the rest
Archbishops Call Anglican Church Evil
Nov 17th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAnd Europe a spiritual desert. Alas.… Read the rest
17 Archbishops Very Upset About Gay Clergy
Nov 17th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWhy? Not clear. Something about libertinism.… Read the rest
Archbishops Write Angry Letter to Top Archbishop
Nov 17th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWant him to take action against ‘unrepented sexual immorality’ in the church.… Read the rest
David Irving Arrested in Austria
Nov 17th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonCalled the gas chambers ‘completely fictitious’ in libel trial. Holocaust denial a crime in Austria.… Read the rest
More and Better Religion
Nov 16th, 2005 10:29 pm | By Ophelia BensonI saw this distatsteful item at Normblog. Guy called Faisal Bodi, news editor of the Islam Channel. He says things I disagree with. He also says things that strike me as incomplete, in an evasive way.
The working groups’ reports on extremism published last week have a sting in their tail that few in the Home Office could have expected…It says elements of the battered terrorism bill currently stuttering through parliament such as “glorifying terrorism” or banning nonviolent groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir will have little impact in the fight against criminal extremist violence and only further alienate Muslims.
People who read such things in a hasty way (as surely nearly everyone does – we don’t study newspaper columns … Read the rest
Taking Seriously Vacuous Antimonies I Mean Antinomies
Nov 16th, 2005 7:32 pm | By Ophelia BensonJust a small thing. I wanted to extract and keep a couple of comments by Frederick Crews from a longish piece on Philip Rieff because I think they’re interesting.
“The question ‘What can Freud teach us about the relation between our impulses and civilization?’ ceases to be interesting if it transpires that Freud didn’t actually make the discoveries he claimed to have made about the psyche,” says Frederick C. Crews, a professor emeritus of English at the University of California at Berkeley and a leading Freud skeptic.
Of course – oddly – a lot of people – well actually not a lot of people, but a sizable proportion of people in certain disciplines – think questions about what Freud can … Read the rest
Whither Satire?
Nov 16th, 2005 6:51 pm | By Ophelia BensonAmusing thing about the (as it were) Theory of satirical dictionary writing. I took careful notes, just in case I ever need to write another.
In conducting this assault, Donaldson and Eyre are making an important point not only about the nature of modern celebrity but also about the nature of satire. The textbook definition of satire is that it flourishes in an age of clearly defined moral standards, or one in which those standards are only just beginning to break down. If you are trying to be funny about other people’s moral failings, in other words, there must be some broad agreement between you and your audience as to what a moral failing actually consists of.
Ah. Well, … Read the rest
Women Win Seats in Afghan Elections
Nov 16th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonRemnants of the Taliban responded to the results by detonating two suicide bombs in Kabul.… Read the rest
Senate Passed Anti-torture Amendment 90 to 9
Nov 16th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonOn Sunday a top-ranking White House official refused to rule out the use of torture.… Read the rest
Cheney Lobbies Congress to Permit Torture
Nov 16th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWhite House has threatened to veto any bill with restrictions on handling detainees.… Read the rest