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
Front Page Interviews Azar Majedi
Jan 18th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
They disagree on quite a few points.… Read the rest
Creation Museum Sells Mastodon Skull
Jan 18th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The skull is estimated to be 40,000 years old – but not of course by creationists.… Read the rest
Rushdie: Ignore the 25 Goondas at the Gate
Jan 17th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Whether it’s India or UK or US, we cannot allow religious hooligans to place limiting points on thought.… Read the rest
How Journalism Talks About Women
Jan 17th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Coverage of male candidates is about issues, of female candidates about appearance and family.… Read the rest
Civility Code or Loyalty Oath?
Jan 17th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘The words “inclusiveness and diversity” are used in academia these days virtually as religious incantations.’… Read the rest
Wendy Kaminer on Mandatory Respect
Jan 17th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Mindless respect for all points of view is not an element of critical thinking. … Read the rest
Secular Coalition on House Resolution 888
Jan 17th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
HR 888 presents such a distorted version of US history that real education can’t possibly be its goal.… Read the rest
Promises that should not be made
Jan 17th, 2008 11:30 am | By Ophelia BensonWhich includes the well-intentioned version offered by Bergen Community College.
In the full knowledge of the commitment that I am freely willing to undertake as a student, I promise to respect each and every member of the college community without regard to race, creed, political ideology, lifestyle orientation, gender, or social status sparing no effort to preserve the dignity of those I will come in contact with as a member of the college community…I will embrace and celebrate differing perspectives intellectually.
No; sorry; no can do. I can’t possibly promise to respect each and every member of the college community a priori in that way. Civility is one thing, and respect is another. BCC is within its rights to … Read the rest
We’re not talking about some pavement artist
Jan 17th, 2008 10:59 am | By Ophelia BensonSalman Rushdie isn’t having it.
“I don’t make my decisions based on 25 goondas at the gate,” says Salman Rushdie tartly…Whether it’s India or England or America, he says, “we cannot allow religious hooligans to place limiting points on thought”. This, he says, is as true about the American religious right as it is about the Sikh mobs in Birmingham that prevented the production of a play. “It’s not specific to any religion or any place,” he adds. “Original thought, original artistic expression is by its very nature questioning, irreverent, iconoclastic…it’s really a decision about what kind of culture we want to be in.”
Quite. And that kind is the kind that allows a wide range of thought, as … Read the rest
