The unconscious was not Freud’s discovery, but that of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche via Hume and Locke.… Read the rest
Moses Saw God Because He Was Stoned 
Mar 7th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
When Moses climbed Sinai and received the Ten Commandments and the Bible, he was tripping. … Read the rest
Universal Human Rights: Origins and Development
Mar 7th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Human rights law is not a product of western hegemony. In fact, Stephen James argues, the opposite is true.… Read the rest
Malaysia: Woman Jailed for Apostasy
Mar 6th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
She worships a two-story high teapot. But she was ‘born Muslim’ so she’s not allowed to leave.… Read the rest
Bradford’s Missing Girls
Mar 6th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
More than 200 girls disappear from Bradford schools each year.… Read the rest
33 Girls Missing From Bradford
Mar 6th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Authorities suspect they have been taken abroad to be forced into marriage.… Read the rest
Homosexuality is a Capital Crime in Iran
Mar 6th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Ahmadinejad said ‘In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals.’ The audience howled.… Read the rest
Gay Iranian Teenager Faces Execution
Mar 6th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Mehdi Kazemi, 19, learned his boyfriend had been executed in Iran, requested asylum; UK says No.… Read the rest
Creeping Back to Inequality
Mar 6th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Harvard has banned men from a gym for six hours a week at the request of Muslim women.… Read the rest
‘Philosophy Bites’ Interviews Anthony Appiah
Mar 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
How is it possible to combine ethical universalism with acknowledgement of difference?… Read the rest
Flemming Rose on Vatican-al Azhar Statement
Mar 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It’s the hells angels’ code of ethics: If you don’t respect me I’ll kill you or scare the hell out of anyone you know.… Read the rest
Kenya: Allegations of State-sanctioned Violence
Mar 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Sources allege that meetings were hosted between the banned Mungiki militia and senior government figures. … Read the rest
Catholic Bishop Endorses the Protocols
Mar 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Bishop Richard Williamson told The Catholic Herald that the document was authentic.… Read the rest
Tasneem Khalil: Surviving Torture in Bangladesh
Mar 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Hundreds, if not thousands of stories of inhuman torture and Kafkaesque detentions in Bangladesh remain untold.… Read the rest
A Secular Symposium: The Portable Atheist
Mar 5th, 2008 | By Max DunbarBefore I discovered Christopher Hitchens, I seriously doubted that non-fiction prose could be savoured and reread. How wrong I was. As a writer, Hitchens has the style of Byron, the depth of Faulkner and the wit of Wilde. Possibly the most well-read man on the planet, Hitchens has the ability to communicate complex arguments with a warmth and economy that can engage the dullest layman.
I would read Hitchens on anything, but Hitchens on religion is especially fine. In this breezeblock anthology of secularist thought, he has gathered broadsides against religion from the pre-faith age to the twenty-first century. The word symposium, in Ancient Greece, simply meant ‘drinking party.’ This is a rough, raucous party of a book, where … Read the rest
Sorry, you have no choice in the matter
Mar 5th, 2008 11:09 am | By Ophelia BensonAnd speaking of authoritarianism and bullying, remember the new Iranian penal code? I was having another look at it and I noticed something I hadn’t fully taken in before.
Article 225-5: Parental Apostate is one whose parents (both) had been non-Muslims at the time of conception, and who has become a Muslim after the age of maturity, and later leaves Islam and returns to blasphemy. Article 225-6: If someone has at least one Muslim parent at the time of conception but after the age of maturity, without pretending to be a Muslim, chooses blasphemy is considered a Parental Apostate.
Look closely at 225:6. If you have one Muslim parent at the time of conception, and then when you grow … Read the rest
Oh comrades come rally
Mar 5th, 2008 10:44 am | By Ophelia BensonIt’s heartwarming when authoritarian reactionaries join forces, don’t you think? The Vatican and Al Azhar university got together last week to forbid everyone to make fun of them. They included the usual dutiful and empty (given what always immediately follows – given the inevitable ‘but’) acknowledgement of ‘the value’ of free expression, but
Both sides vehemently denounce the reprinting of the offensive cartoon and the attack on Islam and its prophet. We call for the respect of faiths, religious holy books and religious symbols. Freedom of expression should not become a pretext to insult religions and defaming religious sanctities.
So they pretended for form’s sake to acknowledge ‘the value’ of free expression only in hopes of getting away with … Read the rest
Meera Nanda: Rush Hour of the Gods
Mar 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
What motivates educated, well-to-do urban sophisticates to continue to believe in miracles and supernatural beings? … Read the rest
South Africa: Women Protest Assault
Mar 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Taxi drivers apparently think it’s their job to tell women what to wear, and attack them if they disobey.… Read the rest
