You want evidence for natural selection? We’ve got evidence for natural selection.… Read the rest
BioLogos to scientists: stop advocating 
May 5th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“It is important for scientists to emphasize that uncertainty is central to science.” Does that apply to religion too?… Read the rest
“The rising tide of Islamophobia”
May 5th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“How long before there are calls to ban Muslims from naming their sons after their beloved prophet?”… Read the rest
US Catholics critical of pope
May 5th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Yet they have “confidence in the Vatican to make changes to prevent abuse in the future.” Odd.… Read the rest
Ireland: Evangelicals demand “freedom”
May 5th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Of conscience and religion, which means not being legally obliged to serve gay people in public facilities.… Read the rest
Diversity in action
May 4th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Aygül Özkan said crosses and hijabs don’t belong in classrooms – and the Christian parties went berserk.… Read the rest
Urgent re-education
May 4th, 2010 4:52 pm | By Ophelia BensonAnd another thing. Where I come from, diversity training means something along the lines of learning not to express stupid dislike of people for absurd reasons such as race sex class sexual orientation foreignness and the like. But at the Foreign Office it apparently means more than that.
All the staff involved in producing the memo are to be sent on “urgent diversity training”…”Although [the memo] was intended only for internal use, it was ill-judged, naive and disrespectful of some key tenets of the Catholic faith.”
Clearly this urgent diversity training will be for the purpose of teaching staff to respect all key tenets of the Catholic faith – so “diversity” now means not just different kinds of people … Read the rest
Ghana: Jehovah’s Witnesses abandon child aged 5
May 4th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The child had anaemia, received blood transfusion over parents’ protest, so they ditched him.… Read the rest
Greg Laden on Boobquake
May 4th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
If there is a well publicized skeptical reaction each time major stupidness is uttered, we won’t need to quake sexual organs in future.… Read the rest
The FO simply adores the pope
May 4th, 2010 10:29 am | By Ophelia BensonRuth Gledhill in The Times tells us that
The civil servant in charge of the Pope’s visit to Britain has been suspended and is to be investigated for misconduct after a memo lampooning the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church was leaked to the press.
All the staff involved in producing the memo are to be sent on “urgent diversity training”
Urgent diversity training? Meaning what? They’ll be trained not to have contempt for contemptible beliefs? How will that be accomplished, exactly? Heavy drugging? Waterboarding?
… Read the restA Foreign Office spokesman said: “As we have made clear publicly, it was a foolish document that did not in any way reflect FCO views. Although it was intended only for internal use, it was
FO staff sent for “urgent diversity training”
May 4th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Because that pope memo was “disrespectful of some key tenets of the Catholic faith.”… Read the rest
Hitchens v the pope
May 4th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Bloggers respond to the idea of busting the pope.… Read the rest
The “pedophile’s paradise”
May 4th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Alaska Natives accuse the Catholic church of using their remote villages as “dumping grounds” for child-molesting priests.… Read the rest
Oklahoma abortion law: no exceptions
May 3rd, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Mandatory sonogram, which could mean rape with a wand, plus mandatory lecture.… Read the rest
Three girls is three too many
May 3rd, 2010 3:35 pm | By Ophelia BensonThree sisters have suffered serious facial burns after two unidentified men on a motorbike threw acid at them in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. The sisters, aged between 14 and 20 years old, were attacked as they walked from Kalat city to Pandarani village…The police named the girls as Fatima Bibi, 20, Saima Bibi, 16 and Sakina Bibi, 14…Two weeks ago, an unknown group – the Baloch Ghairatmand Group (the Honourable Baloch Group) – claimed responsibility for a similar attack on two women in a market in Dalbandin city. The group had warned women to wear the hijab, the traditional Muslim headscarf, and not to visit markets unaccompanied by men from their families.
So in other words these … Read the rest
Pakistan: acid attack on three sisters
May 3rd, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The sisters, aged between 14 and 20 years old, were attacked as they walked from Kalat city to Pandarani village.… Read the rest
PZ on Pigliucci and Romano and “tone”
May 3rd, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Tone matters, because too many have been insufficiently fierce in their criticism of pious excuses for sloppy thinking.… Read the rest
Street “preacher” arrested for saying homosexuality is sin
May 3rd, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Christian campaigners have expressed alarm that the Public Order Act is being used to curb religious free speech. … Read the rest
Vatican politics
May 3rd, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“The Holy See cannot get to the bottom of this matter. It would have to criticize itself as an authority.” … Read the rest
