And harassment and intimidation tactics by federal officials and local police, as well as BP employees and contractors.… Read the rest
BP and government still blocking media access 
Jun 17th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
BP says they’re not, but they are.… Read the rest
FGM at Cornell
Jun 17th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
But at Cornell they call it clitoroplasty, so it sounds sciency.… Read the rest
More lessons in civility
Jun 17th, 2010 11:21 am | By Ophelia BensonBacklash against “new” atheists, chapter 479,811.
We were initially surprised that our co-authored book, Unscientific America, was so strongly attacked for observing that scientists should strive to improve their skills at public communication–and that this probably includes not alienating potential religious allies or mainstream America. But in a sense, the attacks made a kind of sense. Mostly, they came from those for whom this advice ran contrary to their particular project of denouncing much of America and the world for alleged ignorance and superstition–the New Atheists.
That’s “backlash” because it’s untrue, and distorted, and misleading. It’s dishonest and unreasonable, and those qualities make it backlash as opposed to disagreement or criticism. It is of course entirely possible to … Read the rest
Oxytocin promotes parochial altruism
Jun 17th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Researchers at U of Amsterdam find that oxytocin appears to lead to “defensive” aggression against threatening outgroups.… Read the rest
OIC states push for UN action on ‘Islamophobia’
Jun 17th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The new mandate is likely to see increased UN pressure to prevent criticism of Islam.… Read the rest
What will any parent do?
Jun 17th, 2010 9:57 am | By Ophelia BensonNo comment.
… Read the restAsha’s family was opposed to a marriage because Yogesh belonged to a different, lower caste. Police have described the murders as a case of “honour killing”…The bodies were brought out in the morning once the police arrived. And details began to emerge of the torture and beatings to which the young couple were subjected. “Their mouths were stuffed with rags, there were signs of beating and small burns on legs suggesting that they were possibly electrocuted,” a senior police officer who was the first to reach the crime scene told the BBC.
Asha’s uncle and father were arrested but the two men have shown no remorse.
“I’m not sorry,” a defiant Omprakash Saini told reporters after his arrest.
Teenage couple tortured to death in Delhi
Jun 17th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
By the girl’s father and uncle, because the boy was of a “lower” caste.… Read the rest
A move to frame non-compatibilists as extreme
Jun 16th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Whether a certain view is “true” or “false” seems to take a back seat to whether it is “moderate” or “extreme.”… Read the rest
The advancement of science and spirit
Jun 16th, 2010 12:41 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe head of the American Association for the Advancement of Science says it’s a myth that science and religion are inherently incompatible. Yes really.
I was not surprised by the findings of a recent Rice University survey that half of the top 1,700 U.S. scientists described themselves as religious. The scientific community, like any other group, includes people with many world views, from evangelicals to atheists.
Right, because scientists are just a “community,” a “group,” like any other; you get your women and your men, your old and your young, your rich and your poor, and your evangelicals and your atheists. Nothing to do with anything inherent in the work you do or the ways of thinking that that … Read the rest
It’s a myth that science and religion are incompatible
Jun 16th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Says the CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.… Read the rest
Somalia: football fans executed for watching world cup
Jun 16th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“Football is an inheritance from the primitive infidels,” said al Shabaab.… Read the rest
UK: Catholic church launches PR campaign
Jun 16th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“It is not easy to convey the richness of the tradition of Catholic thought.” Indeed it is not.… Read the rest
Bloody Sunday: the legal arguments
Jun 16th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Much will depend on which evidence has survived, and what has perished. … Read the rest
Bloody Sunday report published
Jun 16th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“The conclusions of this report are absolutely clear. There is no doubt. There is nothing equivocal, there are no ambiguities.”… Read the rest
Murphy O’Connor reflects on child rape problem
Jun 16th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“Maybe we have lost part of our moral and spiritual authority”. Ya think?… Read the rest
Jesus and Mo read their Mary Midgley
Jun 16th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The barmaid replies, but they hear not.… Read the rest
Father, brother plead guilty in Aqsa Parvez murder
Jun 15th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
They killed her because she didn’t wear the hijab. She was 16.… Read the rest
You might learn something
Jun 15th, 2010 5:20 pm | By Ophelia BensonGosh, that was a lively discussion. It was sometimes rather…cryptic, though. When Dan L asked Michael, “where’s the dividing line? Where does philosophy stop and science start?” Michael said it was a tough question, and rather than answer it himself, pasted in a long excerpt from a post by Massimo Pigliucci at Rationally Speaking last November. It wasn’t the most helpful excerpt from that post that he could have chosen – there’s a more relevant one later on, for instance:
… Read the restSo when some commentators for instance defend the Dawkins- and Coyne-style (scientistic) take on atheism, i.e., that science can mount an attack on all religious beliefs, they are granting too much to science and too little
