Paula Kirby on Catholics Dictating Terms *

Mar 10th, 2010 | Filed by

Democracy is not one person, one vote plus however many extra votes you’d like on behalf of your invisible friend.… Read the rest



Germany: Reformers Want Pope to Speak Up *

Mar 10th, 2010 | Filed by

The pope should say exactly what he knew about widespread allegations of abuse by clerics in Regensburg.… Read the rest



Irish Arrests Over Plot to Kill Lars Vilks *

Mar 10th, 2010 | Filed by

The usual thuggish bullying stupidity.… Read the rest



Muslim Woman Councillor Defies Death Threats *

Mar 10th, 2010 | Filed by

Shiria Khatun says, ‘We live in a democratic society and I have the right to dress how I like.’… Read the rest



Massimo Pigliucci on Pseudo-metaphysics *

Mar 10th, 2010 | Filed by

‘Ingeniously put together? By whom? And by what criterion of “ingenuity?”’… Read the rest



Barney Zwartz on the Global Atheist Convention *

Mar 10th, 2010 | Filed by

Self-indulgent, disdain, blinkered self-congratulation, militant, noisy, inexorable sense of superiority.… Read the rest



Take One Traumatised Child

Mar 10th, 2010 | By Clare Sambrook

‘He looks my age,’ says my nine-year-old son. ‘He looks sort of like me.’

There’s a picture on my screen: a small, slight boy who, for legal reasons, we’ll call M. He’s being cuddled by his 17 year old big brother Z. Both boys are smiling. They have been reunited after a long, hard separation.

Back home in war-torn Afghanistan their parents and a sister were killed. Big brother Z was first to come to Britain, traumatised, in November 2008. He has refugee status, studies for his GCSEs at school in Leicester.

This past October little brother M made his way here. Despite M’s size, his vulnerability, his boyish looks, officials said, you’re not 14, you’re an adult.

Instead … Read the rest



Taner Edis: Theocracy is not the Issue *

Mar 9th, 2010 | Filed by

Oh but it is.… Read the rest



Living Proof of the Armenian Genocide *

Mar 9th, 2010 | Filed by

An orphanage of terror in which Armenian children were systematically deprived of their Armenian identity.… Read the rest



Michael Ruse on Philosophers on Darwin *

Mar 9th, 2010 | Filed by

An increasingly vocal cadre of eminent philosophers has doubts about Darwin – but they ignore biology.… Read the rest



Leo Igwe on the Crisis in Jos *

Mar 9th, 2010 | Filed by

What we have in Plateau state is a situation where militant Islam has led to the emergence of militant Christianity. … Read the rest



Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood

Mar 9th, 2010 11:20 am | By

No, I don’t agree with Taner Edis, and I agree even less as he clarifies. This is all the odder in that he doesn’t even agree with himself – he prefers secular liberalism himself, but says he can’t defend it. Yes you can, Taner! Try harder! It can be done. It can’t be done absolutely, or permanently, or in such a way that no one anywhere will disagree – but it can still be done.

Meanwhile…

My political preference is very much the opposite. I would, personally, consider a multicultural regime a dystopia…My reasons for all of this, however, have almost everything to do with my particular interests and aspirations, and next to nothing to do with any

Read the rest


Terry Sanderson on Religious Influence on Politics *

Mar 8th, 2010 | Filed by

The constant nagging from ‘faith leaders’ about their neglect does seem to be having an effect on politicians.… Read the rest



Australia: Muslim ‘Leader’ Wants a Bit of Sharia *

Mar 8th, 2010 | Filed by

‘We are not calling for the introduction of the penal system which calls for cutting off hands.’ Ah.… Read the rest



Pope Faces New Pressure to Meet Victims *

Mar 8th, 2010 | Filed by

Bishop cites public anger at pomp and ceremony when the Irish bishops knelt to kiss the Pope’s ring.… Read the rest



More Religious Slaughter in Jos, Nigeria *

Mar 8th, 2010 | Filed by

Over 500 dead, most of them women and children hacked to death by machete wielding gangs. … Read the rest



How Templeton Works: the Rod Dreher Example *

Mar 8th, 2010 | Filed by

Templeton creates a climate in which journalists who take a certain line can expect sizable rewards.… Read the rest



Liberalism can be defended

Mar 8th, 2010 11:38 am | By

Taner Edis thinks Gary Bouma is right about secularism and that Russell Blackford is wrong. I think Taner is mostly wrong that Russell is wrong that Gary Bouma is wrong. Still with me?

Note that, as often in the liberal tradition, the main pragmatic argument Blackford uses to promote a secular regime is that it helps keep the peace between rival sects…Such arguments tend to overlook how such reasoning is difficult to generalize beyond the context of Western European Christianity in the modern era.

Possibly. But then…this may sound crude, but the reality is, Western Europe is a pretty good place to live, and it and its descendants are better places to live than most of the rest of … Read the rest



Virginia: Public Colleges Cannot Ban Anti-gay Bias *

Mar 7th, 2010 | Filed by

Most of the state’s public universities have policies prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.… Read the rest



The Home-schoolers Respond *

Mar 7th, 2010 | Filed by

Some of it is ugly stuff.… Read the rest