The thinking classes’ timid silence on Islamism cedes the critical ground to the far right, allowing Islamists to cry Islamophobia and render themselves immune.… Read the rest
No more tiptoe
Aug 31st, 2011 4:38 pm | By Ophelia BensonAn atheist comes out as an atheist. In Kentucky.
I have often tiptoed around stating my lack of religious beliefs because, like
many people in a minority, I fear being shunned and judged. I’ve described
myself with words like non-religious, humanist, and freethinker and have most recently been playing with the “Unitarian” label. But as my kids get older, I don’t want them thinking there is anything wrong with me saying exactly what I am, in terms of my personal religious faith: an atheist. There, I said it. I am an atheist. I AM AN ATHEIST!
Hey Leanna. There are lots of us out here.
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
He knew what God wanted, and what men wanted
Aug 31st, 2011 4:22 pm | By Ophelia BensonWoho, looky here – the opposition looks at Vision Forum.
A former stay-at-home-daughter and now stay-at-home wife and mommy says she wishes she’d gone to college.
… Read the restAll of these books taught that the world was a very dangerous place for a woman. God had designed her to be at home, creating a peaceful haven for her husband and children. The books said that any girl who left her father’s protection and went out into the world to get an education or job would end up sad and alone, because she was not living the life God willed for her.
God wanted us to dare to live differently. His plan for women involved getting back to the family principles the
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Frankly, people do think you’re a nutter
Aug 31st, 2011 12:41 pm | By Ophelia BensonChristina Patterson doesn’t share Tony Blair’s affection for injecting “faith” into politics.
You might think that someone who doesn’t believe in a theory
accepted by almost every scientist for more than a century, and who wants to
restrict the rights of half the population to make decisions about their own
body, and thinks that every human being in the world who doesn’t “accept Jesus
as their saviour” will literally go to hell, would have US voters rolling their
eyes. But it doesn’t. You can’t, in fact, even think of running for office in
the world’s only superpower if you don’t, in the now famous words of Alastair
Campbell, “do God”.
Bad combination – superpower, and must do god. Even worse … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
And all I got was this stupid T shirt
Aug 31st, 2011 12:03 pm | By Ophelia BensonReally, J C Penney? Really?
What the hell is that, skool for future “Sex and the City” airheads? A scheme to make all women as empty-headed as the “real” “housewives” of New York/New Jersey/Hollywood/Las Vegas/Miami/Topeka? Or just a calculated insult to women in general?
They’ve withdrawn the T shirt now, thank you for small favors, but why did they come up with it in the first place? What next? A funny-haha girls’ T shirt saying “I’m too stupid to do homework so I’ll just go to work at J C Penney when I grow up?”… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
J.C. Penney pulls too-stupid T shirt 
Aug 31st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Girl’s T shirt said: “I’m too pretty to do homework so my brother has to do it for me.”… Read the rest
Nadine Dorries vs women’s rights
Aug 31st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
To see British politicians adopting the Christian right’s misogynistic and anti-sex attitudes is frankly terrifying; a lot scarier than an earthquake sent from God.… Read the rest
Let’s keep “faith” out of politics
Aug 31st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Women have fought hard for the right not to have their bodies controlled by somebody else’s God; so have lesbians and gays. We might need to start fighting again.… Read the rest
Amnesty International report on Syria
Aug 31st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
AI has obtained the names of more than 1,800 people reported to have died or been killed during or in connection with the protests since mid-March.
A better butterfly
Aug 31st, 2011 10:11 am | By Ophelia BensonThe wheels are in motion (or do I mean they’re turning, or grinding? I want to get my clichés right, here) and I’m just about ready to start posting at the Freethought B&W. Once the banner is in place I think that will do it.
Josh fixed up my avatar, so it’s more elegant now. Less sloppy and less sparkly, both.… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Test Post
Aug 31st, 2011 9:29 am | By Josh L.This is a test post, the sole purpose of which is to see whether automatic cross-posting from Butterflies and Wheels at FreeThoughtBlogs to Butterflies & Wheels Prime works.
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Swedish doctors under fire for “hymen” advice
Aug 30th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“Society should never condone or accept or promote, give fuel to this kind of madness,” Eduardo Grutzky said.… Read the rest
Leo Igwe on ABC radio (Australia)
Aug 30th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It’s hard to believe that in 2011, people are still being killed because they are believed to be witches. But that’s exactly whats happening in Nigeria, and other parts of Africa.… Read the rest
Witch Hunts and the New Dark Age in Africa
Aug 30th, 2011 | By Leo IgweAs Africa’s foremost scholar once noted, “From time to time, there are witch hunting rituals and cleansing to ensure that witches do not terrorize people and that their powers are kept under control.”
Witches and sorcerers are the most hated people in their community. Even to this day there are places and occasions when they are beaten to death by the rest of the people.
So the witch hunt is not a recent development in Africa. Belief in witchcraft constitutes part of the traditional religion and the witch hunt is a form of traditional religious expression. Witch hunting is as old as the belief in witchcraft in Africa. The persecution of alleged witches has been going on in Africa … Read the rest
Eric MacDonald on Kimberly Winston on new atheism
Aug 30th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
All the so-called “new atheists” are tarred with the same brush, and treated in the same cavalier fashion.… Read the rest
Libya: father slit throats of 3 raped daughters
Aug 30th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The girls, 15, 17 and 18, were reported to have been raped by Gaddafi’s soldiers; their father killed them “to lift the shame on his family.”… Read the rest
Lawrence Wilkerson on Dick Cheney
Aug 30th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“The only person Cheney does not seem to find fault with is Cheney.”… Read the rest
Tony Blair “faith” foundation “helps” the Philippines
Aug 30th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
150,000 people there have died in religious war, so more faith is just what they need. Go Tony.… Read the rest
Purdah in Texas
Aug 30th, 2011 10:47 am | By Ophelia BensonWe’ve seen all this before. It’s the stay-at-home-daughters movement.
… Read the restThe stay-at-home-daughters movement, which is promoted by Vision Forum, encourages young girls and single women to forgo college and outside employment in favor of training as “keepers at home” until they marry. Young women pursuing their own ambitions and goals are viewed as selfish and antifamily; marriage is not a choice or one piece of a larger life plan, but the ultimate goal. Stay-at-home daughters spend their days learning “advanced homemaking” skills, such as cooking and sewing, and other skills that at one time were a necessity — knitting, crocheting, soap- and candle-making. A father is considered his daughter’s authority until he transfers control to her husband.
It probably
Jesus goes butch
Aug 30th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The macho Jesus movement has been bolstered by books like No More Mr Christian Nice Guy and The Church Impotent – the Feminisation of Christianity.… Read the rest
