Includes an example of the cartoon – the one where Jesus says “Hi I’m Jesus.” Daring.… Read the rest
How bishops pushed for a shutdown over birth control
Oct 8th, 2013 | Filed by Ophelia BensonNo cardinal was ever made to interrupt his education for an unplanned pregnancy; no bishop ever endured the pain, blood, and terror of a life-threatening labor.… Read the rest
Elizabeth Smart on her nine months of hell
Oct 8th, 2013 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSmart says Mitchell believed that anything in the world was his for the taking, and that he was a man who never cared for anyone even as he ranted about God.… Read the rest
We shan’t say unless you force us
Oct 8th, 2013 4:04 pm | By Ophelia BensonIn case we’re not already sufficiently fed up with the Catholic church today, we learn that
The Catholic Church tried to strike an agreement with New South Wales Police that would have helped shut down investigations into paedophile priests and placed police in breach of the Crimes Act.
Police records, accessed under freedom of information laws by Greens MP David Shoebridge, show two attempts were made to finalise memorandums of understanding (MOUs) between police and the church over how to deal with complaints of sexual and physical abuse by Catholic Church personnel.
Disgusting, isn’t it. “Church authorities shall cover up crimes committed by church employees unless prevented by court order.” Because after all it’s just child rape, … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
More on forced pregnancy in Nebraska
Oct 8th, 2013 3:16 pm | By Ophelia BensonPteryxx collected more material on this and it’s damning, so I’m just going to add it all. Commentary Pteryxx’s.
The Nebraska Supreme Court refused to hear the girl’s appeal. Here’s the decision she was appealing.
… Read the restAfter advising the girl that “when you have the abortion, it’s going to kill the child inside you,” lower court judge Peter Bataillon denied her request for a waiver. Bataillon, who according to RH Reality Check, had been an attorney for extremist anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, found that the girl was not mature and informed enough to make the decision to have an abortion. He also found that the girl should have sought consent from her foster parents, even though the girl’s foster parents are
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
She’s not in purdah
Oct 8th, 2013 2:59 pm | By Ophelia BensonKamila Shamsie talks to Malala for the Guardian.
… Read the restLearning from her parents is something Malala knows a great deal about. Her mother was never formally educated and an awareness of the constraints this placed on her life have made her a great supporter of Malala and her father in their campaign against the Taliban’s attempts to stop female education. One of the more moving details in I Am Malala, the memoir Malala has written with the journalist Christina Lamb, is that her mother was due to start learning to read and write on the day Malala was shot – 9 October 2012. When I suggest that Malala’s campaign for female education may have played a role in encouraging
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Bishops to babies: drop dead
Oct 8th, 2013 12:25 pm | By Ophelia BensonAmanda Marcotte reminds us what popes and bishops really care about.
Remember Pope Francis said some pretty stuff about how Catholic authorities need to be less obsessed with their attempts to control human sexuality and more interested in helping the poor, and how a bunch of liberals who are grading the pope on a massive curve got excited? Remember how meanie atheists said that it doesn’t matter and we can tell you right now that nothing will change?
It turns out we were wrong?
No.
… Read the restThink Progress reported yesterday that the United Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter urging House Republicans to shut down the government rather than let women use their earned insurance benefits to buy contraception
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Flars
Oct 8th, 2013 12:17 pm | By Ophelia BensonNice.
Nick Cohen explains,
Martin Bright and I thought that what with one thing and another we should take some flowers to Ralph Miliband’s grave.
People on Facebook were very curious about the uncanny anachronistic boy in the background.
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Except those that support the infidels
Oct 8th, 2013 11:50 am | By Ophelia BensonThe Pakistani Taliban hasn’t fallen asleep on the job. It wants everyone to know it still plans to murder Malala Yousafzai.
Islamabad: The Pakistani Taliban on Monday said it would target 16-year-old rights activist Malala Yousafzai again…
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said Malala was targeted because she was used in propaganda against the militants.
There is no “because” for murder.
… Read the restThe Taliban would target her again if given the chance, just as it would target anyone who opposes the group, Shahid told a news channel.
“She accepted that she attacked Islam so we tried to kill her, and if we get another chance we will definitely kill her and that will make us feel proud,” he was quoted as
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Nebraska changed its abortion laws two years ago
Oct 8th, 2013 11:11 am | By Ophelia BensonThe Nebraska Supreme Court has ruled that a 16-year-old foster child may not have an abortion because she’s not mature enough to decide on her own whether or not to have one.
Well if she’s not mature enough for that how is she mature enough to bear and raise a child? Oh that’s ok, they might say, she’ll just hand her baby over for adoption. How is she mature enough for that? If she’s not mature enough to decide whether or not to have an abortion she’s surely not mature enough to be pregnant at all. Children shouldn’t have babies, even babies they intend to give up for adoption.
… Read the restThe 5-2 decision denied the unnamed child’s request for an abortion,
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Nebraska Supreme Court to foster child: no abortion for you
Oct 8th, 2013 | Filed by Ophelia BensonShe’s 16: not old enough, the judges ruled, to decide on her own to have an abortion. Old enough to bear and raise a child though.… Read the rest
Bishops make it official: forced childbirth more important than feeding babies
Oct 8th, 2013 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe US Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter urging House Republicans to shut down the government over insurance coverage for contraception.… Read the rest
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan vow to target Malala Yousafzai again
Oct 8th, 2013 | Filed by Ophelia Benson“Islam prohibits killing women…except those that support the infidels in their war against our religion,” said their spokesman.… Read the rest
Hey, c’mon, that’s standard Catholic doctrine!
Oct 7th, 2013 4:13 pm | By Ophelia BensonVia PZ – Scalia explains heaven and hell and the devil to an incredulous journalist, and then bullies the journalist for being incredulous. Yeah, gee, how dare anyone be surprised that an adult intelligent Supreme Court justice thinks there’s such a thing as The Devil.
… Read the restWhatever you think of the opinion, Justice Kennedy is now the Thurgood Marshall of gay rights.
[Nods.]
I don’t know how, by your lights, that’s going to be regarded in 50 years.
I don’t know either. And, frankly, I don’t care. Maybe the world is spinning toward a wider acceptance of homosexual rights, and here’s Scalia, standing athwart it. At least standing athwart it as a constitutional entitlement. But I have never
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Think carefully
Oct 7th, 2013 3:15 pm | By Ophelia BensonQuestion for the day, from Mike Booth @somegreybloke:
… Read the restWould you rather fight a thousand wasp sized mountain lions or one mountain lion sized wasp?
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Guest post: the exploration is fun, but it leads to an answer
Oct 7th, 2013 2:59 pm | By Ophelia BensonOriginally a comment by Eamon Knight on She is too enraptured by the mystery of the divine.
I’ve occasionally found myself caught up (the literal meaning of “enraptured”) in a bit of mathematics or physics, such that I would ponder on it during otherwise mindless moments (like long drives, or when falling asleep at night). And there’s this sense of exploring a mysterious, fascinating territory. Eventually I either figure it out, or write a program to brute-force it, or (these days) consult Google and find that real mathematicians and physicists (ie. people who aren’t me) have already been there and devised tools to describe it. Sometimes I get into a similar mindset when trying to figure out how to … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
No schools for you
Oct 7th, 2013 1:49 pm | By Ophelia BensonAmnesty International issued a new report a few days ago, Education under attack in Nigeria.
… Read the restIn the week that saw more than 50 students killed by gunmen in an agricultural college in Yobe State, Amnesty International publishes a new report assessing attacks on schools in northern Nigeria between 2012 and 2013.
“Hundreds have been killed in these horrific attacks. Thousands of children have been forced out of schools across communities in northern Nigeria and many teachers have been forced to flee for their safety,” said Lucy Freeman, Amnesty International’s deputy Africa director.
“Attacks against schoolchildren, teachers and school buildings demonstrate an absolute disregard for the right to life and the right to education.”
According to the report Education under
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
She is too enraptured by the mystery of the divine
Oct 7th, 2013 10:55 am | By Ophelia BensonThere’s another odd thing that Meghan Florian said in that Religion Dispatches/Salon article that’s been nagging at me.
I can’t pull off atheism. I am too enraptured by the mystery of the divine, too convinced of human limitations, too busy continuing this life of faith seeking understanding.
In a way it’s not worth trying to make sense of it or pointing out why it doesn’t make sense, because it’s just normal religious bafflegab – just a string of poeticky words that don’t actually mean much, but sound nice. That’s what they do. They have license to do that, because religion. That’s one of the many reasons I dislike religion: because it not only allows, it encourages empty bafflegab, and … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Pseudo-doubt
Oct 6th, 2013 4:56 pm | By Ophelia BensonMeghan Florian in Salon (via Religion Dispatches) notes that Teresa MacBain isn’t a reason to bash atheists. What she goes on to say after that got my rather annoyed attention.
(I haven’t said anything here about Teresa. That’s because I don’t want to. I like her a lot, so I don’t feel like it. I’m assuming that you already know the story.)
Florian recounts the recent events and disclosures first.
… Read the restWhat strikes me as inappropriate is to use this as an opportunity to bash atheists—even those who we might feel misrepresent the Christian faith. Did it irk me when MacBain said, in an interview on Religion Dispatches,“I’d always been a thinker so when questions relating to my faith
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
The goldfish quiz
Oct 6th, 2013 4:11 pm | By Ophelia BensonOk you wanted a Sunday afternoon quiz, so here is one.
Friendly wags on Facebook have been creating new “Should Miri Mogilevsky…” pages – be given a goldfish, be given a cheesecake, be given a goldfish, a cheesecake, and a tardis. So on the goldfish one, I commented
Yes but make sure she remembers where the car is before the fish goes into the plastic bag.
What is the reference?
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)