“They agreed that people can be good without religion, and religion has too much influence. But they disagreed about how stridently to make those claims.”… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Why documentation matters 
Oct 16th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The excesses of the bubble years have created a legal morass, in which property rights are ill defined because nobody has proper documentation.… Read the rest
Rift in Canadian Islamic Congress
Oct 16th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The forces of orthodoxy are resisting the progressives.… Read the rest
Oklahoma: 19-year-old gay man kills himself
Oct 16th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
His family says the suicide followed by just a week his attendance at a Norman City Council meeting where he heard some hostile views.… Read the rest
The caution is in paragraph 19
Oct 15th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Since most people don’t read as far as paragraph 19, this is not helpful.… Read the rest
Ben Goldacre on “biological cause” and stigma
Oct 15th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Does a “biological cause” story about mental health problems always reduce stigma? Not necessarily.… Read the rest
Crispian Jago’s alternative therapy flow chart
Oct 15th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Acceptable risk?–>Setting head on fire–>Ear candling.… Read the rest
What is nature
Oct 15th, 2010 11:57 am | By Ophelia BensonIn the introduction to God and the New Atheism, the theologian John Haught says [p x]
The belief system that Dennett and the other new atheists subscribe to is known as “scientific naturalism.” Its central dogma is that only nature, including humans and our creations, is real; that God does not exist; and that science alone can give us complete and reliable knowledge of reality.
That’s not how I would put it. I think naturalism means that all there is is all there is. There is what there is. The theists’ claim of God seems to include the idea that it has to be mysterian.
Why not just think of it as part of what there is, and then ask … Read the rest
Finns quit church during gay marriage tv show
Oct 15th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Meanwhile, the Catholic Church in Ireland is making it impossible for Church members to formally quit.… Read the rest
No atheists in collapsed mines
Oct 15th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
People in horrible situations often turn to god, so there neener neener.… Read the rest
Catholic church not processing paperwork
Oct 14th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Dublin archdiocese is telling people who want to leave the church that it can’t process applications until canon law is clarified.… Read the rest
Throw physic to the dogs
Oct 14th, 2010 12:33 pm | By Ophelia BensonThere’s a funny little sub-group of gnu atheist-hating atheists, who claim to find gnu atheists stupid and worthless and contemptible beyond belief, yet can’t stop talking about them. I’ve started making bets with myself. “She says this is enough about the gnu atheists for now…but I bet she won’t be able to ignore that post by Jason Rosenhouse.” I’ve been winning all my bets. The sub-group is very predictable. They’re like “You’re Not Helping” that way – after awhile I knew what YNH was going to be talking about next, and YNH always obliged.
They hate hate hate certain gnu atheists – and oh man do they hate the “gnu atheists” joke – yet those very gnu atheists set … Read the rest
Science Museum opens psychoanalysis exhibition
Oct 14th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Science Museum? Yes.… Read the rest
Sue Blackmore on aggressive theists
Oct 14th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
They call atheists aggressive, but they’re spoiling for a fight.… Read the rest
Imam says rape is impossible in marriage
Oct 14th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The president of the Islamic Sharia Council in Britain says men who rape their wives should not be prosecuted because “sex is part of marriage.”… Read the rest
New BBC guidelines protect religion
Oct 14th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“Any content dealing with matters of religion and likely to cause offence to those with religious views must be editorially justified and referred to a senior editorial figure.”… Read the rest
17 year old girl whipped 100 times at mosque
Oct 14th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
As all the men of the village stood around her she was beaten on her back with the hard centre stem of a coconut frond.… Read the rest
Creeping theocracy
Oct 13th, 2010 5:47 pm | By Ophelia BensonTwo thirds of the Supreme Court is Catholic: six of the nine. And they’re not kidding. Joe Biden and five justices attended the “Red Mass” the day before the new term of the court.
The mass is a Catholic service, but power brokers of other faiths are asked to attend the invitation-only event. Critics have called the attendance of leading decision-makers, including members of the highest court in the land, inappropriate.
Oh, what’s the harm – it’s just a bit of incense and some pious mumbling.
A Vatican archbishop told the VP and 5 of the 9 justices
… Read the restthat laws are based upon certain principles: “the pursuit of the common good through respect for the natural law, the dignity
Biden, 5 Supreme Court Justices attend Red Mass
Oct 13th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
To hear a Vatican archbishop tell them secularism is bad and laws are from God. Srsly.… Read the rest
How to change the zeitgeist
Oct 13th, 2010 12:31 pm | By Ophelia BensonJason Rosenhouse has done the perfect, brilliant reply to Josh Rosenau’s latest on Hau too Hellp and on howtohelping in general. I would love to have written it myself, but I’m not clever enough.
Turns out people tend to mistrust information that comes from people they don’t like. Who knew?
Heh. Yes, we knew, and we also knew that’s not quite all there is to it. We know for instance that there are not just two participants in every conversation. We know that liking or not liking are not the only two possibilities. We know that information is not the only product of discussion.
… Read the restAtheist spirituality, such as it is, has almost nothing in common with traditional religion. So far
