Those of us who write about the Religious Right are not overreacting. Nor do we, as Wallis and Pinsky seem to think, believe that all evangelicals are theocrats.… Read the rest
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Talk2Action talks back
Oct 9th, 2011 6:10 pm | By Ophelia BensonMore on Jim Wallis and Mark Pinsky, at Talk2Action, which was the object of much of their criticism/bullying.
… Read the restIt was bad enough when Mark I. Pinsky recently took to the op-ed page of USA Today to smear four Jewish writers who have had the temerity to write critically and well about dominionism and related matters — comparingtheir work to historic anti-Semitic smears including the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Then Jim Wallis chimed in last week, accusing unnamed liberal writers of engaging in thought crimes against evangelicals. His charges were as unsubstantiated as Pinsky’s, whose essay he praised and linked to.
Some of us who figured to be among the unnamed decided it was time to speak,
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Opening the door
Oct 9th, 2011 11:35 am | By Ophelia BensonHundreds of people are expected to gather tonight on Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard to declare themselves “without religion.” The move follows the recent District Court ruling granting author Yoram Kaniuk recognition as “without religion” by the Interior Ministry.
The meeting, to be held in the abandoned building on Rothschild Boulevard which has become an ad-hoc community center for protesters, is being organized on Facebook by Tel Aviv poet Oded Carmeli. So far, about 600 people have confirmed they will be attending.
Participants will be signing affidavits in the presence of attorneys, informing the Interior Ministry of their change of status to “without religion.”
Mazel tov!
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
There’s probably no bus
Oct 9th, 2011 10:47 am | By Ophelia BensonOxford Christians tell Dawkins where to get off.
In 2009, atheists in London paid for 200 adverts on the city’s buses, declaring: “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”
Now Premier Christian Radio has paid for its own version on Oxford buses, after the distinguished evolutionary biologist turned down the chance to debate with Christian philosopher William Lane Craig when he visits the city later in the month.
The new advert reads: “There’s probably no Dawkins. Now stop worrying and enjoy Oct 25th at the Sheldonian Theatre.”
The trouble with that as a witticism is that it isn’t true. It’s as if X taunts Y by saying “You flunked out of high school!” and Y … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Christian bus ad: “There’s probably no Dawkins” 
Oct 9th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Sophisticated.… Read the rest
Message before suicide attack: forget secular education
Oct 9th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The suicide bomber who killed more than 100 people near Somalia’s education ministry was a school dropout who said young people should wage jihad instead.… Read the rest
Hundreds of Israelis to declare themselves ‘without religion’
Oct 9th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The move follows the recent District Court ruling granting author Yoram Kaniuk recognition as “without religion” by the Interior Ministry.… Read the rest
Hitchens at Texas Freethought Convention
Oct 9th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
He was emphatic that though his “time” is rapidly approaching, he wouldn’t stop doing his best to shed light on the fraudulent claims made by religion.… Read the rest
Seen today in Trafalgar Square
Oct 8th, 2011 5:27 pm | By Ophelia BensonTerry Glavin reports that Peter Tatchell went to a stoppers’ rally in Trafalgar Square today.
Attaboy Peter.… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Libbruls unfair to evangelicals
Oct 8th, 2011 4:06 pm | By Ophelia BensonRichard Bartholomew signs an open letter to Jim Wallis from writers about US religion and politics. The letter says
… Read the restDear Jim Wallis,
We are writing in response to your e-mail to the Sojourners list on September 29th, and your similar piece on The Huffington Post, in which you claim that “some liberal writers” — whom you do not name — are broad brushing evangelical Christians as “intellectually-flawed right-wing crazies with dangerous plans for the country.” You characterize unnamed writers — writers like us — as people who are “all too eager to discredit religion as part of their perennial habit and practice.” This charge is as unfair as it is unsubstantiated.
…
we are concerned that you have endorsed
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Ratzinger at home
Oct 8th, 2011 9:45 am | By Ophelia BensonThe pope talked to the Bundestag a couple of weeks ago, and according to the Iona Institute, his remarks went down a treat. The II says they gave him a two-minute standing ovation, as if he’d sung an aria or acted Hamlet.
(Why, one wonders? German boy made good? Big famous holy guy in gleaming white outfit? Name recognition? Why?)
His talk was the usual bullshit – the Catholic church had a great deal to do with the wonderful flawless perfect morality we have today, even though the morality we have today is quite different from the morality we had when the Catholic church had real power and didn’t hesitate to use it, and even though the pope spends … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Funeral of Wangari Maathai in Uhuru National Park
Oct 8th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Thousands of mourners lined the route.… Read the rest
Kerala: Christian churches reward big families
Oct 8th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Several Christian parishes in the Indian state of Kerala have begun offering incentives to couples who produce more children, officials say.… Read the rest
Dawkins suggests schools should not teach nonsense
Oct 8th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Such as “the world is 6,000 years old.” Just a thought.… Read the rest
BMJ exchange on homeopathy
Oct 8th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Sikorski v Ernst, the Nightingale Collaboration v Sikorski, Sikorski v Sense About Science, and much more.… Read the rest
No bouquets are handed out to women alas
Oct 7th, 2011 6:24 pm | By Ophelia BensonI learned of True Woman and Nancy Leigh DeMoss from Frank Schaeffer’s AlterNet article on Bachmann.
The irony was that Pride preached a dogmatic, stay-at-home, follow-your-man philosophy for other women while turning her lucrative homeschooling empire into a one-woman industry. So Pride may be added to the list of powerful women — like Michele Bachmann — who just love those “traditional roles” for other women. And Pride’s successor in the patriarchy movement, Nancy Leigh DeMoss, was also one of those do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do best-selling career women doing high-paid speaking gigs while encouraging other women to stay home and submit to their men.
Here is DeMoss at True Woman with a call to Biblical Womanhood.
… Read the restDue to the modern feminist revolution,
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Beautiful Girlhood v. Courageous Boyhood
Oct 7th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Boys are to remain “steadfast in their conviction” while girls are to guard against “anything that would rob them of purity.”… Read the rest
An inspiration
Oct 7th, 2011 12:01 pm | By Ophelia BensonVia Libby Anne -
Couple pleads not guilty in homicide of adopted daughter
… Read the restAccording to court documents, the couple’s adopted daughter, Hana Williams, 13, was systematically starved, beaten, forced to use an outdoor toilet and
sometimes locked in a dark closet for days by the Williams.Hana Williams was found dead in May – naked, face-down in the mud in her own backyard – after she had spent much of a cold, rainy day outside as a punishment, according to court documents.
Although she died of hypothermia, there were other contributing causes to her death, including severe malnutrition and chronic gastritis, doctors said.
The Williams had adopted Hana from Ethiopia in 2008 as a diseased little girl to begin a
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Adopted child, 8, dies of exposure and malnutrition
Oct 7th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A witness told investigators that the Williams got their ideas for the disciplinary measures from a book, “How to Train Up Your Child,” by Michael Pearl.… Read the rest
We demonstrate a noble submission to authority
Oct 7th, 2011 11:30 am | By Ophelia BensonHere’s a fun new thing to explore: True Woman.
It haz a manifesto.
… Read the restWe believe that the creation of humanity as male and female was a purposeful and magnificent part of God’s wise plan, and that men and women were designed to reflect the image of God in complementary and distinct ways.
…
We realize that we live in a culture that does not recognize God’s right to rule, does not accept Scripture as the pattern for life, and is experiencing the consequences of abandoning God’s design for men and women.
…
Scripture is God’s authoritative means of instructing us in His ways and it reveals His holy pattern for our womanhood, our character, our priorities, and our
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
