Author: Ophelia Benson

  • Aspies tend not to think teleologically

    No theory of mind means no attribution of mind to cosmos. [Warning: Templeton pop up ad]

  • The vulgarity of George Pitcher

    There is just no end to it.

  • Steiner Waldorf School ‘guidelines for child study’

    Not a parody, not a joke; they mean it.

  • Nigel Warburton on freedom of ‘offensive’ speech

    Too often our politicians tell us they believe in free speech, but that with this comes the responsibility not to offend others. This is bunkum.

  • Another embattled religious “freedom”

    And speaking of tensions between religious freedom and other rights – Helen Ukpabio is another who is attempting to use the law to make her “religious rights” trump other rights.

    Since “Saving Africa’s Witch Children” was first shown in Britain, in 2008, Mr. Itauma’s home state has adopted a law against accusing children of witchcraft. But Ms. Ukpabio went on the offensive by suing the state government, Mr. Foxcroft, Mr. Itauma and Leo Igwe, a Nigerian antisuperstition activist.

    In the lawsuit, Ms. Ukpabio alleges that the state law infringes on her freedom of religion. She seeks 2 billion naira (about $13 million) in damages, as well as “an order of perpetual injunction restraining the respondents” from interfering with or otherwise denouncing her church’s “right to practice their religion and the Christian religious belief in the existence of God, Jesus Christ, Satan, sin, witchcraft, heaven and hellfire.”

    In other words, in the name of religious freedom, Ms. Ukpabio seeks a gag order on anyone who disagrees with her.

    Anyone who disagrees with her and who wants to protect children from accusations of “witchcraft” and the resulting abandonment and/or torture and possibly death. She wants the “freedom” to tell people that some children are witches and that she can detect them.

    Ukpabio’s critics say her teachings have contributed to the torture or abandonment of thousands of Nigerian children — including infants and toddlers — suspected of being witches and warlocks. Her culpability is a central contention of “Saving Africa’s Witch Children,” a documentary that will make its American debut Wednesday on HBO2.

    Those disturbed by the needless immiseration of innocent children should beware. “Saving Africa’s Witch Children” follows Gary Foxcroft, founder of the charity Stepping Stones Nigeria, as he travels the rural state of Akwa Ibom, rescuing children abused during horrific “exorcisms” — splashed with acid, buried alive, dipped in fire — or abandoned roadside, cast out of their villages because some itinerant preacher called them possessed.

    A freedom too far.

  • Ukpabio replies

    “Mark Oppenheimer what about your wife? What is she hunting after? She hunts after monkeys and dogs, no wonder she has only one child.”

  • Mark Oppenheimer meets Helen Ukpabio

    Ukpabio sued Igwe, Foxcroft and others, saying state law against accusing children of witchcraft infringes on her religious freedom.

  • NY Times profiles Helen Ukpabio

    The Nigerian Pentecostal minister at the centre of the child-witchcraft hysteria in Akwa Ibom State.

  • A shabby pretext

    Inayat Bunglawala is pondering (in a rather inconclusive and unproductive way, which I suppose in his case is probably just as well) the tensions between religious freedom and other kinds of freedom, religious rights and other kinds of rights. One thing he mentions needs more second-guessing than it usually gets.

    Professor Roger Trigg kicked off last night’s discussion by pointing out that Article 9 of the European convention on human rights guarantees that “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to … manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance.” However, Professor Trigg argued that, in reality, a number of recent cases showed that this religious freedom was being trumped by other human rights.

    He cited the case of a registrar in the London borough of Islington who had objections to conducting civil partnership ceremonies. The registrar happened to be a Christian and “could not reconcile her faith with taking an active part in enabling same sex unions to be formed”. This was a case where the freedom to manifest one’s religious beliefs in practice appeared to come into direct conflict with the right not to be discriminated against due to one’s sexual orientation.

    Here’s what I think needs closer examination: in what sense is it really part of the registrar’s religious beliefs that gay people shouldn’t get married?

    Is that something Jesus is quoted as saying? Is it a central Christian belief? Is it a religious belief at all?

    Not that I know of. As far as I know, it’s just a traditional entrenched customary belief – a “Yuk” belief, to borrow from Leon Kass and Jonathan Haidt. It doesn’t really have any strictly religious content. Yet it gets called a religious belief. Why? Partly to make it seem more respectable, and partly precisely to take advantage of the rights that Bunglawala mentions. A mere stupid bit of bigoted dislike doesn’t deserve or get the dignity of a right, but if you say it’s a religious belief – oh well that’s different. Only it isn’t. But a lot of people say it is. It’s mostly a con, and should be treated as such.

  • Zimbabwe: gay activists released after alleged torture

    They had a letter in their office from former San Francisco mayor criticising Mugabe’s opposition to homosexuality.

  • Malawi: Ban Ki-moon urges change to laws

    38 out of 53 African countries criminalise consensual gay sex; in some it’s a capital crime.

  • Malawi pardons jailed gay couple

    Their lawyers say the two men are likely to be freed by Monday.

  • Archbish of Cant tries to stamp out dissent

    Dissent continues to ignore archbish.

  • Violence in Latin America’s cities

    Fear of street harassment prevents women from freely moving around and hinders their studies, work or recreation.

  • An exciting breakthrough

    Okay this is one of the funniest things I’ve seen in awhile. On Facebook at least. Salman Rushdie learned from a Facebook friend how to find various “interesting characters” to “add to one’s ✍ writing.” So now he gets to spark up his famously dull prose with little pointing hands ☛, umbrellas ☂, telephones, and other tiny symbols. One wag remarked

    oooh! can’t wait for
    ☀☃✗✈✖☺☆by Salman Rushdie – Published by Random House

    Hahahahahahaha.

  • Aceh: Islamic cops forcing women to wear long skirts

    No jeans allowed; women wearing jeans are arrested, forced to put on long skirt and forfeit their jeans.

  • In philosophy ‘certainty’ has a specific meaning

    Jim at Apple Eaters sees Pessin’s ‘paradox’ the way I do.

    Man, there is so much sloppiness here that I want to bite something. First, in philosophy “certainty” has a specific meaning, and it means that there is no doubt. If that’s not what Pessin has in mind, he should define the term. The point there is that, even if I recognize that I am fallible and capable of mistakes, I likely am not certain that I have made some mistake in my reasoning. Were that the case, I would be going over that reasoning carefully to find the error. Rather, I just see that it is possible that I made a mistake, but that is nothing like having certainty about it.

    Just what I say. If he doesn’t really mean ‘certain’ then he should say so – he shouldn’t pretend he means ‘certain’ in order to pretend there’s a paradox but then treat the certainty as actually just a possibility. That’s [Jon Stewartian high-pitched squeal] cheating.

    Accepting contradictions is not a way to accomplish anything except confusion. Being sloppy in your definitions only spreads confusion. Confusion is not peace. In fact, confusion is often the origin of conflict. Pessin is the kind of philosopher who gives the rest of us a bad name.

    Just what I say.

  • Kristof on the excommunicated nun

    Priests who rape children are not excommunicated, but a nun who assents to an abortion to save the woman’s life is.

  • House votes to allow repeal of ‘don’t ask don’t tell’

    The provision would allow military commanders to repeal the ban.

  • Apple Eaters on Pessin on certainty

    ‘In philosophy “certainty” has a specific meaning, and it means that there is no doubt.’