Plaintiff claimed Columbia was violating the first amendment because ‘feminism is a religion.’… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Review of Eagleton on ‘New’ Atheism
Apr 29th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Calls it a fascinating, original, prickly work of philosophy.… Read the rest
Secular Summer Camp
Apr 29th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
But where are the camps for children who don’t want to go to camp?… Read the rest
Ireland Considers Blasphemous Libel Amendment
Apr 29th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A new crime of blasphemous libel is to be proposed in an amendment to the Defamation Bill.… Read the rest
New Hampshire Senate Passes Gay Marriage Bill
Apr 29th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It is unclear whether the governor will sign the bill or veto it.… Read the rest
Paul Krugman on Looking Forward not Backward
Apr 28th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Laws aren’t supposed to be enforced only when convenient.… Read the rest
Steven Lukes on the Right to Judge Others
Apr 28th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Who are we to apply our standards to the adherents of other moral and religious systems?… Read the rest
Ronald Aronson on the Rise of Atheism in America
Apr 28th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The impressive increase among those willing to check atheist or agnostic is dramatic tribute to the success of the ‘new atheist’ writers.… Read the rest
Guardian to Charles: Shut Up or Step Down
Apr 28th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Charles is circumventing the proper procedure by exploiting privilege he enjoys purely through fluke of birth.… Read the rest
Charles v Rogers
Apr 28th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
PC has rarely, if ever, attacked the rape of small towns by inappropriate housing developments.… Read the rest
Charles Abusing his Power Again
Apr 28th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Some of the world’s leading architects say he is abusing his position to unfairly influence planning decisions.… Read the rest
Did somebody say ‘pork’?!
Apr 27th, 2009 5:32 pm | By Ophelia BensonThere’s no sensitivity like the sensitivity of Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman. It makes the sensitivity of that princess who slept on the pea look like a longshoreman’s glove.
The outbreak of swine flu should be renamed “Mexican” influenza in deference to Muslim and Jewish sensitivities over pork, said an Israeli health official Monday. Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman said the reference to pigs is offensive to both religions and “we should call this Mexican flu and not swine flu,” he told a news conference at a hospital in central Israel. Both Judaism and Islam consider pigs unclean and forbid the eating of pork products.
Oh right, so they do! Therefore it’s a hell of a good idea to … Read the rest
American Atheists Exiting the Closet at Last
Apr 27th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It worked for the gay rights movement, so why not for the unbelievers?… Read the rest
Israeli Official: ‘Swine’ Flu Name is Offensive
Apr 27th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Says the flu should be renamed ‘Mexican’ influenza in deference to Muslim and Jewish sensitivities.… Read the rest
Christina Lamb Returns to Herat
Apr 27th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘In the past three years, going back and forth to Afghanistan, I have watched the situation for women deteriorate.’… Read the rest
What We Owe to Mary Wollstonecraft
Apr 27th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The long, hard struggle for women’s rights teaches us that tradition and sexual equality often collide.… Read the rest
Jaffa Oranges Actually From China
Apr 27th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The ‘citrus plot’ wasn’t; the Sweeties came from China, where faking the origin of goods is a common practice. … Read the rest
Israeli Oranges for Sale in Iran Shock-horror
Apr 27th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Sinister Jaffa oranges arrived in boxes marked as Chinese…but surely that’s a ploy…… Read the rest
Eagleton forgot to mention a few things…
Apr 26th, 2009 5:08 pm | By Ophelia BensonThere is one particular, pressing problem with Eagleton’s incoherent rant: the problem is that, as in the past, he writes as if the only criticism there is to make of Islam and Islamism is ‘terrorism,’ meaning terrorism in the sense of blowing the legs off small children. That is not the only criticism there is to make of Islam and Islamism. Terrorism-as-bombing is not the only reason there is to be critical of Islam and especially of Islamism. How Eagleton can be unaware of that fact is hard to understand. Does he carefully avoid all news coverage? Does he have a special filter that excludes anything with the word ‘Islam’ or ‘Taliban’ or ‘women’ or ‘girls’ in it? If … Read the rest
Taliban advertising
Apr 26th, 2009 12:41 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe Taliban murdered a couple for alleged putative who cares anyway ‘adultery’ and somebody took pictures.
In footage which is being watched with horror by Pakistanis, the couple try to flee when they realise what is about to happen. But a gunman casually shoots the man and then the woman in the back with a burst of gunfire, leaving them bleeding in the dirt. Moments later, when others in the execution party shout out that they are still alive, he returns to coldly finish them with a few more rounds.
Coming soon to a neighborhood near you.
… Read the restIt was the kind of barbarity that has become increasingly familiar across Pakistan as the Taliban tide has spread. But this time, with
