Author: Ophelia Benson

  • Anti-gay Evangelical Chosen for ‘Invocation’

    Choice of Rick Warren is seen as a signal to religious conservatives that Obama will listen to their views.

  • Earnings Were a Mirage But Bonuses Remain

    Banks plan to pay bonuses despite needing billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money to survive.

  • The Epistemology of the DSM-V

    ‘In psychiatry no one knows the causes of anything, so classification can be driven by all sorts of factors.’

  • Belief and responsibility

    Peter Singer points out the consquences of ignoring science.

    Throughout his tenure as South Africa’s president, Thabo Mbeki rejected the scientific consensus that Aids is caused by a virus, HIV, and that anti-retroviral drugs can save the lives of people who test positive for it. Instead, he embraced the views of a small group of dissident scientists who suggested other causes for Aids. Mbeki stubbornly continued to embrace this position even as the evidence against it became overwhelming. When anyone – even Nelson Mandela…- publicly questioned Mbeki’s views, Mbeki’s supporters viciously denounced them. While Botswana and Namibia, South Africa’s neighbours, provided anti-retrovirals to the majority of its citizens infected by HIV, South Africa under Mbeki failed to do so. A team of Harvard University researchers has now investigated the consequences of this policy. Using conservative assumptions, it estimates that, had South Africa’s government provided the appropriate drugs, both to Aids patients and to pregnant women who were at risk of infecting their babies, it would have prevented 365,000 premature deaths.

    That’s a conservative estimate, notice, and it’s ‘roughly comparable to the loss of life from the genocide in Darfur.’

    [T]he Harvard study shows that [Mbeki] is responsible for the deaths of 5,000 times as many black South Africans as the white South African police who fired on the crowd at Sharpeville…

    In Mbeki’s defence, it can be said that he did not intend to kill anyone. He appears to have genuinely believed – and perhaps still believes – that anti-retrovirals are toxic.

    But – I thought the instant I read those words – he had no right to believe that. Then I remembered The Ethics of Belief. Well this is a classic case. In a life and death situation, one has no right to believe something in the teeth of the evidence. Mbeki was in just the situation of Clifford’s shipowner.

    What shall we say of him? Surely this, that he was verily guilty of the death of those men. It is admitted that he did sincerely believe in the soundness of his ship; but the sincerity of his conviction can in no wise help him, because he had no right to believe on such evidence as was before him. He had acquired his belief not by honestly earning it in patient investigation, but by stifling his doubts.

    Mbeki had no right to believe on such evidence as was before him. Singer says as much.

    [G]ood intentions are not enough, especially when the stakes are so high. Mbeki is culpable, not for having initially entertained a view held by a tiny minority of scientists, but for having clung to this view without allowing it to be tested in fair and open debate among experts. When Prof Malegapuru Makgoba, South Africa’s leading black immunologist, warned that the president’s policies would make South Africa a laughingstock in the world of science, Mbeki’s office accused him of defending racist western ideas…Mbeki must have known that, if his unorthodox views about the cause of Aids and the efficacy of anti-retrovirals were wrong, his policy would lead to a large number of unnecessary deaths. That knowledge put him under the strongest obligation to allow all the evidence to be fairly presented and examined without fear or favour. Because he did not do this, Mbeki cannot escape responsibility for hundreds of thousands of deaths.

    Disturbing, isn’t it.

  • HRW Urges Action on Reforms for Migrant Women

    Governments in the Middle East should act quickly to fulfill promises to protect migrant women’s rights.

  • HRW on the Kiwanja Massacre

    Survivors could only run to the UN base half a mile away and cluster outside the fence for protection.

  • Jesus, Mo and Barmaid on Science and Theology

    Science is limited by its refusal to make stuff up.

  • The Cost of Mbeki’s ‘Beliefs’ About HIV

    Had South Africa’s government provided the appropriate drugs, it would have prevented 365,000 premature deaths.

  • Cheney Says Waterboarding is Okay

    ABC asked him if in hindsight he thought the tactics went too far. ‘I don’t,’ Cheney said cheerfully.

  • Free Speech Rapporteurs on ‘Defamation’

    Restrictions on freedom of expression should never be used to protect institutions, abstract notions, or beliefs.

  • Kenan Malik on Internalising the Fatwa

    The avoidance of ‘cultural pain’ is seen as more important than an ‘abstract’ right to freedom of expression.

  • Nirmukta Offers a Plea for Rationality

    The one thing we can all agree on: we cannot give up our secularism and limited freedoms in fear or in anger.

  • Another Blasphemy Bust in Indonesia

    Indonesian police booked cult leader Lia Aminuddin for ‘insulting’ Islam.

  • Indonesia: Teacher Accused of ‘Blasphemy’

    Accusation that a teacher ‘blasphemed’ Islam set off the torching of two churches, a health clinic, 67 homes.

  • Muslim Think Tank Finds Sharia Unfair to Women

    ‘I told them I had been forced and this was not Islamic, but they disagreed.’

  • Call for End to Sharia Courts

    A new report showing that Muslim women are discriminated against and
    encounter gross bias when they subject themselves to Sharia adjudications
    was welcomed today by The One Law for
    All Campaign, which is supported by a variety of organisations and
    individuals.

    The campaign’s spokesperson Maryam Namazie said: ‘This research reinforces
    our own findings that Sharia Councils and Muslim Arbitration Tribunals are
    discriminatory and unfair. However, the solution to the miscarriages of
    justice is not the vetting of Imams coming to the UK as the report has
    recommended but an end to the use and implementation of Sharia law and
    religious-based tribunals.’ She added: ‘At present these Sharia-based bodies
    are growing and appear to have some sort of official backing. But they are
    leading to gross injustices among women who are often unaware of their
    rights under Britain’s legal system.’

    This perspective was reiterated in the One Law for All Campaign’s launch on
    December 10, 2008 in the House of Lords at which Maryam Namazie and campaign
    supporters Gina Khan, Carla Revere, Ibn Warraq and Keith Porteous Wood
    spoke; the meeting was chaired by Fariborz Pooya, head of the Iranian
    Secular Society.

    Gina Khan, a secular Muslim, said: ‘Under British law we are treated as
    equal and full human beings. Under the antiquated version of Sharia law that
    Islamists peddle, we are discriminated against just because of our gender.
    These Islamists use our plight by meddling in issues like forced marriages,
    domestic violence and inheritance laws for their own political agenda. To
    allow them to have any sort of control over the lives of Muslim women in
    British communities will have dire consequences.’ She added: ‘Sharia courts
    must be a pressing concern not just for Muslims but for all those living in
    Britain. Anyone who believes in universal human rights needs to stand united
    against the discrimination and oppression visited upon Muslim women.’

    Carla Revere, Chairperson of the Lawyers’ Secular Society, said: ‘Such
    self-appointed, unregulated tribunals are gaining in strength; they
    increasingly hold themselves up as courts with as much force as the law of
    the land, but are not operating with the same controls and safeguards. They
    appear to be operating in the area of family law and some even in criminal
    matters, where they have no right to make binding decisions as they claim to
    do. Even if the decisions were binding, UK courts do not uphold contractual
    decisions that are contrary to UK law or public policy. We call on the
    Government and legal establishment to stand up for the vulnerable and tackle
    this significant and growing problem, rather than ignoring it.’

    Writer Ibn Warraq said: ‘Sharia does not accord equal rights to Muslim
    women- in regards to marriage- she is not free to marry a non-Muslim, for
    instance; in regards to divorce, custody of children, inheritance, the
    choice of profession, and freedom to travel, or freedom to change her
    religion. In other words, Great Britain in allowing Sharia courts has
    contravened the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, and all the
    other more legally binding United Nations’ Covenants on Discrimination and
    the Rights of Women… Multiculturalism is turning communities against each
    other, it is fundamentally divisive. We need to get back to the principles
    of equality before the law, principles that so many people fought so hard to
    achieve for so long.’

    Keith Porteous Wood, Executive Director of the National Secular Society,
    said: ‘Sharia is becoming a growth industry in Britain, putting growing
    pressure on vulnerable people in the Muslim community to use Sharia councils
    and tribunals to resolve disputes and family matters, when they could use
    the civil courts. Sharia law is not arrived at by the democratic process, is
    not Human Rights compliant, and there is no right of appeal.’

    Writer Joan Smith who was unable to speak at the launch sent the following
    message: ‘This campaign is very important because many people in this
    country – including politicians – have yet to realise the isolation of many
    Muslims, particularly women, from the wider society. Some of them are
    already under intolerable pressure from their families, and the principle of
    one law for everyone is a protection they desperately need. That’s why I
    give this campaign my whole-hearted support.’

    To find out more or support the One Law for All Campaign against Sharia Law
    in Britain visit One Law for All.

    You can also listen to Maryam Namazie’s debates with Sidiqqi, head of the
    Muslim Arbitration Tribunal, on BBC 5 Live and with Muslim lawyer Aina Khan
    on BBC Radio 4 Women’s Hour here.

    To listen to Gina Khan’s speech at the December 10, 2008 One Law for All
    Campaign against Sharia law in Britain launch, click here.

    To listen to Maryam Namazie’s speech at the December 10, 2008 One Law for
    All Campaign against Sharia law in Britain launch, click here.

    To listen to Carla Revere’s speech at the December 10, 2008 One Law for All
    Campaign against Sharia law in Britain launch, click here.

    To listen to Ibn Warraq’s speech at the December 10, 2008 One Law for All
    Campaign against Sharia law in Britain launch, click here.

    To listen to Keith Porteous Wood’s speech at the December 10, 2008 One Law
    for All Campaign against Sharia law in Britain launch, click here.

    Some of the signatories to the Campaign

    Nazanin Afshin-Jam, Coordinator, Stop Child Executions Campaign, Canada
    Mina Ahadi, Spokesperson, Council of Ex-Muslims of Germany; Coordinator,
    International Committee against Stoning, Köln, Germany
    Sargul Ahmad, Activist, Women’s Liberation in Iraq, Canada
    Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Writer, Washington, DC, USA
    Mahin Alipour, Coordinator, Equal Rights Now – Organisation against Women’s
    Discrimination in Iran, Stockholm, Sweden
    Homa Arjomand, Coordinator, International Campaign against Sharia Courts in
    Canada, Toronto, Canada
    Farideh Arman, Coordinator, International Campaign in Defence of Women’s
    Rights in Iran, Malmo, Sweden
    Abdullah Asadi, Executive Director, International Federation of Iranian
    Refugees, Sweden
    Ophelia Benson, Editor, Butterflies and Wheels, USA
    Susan Blackmore, Psychologist, UK
    Nazanin Borumand, Never Forget Hatun Campaign against Honour Killings,
    Germany
    Roy Brown, Past President, International Humanist and Ethical Union, Geneva,
    Switzerland
    Ed Buckner, President, American Atheists, USA
    Marino Busdachin, General Secretary, Unrepresented Nations and Peoples
    Organization, Netherlands
    Center for Inquiry, USA
    Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, UK
    Council of Ex-Muslims of Germany, Germany
    Council of Ex-Muslims of Scandinavia, Sweden
    Caroline Cox, Peer, House of Lords, London, UK
    Austin Dacey, Representative to the United Nations, Center for
    Inquiry-International, USA
    Shahla Daneshfar, Central Committee Member, Equal Rights Now – Organisation
    against Women’s Discrimination in Iran, London, UK
    Richard Dawkins, Scientist, Oxford, UK
    Patty Debonitas, TV Producer, Third Camp against US Militarism and Islamic
    Terrorism, London, UK
    Deeyah, Singer and composer, USA
    Nick Doody, Comedian, UK
    Sonja Eggerickx, President, International Humanist and Ethical Union,
    Belgium
    Afshin Ellian, Professor, Leiden University Faculty of Law, Leiden,
    Netherlands
    Equal Rights Now – Organisation against Women’s Discrimination in Iran,
    Sweden
    European Humanist Federation, Belgium
    Tarek Fatah, Author, Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic
    State, Toronto, Canada
    Caroline Fourest, Writer, France
    Tahir Aslam Gora, Writer and journalist, Canada
    AC Grayling, Writer and Philosopher, London, UK
    Maria Hagberg, Chair, Network against Honour-Related Violence, Gothenburg,
    Sweden
    Johann Hari, Journalist, London, UK
    Christopher Hitchens, Author, USA
    Farshad Hoseini, Activist, International Campaign against Executions,
    Netherlands
    Khayal Ibrahim, Coordinator, Organization of Women’s Liberation in Iraq;
    Arabic Anchor for Secular TV, Canada
    International Committee against Executions, Netherlands
    International Committee against Stoning, Germany
    International Humanist and Ethical Union, UK
    Iranian Secular Society, UK
    Shakeb Isaar, Singer, Sweden
    Maryam Jamel, Activist, Women’s Liberation in Iraq, Canada
    Keyvan Javid, Director, New Channel TV, London, UK
    Alan Johnson, Editor, Democratiya.com, Lancashire, UK
    Mehul Kamdar, Former editor of The Modern Rationalist, USA
    Naser Khader, Founder, Association of Democratic Muslims, Denmark
    Hope Knutsson, Chair, Sidmennt, Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association,
    Iceland
    Hartmut Krauss, Editor, Hintergrund, Germany
    LAIQUES – Région PACA, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France
    Stephen Law, Editor, Royal Institute of Philosophy journal, London, UK
    Shiva Mahbobi, Producer, Against Discrimination TV Programme, London, UK
    Houzan Mahmoud, Abroad Representative, Organisation of Women’s Freedom in
    Iraq, London, UK
    Doreen Massey, Peer, House of Lords, London, UK
    Anthony McIntyre, Writer, Ireland
    Caspar Melville, Editor, New Humanist magazine, London, UK
    Bahar Milani, Activist, Children First Now, London, UK
    Tauriq Moosa, Writer, Capetown, South Africa
    Reza Moradi, Producer, Fitna Remade, London, UK
    Douglas Murray, Director, Centre for Social Cohesion, London, UK
    Taslima Nasrin, Writer and activist
    National Secular Society, London, UK
    Never Forget Hatun Campaign against Honour Killings, Germany
    Samir Noory, Writer; Secular TV Manager, Canada
    David Pollock, President, the European Humanist Federation, London, UK
    Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, Pakistan
    Fahimeh Sadeghi, Coordinator, International Federation of Iranian
    Refugees-Vancouver, Vancouver, Canada
    Michael Schmidt-Salomon, Chief Executive Officer, Giordano Bruno Foundation,
    Germany
    Udo Schuklenk, Philosophy professor, Queen’s University, Canada
    Sohaila Sharifi, Editor, Unveiled, London, UK
    Issam Shukri, Head, Defense of Secularism and Civil Rights in Iraq; Central
    Committee Secretary, Left Worker-communist Party of Iraq, Iraq
    Bahram Soroush, Founding member, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, London,
    UK
    Peter Tatchell, Activist, London, UK
    Hamid Taqvaee, Central Committee Secretary, Worker-communist Party of Iran
    Union des Familles Laïques – section Arles-Istres, France
    Union des Familles Laïques – section Marseille-Aix-en-Provence, France
    Afsaneh Vahdat, Coordinator, Council of Ex-Muslims of Sweden, Stockholm,
    Sweden
    Marvin F. Zayed, President, International Committee to Protect Freethinkers,
    Ottawa,Canada

    For more information, please contact Maryam Namazie, email:
    onelawforall@gmail.com, telephone: 07719166731; website:
    onelawforall.org.uk.

  • As if increase of appetite had grown by what it fed on

    Kenan Malik on the fatwa twenty years on.

    It has now become widely accepted that we live in a multicultural world, and that in such a world it is important not to cause offence to other peoples and cultures. As the sociologist Tariq Modood has put it: ‘If people are to occupy the same political space without conflict, they mutually have to limit the extent to which they subject each others’ fundamental beliefs to criticism.’…Today, we have come to accept that books do indeed cause riots and that therefore we must be careful what books we write – or what cartoons we draw, or jokes we tell, or art we create.

    Which creates an interesting and alarming closed circle of repression. We ‘must’ be careful what books we write and what things we say – therefore we become critical of the people and institutions who demand that we be careful what books we write and what things we say – but we must be careful what books we write and what things we say – so we can’t write books or say things about our criticisms of the people and institutions who demand that we be careful what books we write and what things we say – and so on. We’re caught in a sinister spiral in which liberals want to resist repression and repressors want to shut the liberals up, which makes the liberals want to resist even more, which makes the repressors want to shut them up even more…

    I don’t see this working out well.

    Today, all it takes for a publisher to run for cover is a letter from an outraged academic. In the 20 years between the publication of The Satanic Verses and the withdrawal of The Jewel of Medina, the fatwa has in effect become internalised.

    See Sherry Spellberg went in the wrong direction here – she hooked up her outrage to the repressors instead of to the resistors. Bad move.

    Today, many argue that whatever may appear to be right in principle, in practice one must appease religious and cultural sensibilities because such sensibilities are so deeply felt. The avoidance of ‘cultural pain’ is seen as more important than what is regarded as an abstract right to freedom of expression…The lesson of the Rushdie Affair that has never been learnt is that liberals have made their own monsters. It is the liberal fear of giving offence that has helped create a culture in which people take offence so easily.

    Yeah. Let’s turn that around.

  • The Professionalization of Literature

    Instead of reading literature, now we study ‘texts.’ We’ve developed a discipline, with its jargon and its methodology.

  • Religion and Science: Not a Clean-cut Division

    EPA administrator has BA from bible college, is beholden to a corporate lobbyist. Amen.

  • ‘Proof That Faith and Science Can Co-exist’

    Of course they can co-exist; that doesn’t mean they both make sense.