Author: Ophelia Benson

  • Finnish Organization Helps Victims of Violence

    An immigrant woman often faces domestic violence when the perpetrator feels that his power is diminished.

  • German Organization Rescues Women

    Friend of Hatun Surucu formed an organization to help women escape ‘honour’ killing.

  • Plea Bargain in Abu Ghanem Trial

    Victim’s female relatives described a reign of terror enforced by men to preserve ‘family honor.’

  • Afghans Protest Geert Wilders Film on Koran

    No real problems in Afghanistan, so might as well protest some Dutch guy dissing the Koran.

  • The Sensus Divinitatis Firms Up Your Beliefs

    It’s better than free weights.

  • Mo Sings the Respect Song

    R.E.S.P.E.C.T., I’ll burn down your embassy.

  • Iraqi Journalists Mourn Murdered Union Leader

    Iraqi Journalists’ Union has picked a new leader, who declared a week of mourning for Shihab al-Timimi.

  • Nick Cohen on the Squeal of Fundamentalism

    The UN HRC is proposing in all seriousness to protect religion by doctoring its universal defence of freedom of expression.

  • The Difficulty of Reforming the Hadith

    It is not rationalising but the radical tendency that has the momentum.

  • Archbishops Fret About Blasphemy Repeal

    ‘It should not be capable of interpretation as a secularising move, or as a general licence to attack or insult religious beliefs and believers.’

  • Two Former Islamists Start Think Tank

    Aim is to ‘revive a western Islam’ by removing scriptural literalism, extremism, Islamism.

  • Berlin Exhibition Closes after Muslim Threats

    Galerie Nord closed after a group of Muslims walked in and threatened staff with violence.

  • EU Criticizes Iran’s New Penal Code

    Death for apostasy already exists in Iran under Sharia; changes would bring the punishment into the criminal code.

  • EU Asks Iran to Reconsider

    Iran typically dismisses Western criticism of its legal system, claiming Islamic law is fundamentally different.

  • Archepiscopal weight thrown around

    So the archbishops have changed their minds about not resisting the repeal of the blasphemy laws? They’ve decided to resist after all? Why? Did they look around themselves and decide that religious types don’t interfere with the government enough and they’d better get busy and start meddling?

    Dr Rowan Williams and Dr John Sentamu say in a letter today that the Government should not lightly change laws that, though their day-to-day importance may be small, “nevertheless carry a significant symbolic charge.”

    Why yes, they do, and that’s exactly why they should be not only changed but ground into powder and then torched. The significant symbolic charge they carry is that it is Not Permissible to mock or tease or chaff or rally or quiz or fall down laughing at religion. That’s a bad thing to be symbolized, which is why the laws should be ground into powder and then torched.

    It should not be capable of interpretation as a secularising move, or as a general licence to attack or insult religious beliefs and believers.

    The Anglican church is supposed to be a relatively liberal body, isn’t it? Well – if that’s liberal, what would reactionary look like?

  • I don’t like that shade of blue

    Well quite – if a museum puts on an exhibition you don’t like the sound of, the thing to do is stroll in and threaten the staff with violence if they don’t take it down again. That’s how I take care of these little annoyances. After all it is up to me to decide, isn’t it? Therefore it’s also up to them – except of course when I get there first.

    Whereas the mere spectre of possible attacks was enough to get the Deutsche Oper to put the kibosh on a Mozart opera in 2006, Berlin’s Galerie Nord closed its doors this week after a group of Muslims walked into the gallery and threatened staff with violence.

    Thus cultural life is enriched bit by bit.

    The gallery is now in negotiations with the Berlin authorities in a bid to get 24-hour police protection, so that the exhibition can be re-opened, hopefully by Tuesday of next week. Egesborg said it was vital the exhibition continue. “If the radical Muslims are successful, then it means a mob can curate an exhibition in a museum,” he said. “It would be dangerous for art in Europe, as it would give a good example of what threats can achieve.” He saw a parallel in the furore over the publication of the Muhammad caricatures in Danish newspapers. “Radical Muslims think they can influence what is printed in the newspapers or shown in galleries,” he said. “That is very dangerous. It is a road that leads to hell.”

    The hell of radical Muslims curating all museum exhibitions, editing all media, librarianing all libraries – vetoing all cultural products they don’t like. Let’s not have that; it sounds nasty.

  • BHL on the Re-branding of Anti-Semitism

    Anti-Semitism, to pass under the radar, must draw from anti-Zionism, Holocaust denial, and victim competition.

  • Alan Sokal on Taking Evidence Seriously

    The implications of taking seriously an evidence-based worldview are far more radical than most people realise.

  • Ideas are all the Rage

    The success of idea books has signified to cultural commissars a thirst for good ideas clearly expressed.

  • Rude women

    Speaking of Katha Pollitt – she made an interesting comment on the Women’s Studies list yesterday, one which is partly relevant to all this stuff about respect and worry.

    Actually I think powerful women make many women quite uncomfortable.
    Just look at what women say about Hillary Clinton — she’s
    ‘ambitious,’ “cold,” “I just don’t like her,’ etc. I’m not saying a
    feminist has to vote for Hillary, but the kinds of things so many
    women hold against her are quite revealing of their own discomfort
    with a woman who steps out of the nice-nice nurturing deferential role.

    That comment inspired me to reply, in a way also relevant to all this stuff.

    Ain’t it the truth. Which is why some of us feel a kind of duty to be abrasive, brisk, chilly, sarcastic, even at times hostile and aggressive. We have to stake out that territory.

    I’m serious about that. I think there aren’t nearly enough women around who step out of the nice-nice nurturing deferential role. Mind you, I would be abrasive and hostile even if there were, even if there were no such discomfort, even if I didn’t feel a kind of duty, because it is My Nature. But the fact remains that I think it is a kind of duty. I’m a longstanding fan of Pollitt’s because she is not nice-nice nurturing deferential, and I wish there were more women like her.

    I got an enthusiastic reply and a new fan of B&W via that comment, so there are a few of us chilly sarcastic women out there. We do what we can…