The more I look at that picture, the more I’m just…amazed and repulsed.
This isn’t at a party, or even a banquet or a reception. It’s for a group photo of Very Important People in the Global Secular Conference; it’s for the home page, the front page, of this Important new organization. Six adults and one frat boy. Yeesh.… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
The US is sending support personnel to Chad to help look for the Nigerian schoolgirls.
“These personnel will support the operation of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft for missions over northern Nigeria and the surrounding area,” [the administration] said in a letter.
“The force will remain in Chad until its support in resolving the kidnapping situation is no longer required.”
Also, the UN angle.
… Read the restAlso Wednesday, Nigeria asked the United Nations to designate Boko Haram as a terrorist organization as its escalating attacks spread alarm nationwide.
If approved, it will enable countries to impose arms embargoes, travel bans and asset freezes.
A United Nations al Qaeda committee is expected to decide when it meets Thursday. Nigeria’s request lists the terror
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Oops. There’s a thing called the “Global Secular Council.”
First? It’s not so global. They’re nearly all American or Ukanian, and the whole thing is clearly Anglophone.
Last? Its team of experts – 23 of them. Five women. Five.
Look at the glam picture at the top of the front page – what do you see? Four men and three women – not parity, not more women than men, but close to parity. Funny how the conspicuous glam photo on the front page looks as if there are almost as many women as men when in fact, there are not.
That’s not all you see, but I won’t go into that.
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Page 17
… Read the restThe parties to this action certainly do not dispute that the Due Process
Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees individuals the fundamental right
to marry. They stridently part company, however, over whether the fundamental
right to marry encompasses the right to marry a person of the same sex. Plaintiffs
contend that the fundamental right to marry belongs to the individual and protects
each individual’s choice of whom to marry. In stark contrast, Defendants contend
that, because “[t]he United States Supreme Court has never recognized that the
fundamental right to marry includes the right to marry a person of one’s choice,”
the Marriage Laws do not violate Plaintiffs’ due process rights. (Doc. 117, p. 20)
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
The American Family Association’s Diane Gramley wants Congress to impeach John Jones because hey FAMILY.
Diane Gramley of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania tells OneNewsNow she’s looking to Congress to take action against judges like John Jones.
“Congress has the ability in the U.S. Constitution to begin impeachment proceedings,” she explains. “When you look at these judges – not only Judge Jones here in Pennsylvania, but other federal judges who are handing down these decisions – their actions are unconstitutional.”
I have doubts about her constitutional scholarship.
The AFA of Pennsylvania put out a press statement on the decision yesterday. Of course it did. It says right in the title that the ruling is wrong.
… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
At Songdhammakalyani monastery in Thailand…
The unassuming monastery in Nakhon Pathom, an hour west of Bangkok, is the only temple in Thailand exclusively devoted to female monks, known as Bhikkhunis. In 2003, its abbess, the Venerable Dhammananda became the first Thai woman to ordain as a Bhikkhuni in Theravada Buddhism – defying tradition by travelling to Sri Lanka for the ceremony. Her decision sent shockwaves through the deeply conservative Thai Sangha Council, which explicitly banned the ordination of women in 1928.
But now it’s all ok? No. The Sangha continues to be against it.
… Read the restAccording to the abbess, the challenges reflect decades of institutionalised patriarchy, rooted in the belief that being born female is a manifestation of bad karma
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
One of the ExMuslim blogs at EXMNA is Chista’s Contemplation. Her most recent post is A Conversation With My Mother.
Chista’s mother dragged her to visit a shrine, to pay respects to an “Islamic Saint” buried there. And then they got to the mosque…
… Read the restI observed how the Male Prayer Hall was opulently decorated with grand chandeliers and exquisite furnishing. I observed how elaborately designed curtains were hung before the Mihrab and how the intricately decorated prayer rugs were generously spread around. Most importantly, I observed how ventilated the Hall was. Doors were unbolted. Window panels were unlatched. There was a beautiful blend of sunlight and chandelier light throughout the grand hall.
And then, there was a Female
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Jesus and Mo is now on Patreon.
This was my idea. [smug]
So if you want to help Jesus and Mo thrive and prosper, and get a reward, you can do that.
Here is the new Jesus and Mo:
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Well, that puts it out there – concern with human rights is a “deviation” that gets in the way of religious rules and demands and childish petty meddling with everybody’s happiness. The PM of Malaysia is against it.
… Read the restPrime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Islam and its followers are now being tested by new threats under the guise of humanism, secularism, liberalism and human rights.
He said this mindset appeared to be becoming a new form of religion which was fast expanding locally and abroad.
“They call it human rightism, where the core beliefs are based on humanism and secularism as well as liberalism.
“It’s deviationist in that it glorifies the desires of man alone and rejects
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
A federal judge in Pennsylvania today ruled a state ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports:
… Read the rest“By virtue of this ruling, same-sex couples who seek to marry in Pennsylvania may do so, and already married same-sex couples will be recognized as such in the Commonwealth,” wrote U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III.
The ruling comes in a case filed in July by 11 gay couples, two teenage children of one of the pairs and a widow. The couples include Deb and Susan Whitewood of South Fayette, Diana Polson and Dawn Plummer of Point Breeze, and Lynn and Fredia Hurdle, of Crafton Heights.
It overturns, <<unambiguously>> and with rhetorical flourish, the 18-year-old state Defense of Marriage Act.
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Stephanie collected some of the nonsense from the distant watchers of Women in Secularism 3. It’s pretty pathetic, as usual.
I found this one amusing for its brazen…invention.
Oh really? Who and where are all these women? I know of a handful on Twitter, but a handful is not “most” – there were far more than a handful right there at Women in Secularism, enjoying the hell out of it. I have a feeling Sara Mayhew is inventing that “most” out of thin air.… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
This is what we were laughing about – Soraya had said “I’ll text you” to Taslima and I pointed out that she’d automatically made the flashing thumbs gesture while saying that, so we all laughed and did flashing thumbs and typing gestures.
Brian D Engler… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
One of my favorites of Brian Engler’s many fabulous photos from Women in Secularism, which he kindly permits me to post.
This is a couple of minutes before the panel on multiculturalism started; Taslima and Soraya and me having a laugh.
Brian D Engler… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Ok be warned: this is shocking and horrible.
The Independent reports on a young woman whose employer poured boiling water on her. I can hardly stand to read any more than that.
A Filipino woman was left with severe burns after her Saudi Arabia employer allegedly poured boiling water on her.
The 23-year-old household service worker, from Pikit, North Cotabato, suffered burns to her back and legs after being doused with the scorching liquid in the incident in Riyadh on 4 May, ABS-CBN News reported.
…
According to ABS-CBN News, the mother of Fatma’s employer became angry after Fatma was slow to bring her coffee and then poured boiling water on her.
SLOW TO BRING HER COFFEE!!
She … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Originally a comment on Missing parts
There’s a pattern, here–and forgive me if I’m restating what others might find obvious–but the general inappropriateness of citing Mill to justify misogynistic harassment–it fits again so well, I guess I felt noting this again is almost a forced move.
Mill’s essay is largely about the relationship between the state and dissenters, but not quite so exclusively–as it’s also more generally about relationships between majorities and minorities. The conclusion I can summarize quickly–anyone wants to argue otherwise, let me know, but to borrow from Mill himself: ‘… the sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection…’
… note … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Dear oh dear – if you’re going to disagree, disagree with the actual claim, not a different one. That applies to sub-claims as well as the chief claim.
Someone called Rand Paul Fanbase (not a promising start, I know) on Twitter:
Rand Paul Fanbase @LibertyNerd
@OpheliaBenson not only supports abortion “rights” but says there’s nothing bad about abortion. Humanism=hedonism. https://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php/articles/5269 …
What I actually wrote in the piece:
… Read the restWe don’t have to be helpless before a failure of contraception, because there is a fix. That’s not tragic.
Of course, that’s not to say that abortion is never sorrowful. It’s to say that it’s not inherently and always sorrowful and that it shouldn’t be made so by
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Cool headline in the Telegraph -
Well of course they do. Jobs for the boys, eh?
Then there’s the subhead -
Oh it’s our fault? I beg to differ. I think you can see it rather as a common taste for made-up spooky stuff, that can go either with religion or with black magic and the rest of the silly menu, or even, adventurously if not orthodoxly, both.
… Read the restThe decline of religious belief in the West and the growth of secularism has “opened the window” to black magic, Satanism and belief in
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
The new Free Inquiry is out, and my column in it is online.
The takeaway:
… Read the restThe more we buy into the meme that abortion is always a tragic lesser-of-two-evils situation, the more we lose sight of the reality, which is that for a woman or girl who does not want to be pregnant, abortion is a glorious human invention, a life-salvaging bit of technology.
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
