St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Seattle has been told that members of the anti-gay church plan to be present at the funeral of Gloria Koch Leonidas on Thursday.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Westboro Baptist to picket Seattle shooting victim’s funeral
Jun 6th, 2012 | Filed by Ophelia BensonTurkey: pianist charged with “insulting Islam”
Jun 6th, 2012 | Filed by Ophelia BensonFazil Say is accused of “publicly insulting religious values that are adopted by a part of the nation,” and faces up to 18 months in prison if convicted.… Read the rest
Stairs to no end
Jun 6th, 2012 9:34 am | By Ophelia BensonVia Stewart, a fantastic (in both senses) video “inspired by Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Richard Dawkins.” It needs to go viral.
“Not to ask questions is to live life asleep.”
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Attention whores unite
Jun 5th, 2012 5:15 pm | By Ophelia BensonOh looky here – That Weird Atheist Girl on the concept of the “attention whore.” Back in November. Funny how it just never goes away, isn’t it.
… Read the restAs any women who’s online a lot (in certain places) or who games will tell you, the number one sin is admitting you’re female (in any way). You can never do this, even if it’s relevant to the current conversation. Everyone assumes you’re male unless you say that you’re female (ugh, it’s like they think they’re real people or something!). The second you let that bit of information slip, you’re told one (or more) of the following three things: (1) tits or GTFO, (2) get back to the kitchen, or (3)
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Report all the things
Jun 5th, 2012 4:36 pm | By Ophelia BensonYou’ve probably seen DJ’s comment at Skepchick, if you’ve been following this, and you’ve probably seen Stephanie’s excellent analysis of it today. I just want to say a couple of things – which probably duplicate things Stephanie and others have said, but never mind.
First.
let me say how sincerely and deeply regretful I am that I blamed you as the messenger. No woman – no person – should ever be blamed for being a victim or for speaking out about sexism or any social problem. I was wrong to write anything that could even be construed that way, and it was never my intent. I am sorry.
How could it never have been his intent? What does he … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
It’s almost like going to law school
Jun 5th, 2012 3:16 pm | By Ophelia BensonAt least people are making a stink about the “work programme” that makes people travel for four hours in the middle of the night then throws them out at 3 a.m. to stand waiting for 20 minutes and then be ordered to sleep under London Bridge, in order to wake up refreshed a few hours later, change their clothes outside in public, then work for 14 hours in pouring rain with no toilet access, and then take the tube to camp out in a swamp in Essex. No food provided. Oh and for all this? No pay, either. I know you already know, but it’s worth reciting it all over again. Such a deal. Bus, night, sleep outside, dress outside, … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Do atheists lean left?
Jun 5th, 2012 11:30 am | By Ophelia BensonAdam Lee asks a question.
All these data points show that, while there’s no necessary connection between atheism and progressive political views, in practice it usually does work out that way. I leave it up to you, readers, to weigh in on why that is.
That’s an interesting question, and one that I think about sometimes. Maybe I should make that my talk at TAM. Or maybe I should make my talk at TAM be about sexism in the skeptic/secularist/atheist community. Or is there something even more guaranteed to be annoying that I could talk about? Locker rooms, gossip, naming names, evidence, slut-blaming, feminist-blaming, women-blaming, the economy and its relationship to registration for skeptic cons?
It’s between talking about … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Well there’s still South Dakota
Jun 5th, 2012 11:11 am | By Ophelia BensonCheck your wallets, by which I mean various rights and freedoms and capabilities. North Dakota might pass an amendment to its constitution called the Religious Liberty Restoration amendment, and you know what that means. Religious liberty to deny children medical treatment, to hit them with sticks, to say that HoMoSeckShuals are evil, to refuse to provide women with abortions or contraception even when that is your job, to teach children that genocide is good and total obedience to “God” meaning to whatever is in the bible is mandatory. It means a lot of horrible fundamentalist shit dressed up as Religious Liberty and allowed to proceed, no matter how illegal it would be in any other context.
… Read the rest…opponents argue the measure
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
N Dakota considers “religious liberty” amendment
Jun 5th, 2012 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMeasure 3 is worded this way: “Government may not burden a person’s or religious organization’s religious liberty.” Uh oh.… Read the rest
Nonbelievers who aren’t atheists
Jun 5th, 2012 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIf we refuse to identify as atheist even though the term, objectively applied, would accurately describe us, then we should at least be honest about the reasons.… Read the rest
Kill them all, children
Jun 4th, 2012 5:02 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe last one sounded like a joke but wasn’t, this one sounds like a nightmare and is. You know the Good News Club, the after-school program run by evangelical whack-jobs? They’re teaching children the glories of genocide.
… Read the restThis fall, more than 100,000 American public school children, ranging in age from four to 12, are scheduled to receive instruction in the lessons of Saul and the Amalekites in the comfort of their own public school classrooms. The instruction, which features in the second week of a weekly “Bible study” course, will come from the Good News Club, an after-school program sponsored by a group called the Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF). The aim of the CEF is to convert young children
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Welcome to Dickensian London
Jun 4th, 2012 3:48 pm | By Ophelia BensonThis sounds like a joke, but apparently isn’t.
A group of long-term unemployed jobseekers were bussed into London to work as unpaid stewards during the diamond jubilee celebrations and told to sleep under London Bridge before working on the river pageant.
Are you kidding me? Not just no pay but told to sleep outside under a bridge?
Well happy jubilee to you too.
… Read the restUp to 30 jobseekers and another 50 people on apprentice wages were taken to London by coach from Bristol, Bath and Plymouth as part of the government’s Work Programme.
Two jobseekers, who did not want to be identified in case they lost their benefits, said they had to camp under London Bridge the night before the
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Reporting harassment and naming names
Jun 4th, 2012 11:14 am | By Ophelia BensonMaybe we can make a little progress here.
DJ Grothe has a comment on his Facebook wall (I don’t know if it’s public or not), replying to this comment:
… Read the restI wish you could see, DJ, how a different frame would improve your position. Don’t say that the talk is causing a problem, say that the talk has increased the JREF’s desire to continue making TAM a safe and fun place for women.
D.J. Grothe: I certainly agree, and don’t believe any conversation about sexism is the problem — sexism is the problem. But there may be disagreement about the best ways to combat that problem. I favor direct communication and reporting harassment and naming names (such helps organizers remove offenders
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
It’s only a ruddy cooking lesson
Jun 3rd, 2012 4:03 pm | By Ophelia BensonIt’s good to see the Catholic church and all its offshoots and helper organizations and enablers finally learning some humility and even remorse.
Just kidding.
No, they’re not doing that, they’re doing the same old thing only more so. In Spain it’s another one of those reactionary legal associations named after Thomas More (fan of torture for heretics), prosecuting an artist for a film he made…34 years ago. Prosecuting him for what? For “offending religious feelings” – the stupidest “crime” on anyone’s books.
… Read the restOne of Spain’s leading underground artists is due to appear in court today facing up to a year in prison over a film short he made in 1978 on “how to cook Jesus Christ”.
Javier Krahe
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Spanish artist faces prison over film made in 1978
Jun 3rd, 2012 | Filed by Ophelia BensonJavier Krahe has been taken to court by a Catholic legal association for “offending religious feelings” – a little-known offence. The law has never before been applied.… Read the rest
Annual report of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
Jun 3rd, 2012 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAt least 943 women were killed in the name of honor, of whom 93 were minors. Nearly 4,500 cases of domestic violence against women were reported.… Read the rest
Turkish women protest plans to curb abortion
Jun 3rd, 2012 | Filed by Ophelia BensonErdogan has called abortion “murder,” and his government is reportedly working on legislation to ban it after 4 weeks from conception, except in emergencies.… Read the rest
The Vatican may crumble into dust
Jun 3rd, 2012 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe Holy See is an absolute monarchy run by squabbling old, male, celibate courtiers dominated by one nationality.… Read the rest
Degodwinization
Jun 3rd, 2012 12:09 pm | By Ophelia BensonHousework. Detailing. Metadiscussion. Tweaking. Reworking an argument that wasn’t done right the first time.
I said something in the Rebecca explains post, after quoting Rebecca saying
I should apparently put on a smile and pretend it doesn’t happen, because by reporting on my treatment, I am creating “a climate where women — who otherwise wouldn’t — end up feeling unwelcome and unsafe.”
I said this:
… Read the restAs Jews in Germany circa 1936 might have created “a climate where Jews — who otherwise wouldn’t — end up feeling unwelcome and unsafe.” As the Southern Poverty Law Center creates a climate where people who are the object of systematic vocal hatred end up feeling unwelcome and unsafe. That’s not to compare TAM
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Skepticism gone wild
Jun 2nd, 2012 11:04 am | By Ophelia BensonThere’s such a thing as hyper-skepticism (as Jason calls it) – as skepticism pushed past (or steered right around) reasonable skepticism into its own opposite, questioning items that there’s no real reason to question. Evolution by natural selection is one such item; Obama’s birth in Hawaii is another; the utility of vaccinations is another; the superiority of non-alternative medicine to alternative medicine is another.
The reality of casual contempt for women is another. The fact that that reality makes at least some women feel less than “safe” is another.
Salty Current elucidates in a comment at Jason’s.
… Read the restIt’s not a safe space when women publicly talking about the problems of harassment and misogyny are accused by prominent people
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)