Not being exempted from laws that apply to everyone else too is not persecution.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
LA Council v hipster misogyny
Mar 23rd, 2012 2:24 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday urged broadcasters to knock it off with the sexist and racist epithets. Urging is all they can do, because governments can’t mess with free speech, but they did urge. I anticipate panic about a slippery slope, or perhaps Rush Limbaugh shouting a volley of sexist racist epithets at the Los Angeles City Council.
Or perhaps, worse, there will be dozens or thousands of solid citizens who will phone and text and email the Council to point out that mere werds are harmless and that they’re a bunch of pussy-whipped idiots who should be kicked in the cunt for thinking otherwise.
Nevertheless, they do think otherwise. They think words do matter.
… Read the restThe City
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
The unseen
Mar 23rd, 2012 11:14 am | By Ophelia BensonSome more on Bart Ehrman and places where he seems too definite.
Backing up from where I started yesterday (which was p 82), on p 78 he says that mythicists fail to appreciate
that our surviving accounts, which began to be written some forty years after the traditional date of Jesus’s death, were based on earlier written sources that no longer survive. But they obviously did exist at one time, and they just as obviously had to predate the Gospels that we now have.
Obviously? Well it’s not obvious to me, for one. Plausible, but not obvious.
But that pales in comparison to what he says on p 86. He starts with mythicists’ claims about Paul’s lack of knowledge of … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Packing the courts
Mar 23rd, 2012 10:15 am | By Ophelia BensonThis is familiar – there’s a new book out, The Blackwell Companion to Science and Christianity, and guess what – it’s packed to the rafters with Templeton-connected people, and with the other kind of people not so much. The evolution section, for instance -
… Read the restDenis Alexander is director of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, which was originally funded (and still gets funds from) the Templeton Foundation. He’s also on the Board of Trustees of the Templeton Foundation.
We already know Michael Ruse, who is sympathetic to religion and, in fact, despite his atheism is very generous (and ingenious) in offering the faithful arguments for reconciling religion and science. I would hope his
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Tennessee representative proposes a new theocratic bill 
Mar 23rd, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“I do believe in the freedom of religion,” says Republican rep Andy Holt, “but I do not believe in the freedom from religion.”… Read the rest
Madrid bans atheist demonstration
Mar 23rd, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
After all, it’s Holy Thursday.… Read the rest
NPR reports on the Reason Rally
Mar 23rd, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The main point of the rally, Dave Silverman says, is not to tweak the faithful. It’s to encourage closeted atheists to take heart.… Read the rest
Reason Rally Marks Turning Point for Secular Movement, American Politics
Mar 23rd, 2012 8:27 am | By Ophelia BensonJust in case you didn’t know -
———–
(Washington, DC) Atheists are coming out of the closet – and coming together. At a press conference held this morning at the National Press Club, Reason Rally organizers and speakers hailed the upcoming event as an unprecedented display of numbers and unity. The Reason Rally, a national gathering of nonreligious Americans to celebrate secular values, will take place from 10AM-6PM on March 24th and is estimated to draw thousands. It is being sponsored by all the major organizations in the Secular movement.
“The Reason Rally proves to all of us that we can unite, cooperate and succeed to achieve our common goals of advancing secularism in America,” said David Silverman, chair of … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Have you ever seen Brendan O’Neill and Bill O’Reilly in the same place?
Mar 22nd, 2012 5:22 pm | By Ophelia BensonBrendan O’Neill is tearing his hair out in frustration at the mystifying way gay marriage has suddenly puffed up huge and taken over all the things!!11 He just doesn’t understand. He’s baffled. He can’t figure it out. He’s amazed.
… Read the restAs I say, nothing in this debate makes sense. This is such a relatively overnight concern, and is so unrooted in political campaigning or historical substance, that it would make as much sense if, tomorrow, every politician and commentator in the land suddenly started talking about how important it is to give women the right to live in treehouses. After all, there are probably some women who want to live in treehouses, and the public might well support their right to
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
It is our duty to refuse
Mar 22nd, 2012 9:34 am | By Ophelia BensonA doctor on transvaginal ultrasounds: where is the physician outrage?
… Read the restFellow physicians, once again we are being used as tools to screw people over. This time, it’s the politicians who want to use us to implement their morally reprehensible legislation. They want to use our ultrasound machines to invade women’s bodies, and they want our hands to be at the controls. Coerced and invaded women, you have a problem with that? Blame us evil doctors. We are such deliciously silent scapegoats.
It is our responsibility, as always, to protect our patients from things that would harm them. Therefore, as physicians, it is our duty to refuse to perform a medical procedure that is not medically indicated. Any medical procedure.
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
What Ehrman actually says
Mar 22nd, 2012 8:48 am | By Ophelia BensonRichard Carrier takes a look at Bart Ehrman’s article at the Huffington Post on the did-Jesus-exist question. One point Richard makes jumped out at me, because the same thing jumped out at me in Ehrman’s book.
… Read the restMistake #2: Ehrman actually says (and I can’t believe it, but these are his exact words):
With respect to Jesus, we have numerous, independent accounts of his life in the sources lying behind the Gospels (and the writings of Paul) — sources that originated in Jesus’ native tongue Aramaic and that can be dated to within just a year or two of his life (before the religion moved to convert pagans in droves). Historical sources like that are pretty astounding for an ancient figure
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
After five years, they give me a brush
Mar 22nd, 2012 8:22 am | By Ophelia BensonBecause Ken pointed out the resemblance to Nigel McCullough – I give you, the great Ken Shabby.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhm4SMlGnbk… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
The Observatory on Theocracy
Mar 22nd, 2012 7:30 am | By Ophelia BensonSigmund keeps an eye on the Iona Institute, and he alerted me to its report on a report by a Christian panic-group about “attacks on Christians.” The report on the report is indeed risible.
Christians are the victims in 85pc of ‘hate crimes’ in Europe according to a new report published yesterday.
The report, published by the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe, a European body established to record instances of anti-Christian bias, provides a series of examples of attacks on Christians in 2011.
Spoiler alert: the “attacks” are not “attacks.”
… Read the restAmong the examples cited in the report were:
- In Spain, students were prevented from attending weekly Mass on a Wednesday because of a protest by
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Won’t be silenced
Mar 21st, 2012 5:46 pm | By Ophelia BensonJesus and Mo don’t like all this talk of homophobia. It’s just a shaming tactic!… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Equinox
Mar 21st, 2012 5:35 pm | By Ophelia BensonDaffodils are starting to bloom, but slowly. I want more.
I didn’t see many in Manchester, either, doubtless because I was in the heart of the city except for that one walk I took to the University. I want more.
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
We have ways of making you silent
Mar 21st, 2012 4:39 pm | By Ophelia BensonIt gets worse – the castration story.
The Toronto Star reports
The Deetman Commision, set up by two Catholic bodies, the Conference of Bishops and the Dutch Religious Conference, concluded last year that tens of thousands of children had been abused by Catholic clergy in the Netherlands since 1945.
The commission was set up by two Catholic bodies, one being the Conference of Bishops.
Hello? Fox? Henhouse? Custodiet? Custodies?
Mr Madoff, would you draw up a report for us on how you defrauded people out of billions of dollars?
Col Qadaffi, can we get you to set up a commission on torture and human rights abuses by your regime?
Mr Milosevic, could you and a few of your friends investigate … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
We’re here to help you
Mar 21st, 2012 3:26 pm | By Ophelia BensonMore from that bottomless file, The Evil Deeds of the Catholic Church. This time it’s in the Netherlands.
… Read the restGovernment inspectors were aware that minors were being castrated while being looked after in Catholic-run psychiatric institutions, local paper the Limburger reported on Monday.
The NRC reported on Saturday at least one boy under the age of 16 was castrated to ‘help’ his homosexual feelings while in Catholic church care in the 1950s.
…
But there are indications at least 10 other boys were also castrated, the NRC reported on Saturday. The claims were not included in the Deetman report on sexual abuse within the Catholic church which was published at the end of last year.
The paper says the one
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Shoot first, plead self-defense later
Mar 21st, 2012 11:14 am | By Ophelia BensonClearly I’m behind with my homework. I need to find out more about these “Stand Your Ground” laws, of which there are apparently 21 around the US.
It gives the benefit of the doubt to a person who claims self-defense, regardless of whether the killing takes place on a street, in a car or in a bar — not just in one’s home, the standard cited in more restrictive laws. In Florida, if people feel they are in imminent danger from being killed or badly injured, they do not have to retreat, even if it would seem reasonable to do so. They have the right to “stand their ground” and protect themselves.
Say what? In Florida, even in a … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Minors castrated in Catholic-run psychiatric institutions
Mar 21st, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
One boy reported being sexually abused by priests to the police in 1956. He was placed in a Catholic-run psychiatric institution and castrated because of his ‘homosexual behaviour’.… Read the rest
Cancer conference barred from using council’s meeting hall
Mar 21st, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Italian oncologist Tullio Simoncini, who says he was struck off for using sodium bicarbonate in place of chemotherapy, was due to attend.… Read the rest
