ITV director cut it from Xmas special. Telegraph writes out the lyrics, hoping you will burst with outrage.… Read the rest
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Jesus and Mo rebuke atheists for quotemining
Dec 22nd, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPreaching by example… Read the rest
Are we making progress yet?
Dec 22nd, 2011 11:43 am | By Ophelia BensonJulian has a new installment of Heathen’s Progress out, in which he sums up the progress so far, by repeating what he’s said in the previous installments, with links, then in the last couple of paragraphs asks if that’s progress, and tells the reader to tell him. It’s all rather stately and solemn, as if he were a government commission, but let’s do our best to help.
… Read the restSince this series is called Heathen’s progress, I thought I’d take the opportunity of the festive break to see if I’d actually made any.
Back at the beginning, I explained that my purpose was to move the God debate on from the stalemate it seemed to be stuck in, to see
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Heathen’s Progress so far: any progress?
Dec 22nd, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonYou tell him.… Read the rest
Now that’s what I call Public Relations
Dec 21st, 2011 4:59 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe Twenty-First Floor gives us a video by someone called SKEPTICSExposed, titled Rhys Morgan Harassing Burzynski Clinic. It is deeply absurd.
The video then goes on to try and link Rhys to the identity fraud of James Randis longtime partner in exactly the same way that Marc Stephens did in emails to Popehat and even using the same images. Which does make me wonder if SKEPTICSExposed might be down to the infamous Marc Stephens. Particularly as, like the red arrow letter before, these videos don’t attempt to address any of the arguments made by Rhys and others.
Oh surely not. Surely Marc Stephens wouldn’t be so silly as to continue trying to bully Rhys Morgan even now … Read the rest
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Compassion in action
Dec 21st, 2011 11:13 am | By Ophelia BensonThe Irish government again notes that the Catholic church failed to prevent child abuse by its own employees, failed to follow its own rules, failed to call the cops, failed to protect children, failed to act like decent human beings, failed failed failed. It succeeded at protecting itself and its own people, and that’s it.
… Read the restMinister for Justice Alan Shatter has highlighted the failure of the Catholic Church to bring child abuse allegations to the attention of gardaí, following the publication of previously redacted portions of the Cloyne report.
…
“The publication of the redacted portions of the Cloyne report yet again details the failure of the church to comply with its own child abuse guidelines and its failure to
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Cloyne report highlights failure of diocese
Dec 21st, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe failure of the Catholic diocese of Cloyne to deal properly with allegations of child sexual abuse up to 2008 has been highlighted in previously redacted elements of the Cloyne report.… Read the rest
Baby at risk of ‘honor killing’ must be adopted
Dec 21st, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBecause otherwise someone might kill her.… Read the rest
Israeli woman refuses to move to back of bus
Dec 21st, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonA woman passenger on a public bus was told by a Haredi male passenger to move to the back of the bus. She didn’t.… Read the rest
Dr Hilary Jones promotes Burzynski Clinic on TV
Dec 21st, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe UK mainstream media are doing a terrible job of covering the subject.… Read the rest
Comparative memorialization
Dec 20th, 2011 4:13 pm | By Ophelia BensonNeal Pollack knew Christopher Hitchens better than you.
Christopher Hitchens and I were friends for 40 years, plus another five when we were enemies. He took ideas so seriously that if he disagreed with you on a matter that he deemed important, he’d literally throw you in a ditch. It was 1972, the height of our mutual virility. He and I went to a pub to celebrate his most recent intellectual victory over the establishment press. I intimated that sometimes women could be funny on purpose. Even back then, the thought enraged him. Hitchens threw a drink in my face, pressed a lit cigarette into my neck, and hit me over the head with a barstool.
Compare Dave Zirin, … Read the rest
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Neal Pollack knew Christopher Hitchens better than you
Dec 20th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWe’d all make fun of Mother Teresa and Princess Diana, then remove our pants to compare our manhoods. We were so middle-aged and foolish then, so committed to the struggle.… Read the rest
Christopher didn’t wait his turn
Dec 20th, 2011 12:36 pm | By Ophelia BensonYesterday I expressed (via Katha Pollitt) reservations about a certain kind of combative anger that Hitchens sometimes deployed. Daniel Dennett talks about when rudeness is necessary.
He starts with an example.
… Read the restWe were both appearing in a debate as part of the program of Ciudad de las Ideas, an excellent gathering held annually in Puebla, Mexico. (It’s modeled on TED-I call it TED Mex. Go. It’s well worth the visit.) One of the speakers for the other side, the God side, was Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, and after our short set pieces, the rebuttals started with the rabbi. We each were allotted four minutes only for rebuttal, and the rabbi launched into a series of outrageous claims trying to besmirch
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CPJ report on journalists killed in 2011
Dec 20th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAt least 43 journalists were killed around the world in direct relation to their work in 2011, with the seven deaths in Pakistan marking the heaviest losses in a single nation.… Read the rest
Dennett on Hitchens: when rudeness is called for
Dec 20th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonDon’t let anybody play the God card in these discussions as if it were a “Get Out of Jail Free” card that excuses misrepresentation.
One rule for thee and another for me
Dec 20th, 2011 11:49 am | By Ophelia BensonReligious privilege in action.
Some guy from something called The Christian Institute (why do I suspect its membership consists of the guy in question?) is saying he’s going to boycott Tesco, because some other guy who works for Tesco in some capacity said something on Flickr. Yes really. Mind you it’s in the Telegraph, which seems to specialize in this kind of non-story, but it’s still worth a tiny smile of disdain (because after all, how much trouble is a tiny smile of disdain).
… Read the restNick Lansley, Tesco’s head of research and development, said he was actively taking a stand “against evil Christians” who opposed the right of same-sex couples to marry.
In a message on his profile page on
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Judges find minister is not employed by god
Dec 20th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe Methodist Church had claimed that ministers were not ordinary employees but “stewards in the house of God” so employee tribunals have no jurisdiction.… Read the rest
“Blasphemous” billboard destroyed
Dec 20th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia Benson100 or so Roman Catholics gathered to pray in front of the ruined billboard, which had shown Mary gasping in shock as she examined a pregnancy testing kit.… Read the rest
Anti-vaxxer Meryl Dorey to speak at folk festival
Dec 20th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonChrys Stevenson explains why this is a terrible idea.… Read the rest
Miscellaneous, or, feel free to be OT, since there is no T
Dec 19th, 2011 5:01 pm | By Ophelia BensonI said maybe I should do one of these, because sometimes people do go OT and that can be tiresome if you want to talk about the T, but it’s fine if there’s no T to begin with. If the particular set of people who bump into each other here want to talk about everything in general, I might as well make that possible.
I have a cold. I asked Facebook to sing “Soft Kitty” for me, and it did.
Newt Gingrich plans, if elected president, to arrest judges who don’t do their judging according to the bible.
Kim Jong-un is not sure he’s crazy enough to run North Korea.… Read the rest
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