Atheists lack a sensus divinitatus, you see.
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Yemisi Ilesanmi on “other grounds”
Mar 13th, 2013 11:12 am | By Ophelia BensonYemisi Ilesanmi commented on Peter Tatchell’s Huffington Post article yesterday about the inadequacy of the queen’s putative “support” for LGBT rights in the Commonwealth. Her comment is a valuable short article in itself.
… Read the restThere is a reason many government officials especially politicians prefer the ‘other grounds’ clause to a more specific mention of sexual orientation, it gives them a leeway to squeeze out of any obligation not to discriminate, jail or kill on the grounds of sexual orientation.
Speaking as a Lawyer, Advocate and solicitor, I know from experience that ‘Other grounds’ clause could be held to mean so many things and also held to exclude so many things by government not willing to respect the rights of others. New
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Leo Igwe giving a talk in London March 25 
Mar 13th, 2013 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Nigeria’s most prominent humanist, and a human rights activist, will be giving a ground-breaking talk on ‘Breaking the Taboo of Atheism in Black Communities’.… Read the rest
Leo in London
Mar 13th, 2013 10:02 am | By Ophelia BensonYou people in and near London are in luck – you have a chance to go to a talk by Leo Igwe. Grab it!
… Read the restBreaking the Taboo of Atheism in Black Communities
Monday, March 25, 2013 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM
270 Mare Street, E8 1HE London, London
Leo Igwe, Nigeria’s most prominent humanist, and a human rights activist, will be giving a ground-breaking talk on ‘Breaking the Taboo of Atheism in Black Communities’ during a short visit to London to attend the NSS Secularist of the Year Award event before returning to Africa to continue his research into witchcraft.
People ‘of all hues’ who are sceptical of religion are encouraged to show their interest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Backward and in high heels
Mar 12th, 2013 5:46 pm | By Ophelia BensonMy friend Mary Ellen Foley – who blogs at M E Foley’s Anglo-American Experience Blog - shared a story with me.
… Read the restSo I went to a Tai Chi class today, taught by an Englishwoman who has studied Tai Chi for years, including various stints in China (one as long as 6 months), and she told some stories, including the one about how she went over there to study with a particular master and found that he didn’t like her, didn’t like women, probably didn’t like foreigners — he clearly could teach her a lot of stuff, but she wasn’t welcome and he made sure she knew it. But she was determined to win him over, so one day she came
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Women’s Day versus Islam
Mar 12th, 2013 | By Jahanshah RashidianWomen’s Day on March 8 was declared by the International Socialists. In a conference in Copenhagen in 1910, it was declared an International Working Women’s Day (IWD). The idea was proposed by Clara Zetkin, a Marxist woman of the then Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
The battle for equal rights of women to hold public offices, their right to vocational training, and an end to inequity in other conditions was the goal. Therefore as a historical day, Women’s Day is since commemorated and is a national holiday in many countries. It symbolises an age-old struggle of women of all ethnic, cultural and social backgrounds against the long existing gender discriminations further expanded by the Abrahamic religions from which Islam … Read the rest
I agree with this sentiment
Mar 12th, 2013 3:20 pm | By Ophelia BensonOh hai, I found that photoshop of me – the one that Michael Nugent reported on last week in his post Slymepit members struggle with the ethics of removing photoshopped naked image. I wasn’t looking for it, I was looking for something else, but the location of the something else was the location of the photoshop. I had vaguely thought it was gone, but no, it’s just that it’s not embedded there any more. That was clear from Michael’s post, but I had read it somewhat hastily.
… Read the restMembers of the Slymepit website have spent the last few hours struggling with the ethics of whether to remove a photograph, newly posted, of an identifiable person’s face photoshopped onto the body
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
LGBT rights are not un-African
Mar 12th, 2013 12:14 pm | By Ophelia BensonPeter Tatchell says no, the new Commonwealth Charter is not a big victory for LGBT rights.
Not surprisingly, the Commonwealth Charter does not include any specific rejection of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. This was vetoed by the homophobic majority of member states. They blocked its inclusion.
This makes the Queen’s charter signing even less of a big deal. It is certainly not the breakthrough for LGBT rights that some people are claiming.
Yemisi Ilesanmi says the same thing on her Facebook page Freedom to Love for ALL: Homosexuality is not un-African.
… Read the restMembers of Commonwealth nations include UK, Australia, Canada, Uganda, Nigeria (my home country), Ghana, India etc, I can assure you that the ‘Other
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Imagine it was Mitt Romney
Mar 12th, 2013 11:02 am | By Ophelia BensonVia Dana who found it via Kylie, a Facebook note by Harriet Page. I know, not everyone is on Facebook. But that’s where it is!
She introduced it with
This week I wrote a response to the several occasions on which I had been challenged on my feminism by men and women who felt that I was misguided, wrong, aggressive or unhelpful in my responses to what I viewed as sexist behaviour.
Been there. Many times. I can remember heavy sighs back in the early 70s when I pointed out some (to me obvious, indeed blatant) bit of everyday sexism. And of course have been there again just lately, with people who consider themselves feminists nevertheless going into … Read the rest
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Hard times for the bully business
Mar 11th, 2013 6:07 pm | By Ophelia BensonSometimes bullying people just doesn’t work out, even if you do it on the internet, and even if all you’re doing is posting pictures of naked girls without their permission.
The founder of a so-called “revenge porn” website has been ordered to pay $250,000 (£170,000) in damages for defamation.
Hunter Moore was found to have made false claims about the chief executive of an anti-bullying website.
Mr Moore used Twitter to falsely claim James McGibney was a paedophile who possessed child pornography.
Mr Moore’s website used to post naked images of people without their permission. He closed it in 2012.
But three days later he was at it again.
… Read the restMr Moore used his Twitter account, which has almost 150,000 followers,
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Takes 2 seconds
Mar 11th, 2013 5:01 pm | By Ophelia BensonHere’s a little job for you – a tiny one: all you have to do is hit a “Like” button.
Hit the button under American Atheists to vote for them to get a booth at Netroots Nation and collect more atheists!… Read the rest
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Hamza Tzortzis three years ago
Mar 11th, 2013 4:51 pm | By Ophelia BensonA Twitter friend pointed out this post about Hamza Tzortzis from October 2010.
… Read the restThe Q&A session started with the announcement that whilst the Brothers in the audience were allowed to address the speaker directly, the Sisters had to write their question on a slip of paper which was then passed down to the front and vetted before being answered. Unbelievable. Perhaps what is more unbelievable is that the practice is being defended, and not labelled the outright misogynistic behaviour that it is. This was posted on the Islamic Society group page on Facebook.
Just one side-note regarding the point which one of the atheists (I don’t know who) raised regarding our sisters etc. The reason why sisters write questions
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
A round-up of commentary on the UCL fiasco
Mar 11th, 2013 12:38 pm | By Ophelia BensonNaturally Maryam is all over the UCL dustup.
Sex segregation not miscommunication
Sexual segregation at a UCL event is a scandal
Institutional incompetence or moral cowardice?
That one is a statement by the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain.
… Read the restThe Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain was horrified to learn of sex segregation at an Islamist-organised event in University College London last weekend.
Whilst the behaviour of the organisers is wholly predictable (it has since come to light that UCL were repeatedly informed of their intention to segregate the audience beforehand), the university’s failure to uphold such a fundamental principle of equality as non-segregation is staggering.
UCL was the first university in England to be founded on an entirely secular basis and
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
This was not the first time
Mar 11th, 2013 11:38 am | By Ophelia BensonStudent Rights tells us about several university events in London that have been promoted as “fully segregated.”
… Read the restThis even includes events featuring Tzortzis at UCL, with the audience at an event attended by our researcher Rupert Sutton at the School of Pharmacy in October 2012 seating women at the back of the hall and men at the front.
During 2012 Student Rights also logged several events which were advertised in this way, with a speech given by Dr Khalid Fikry at London Metropolitan University in June pronounced “FULLY SEGREGATED!!!”
In January the same was true at London South Bank University, where an event encouraging non-Muslims to attend was advertised as “100 Per Cent Segregated”.
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Segregation at UCL is no exception to the rule
Mar 11th, 2013 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Student Rights reports that several events at London universities have been advertised as “fully segregated.”… Read the rest
A large container of assorted girls
Mar 11th, 2013 11:21 am | By Ophelia BensonWell there’s one good thing about gender segregation, as Maureen pointed out in linking us to this news item about three men arrested on suspicion of sexual assault and false imprisonment at an Islamic girls’ school in Lancaster – it’s a handy way to collect all the girls in one place for ease of access.
Officers are investigating a single alleged incident last Tuesday involving a small number of girls at Jamea Al Kauthar in Lancaster.
A 40-year-old from Bolton and two men from Blackburn, aged 30 and 53, are in police custody.
So was it halal?
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Gender segregation collects the girls for easy access
Mar 11th, 2013 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Three men arrested on suspicion of sexual assault and false imprisonment at an Islamic girls’ school have links with the school, police said.… Read the rest
UCL on iERA event
Mar 11th, 2013 10:16 am | By Ophelia BensonFrom UCL News.
… Read the restAn organisation known as the Islamic Education and Research Academy (IERA) booked a room at UCL for a debate on Saturday evening (9 March). UCL was notified during Friday by some individuals planning to attend the event that the organisers intended to segregate the audience by gender.
This was directly contrary to UCL policy. We do not allow enforced segregation on any grounds at meetings held on campus. We immediately made clear to the organisers that the event would be cancelled if there were any attempt to enforce such segregation. We also required the organisers to make it explicit to attendees that seating arrangements were optional, and guests were welcome to sit wherever they felt comfortable.
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Guest post on the “debate” at UCL
Mar 11th, 2013 9:01 am | By Ophelia BensonGuest post by Abishek N. Phadnis
The Missionary Position
Six weeks ago, Student Rights published its findings on the infestation of rabble-rousing Islamic preachers in British universities over the past year. Topping the charts was trash-talking noisemaker Hamza Tzortzis, with his hit single “we as Muslims reject the idea of freedom of speech, and even the idea of freedom”. That he has alchemised this rather exotic view into a career as a self-styled ‘intellectual activist’ is the least of his many contradictions.
Mr. Tzortzis is an alumnus of the Hizb-ut-Tahrir, a global Sunni extremist movement against the evils of homosexuality, Jewishness, women, democracy, freedom and probably happiness itself. He is a champion of such … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
The Guardian on gender segregation at UCL event
Mar 11th, 2013 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
University College London said reports of segregation at the debate hosted by the Islamic Education and Research Academy on 9 March were worrying.… Read the rest
