The priest has a PhD in psychology from Columbia University and hosts a television talk show on the Eternal Word Television Network.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Peanuts thrown at black camerawoman at RNC 
Aug 31st, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The two white people said “this is what we feed animals.” They were quickly expelled from the convention. The camerawoman said it could happen anywhere.… Read the rest
Hilarity
Aug 30th, 2012 4:03 pm | By Ophelia BensonGosh. Paula Kirby made a funny on Twitter.
Paula Kirby@PaulaSKirby
Ladies and gentlemen, may I request a moment of silence in honour of CrucifixionPlus (Restored). pic.twitter.com/17wLZhof
That’s kind of startling. As I said before, when she called me a Feminazi and Femistasi and part of the Sisterhood of the Oppressed, I liked her a lot when I met her at QED. She was friendly to me, and I thought we’d had a good rapport – or to put it another way, I thought the liking was reasonably mutual. Clearly it wasn’t.
Fine; nobody has to like anybody. On the other hand, calling people totalitarians and Nazis and Stasi (when they’re not)? And circulating sneery caricatures? … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Next spring in DC
Aug 30th, 2012 12:32 pm | By Ophelia BensonOh hai, registration is open for Women in Secularism 2.
That means I finally get to tell you that Katha Pollitt will be there! Yes, Katha Pollitt. Booya.
Also Vyckie Garrison! Also Soraya Chemaly, also Teresa MacBain, also Amanda Marcotte, to name just a few.
This is going to be great.… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Men shave woman’s hair, parade her in streets
Aug 30th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
They said she was having “illicit” sex.… Read the rest
Law in a theocracy
Aug 30th, 2012 11:01 am | By Ophelia BensonApparently in Pakistan, if you’re a lawyer and you think a case might not go your way, the thing to do is to muse aloud about people who got murdered in similar circumstances if you know what I mean wink wink nudge nudge. At least if you see yourself as a lawyer for Team God.
… Read the restA lawyer representing the man who accused a Pakistani Christian girl of blasphemy has claimed that if she is not convicted, Muslims could “take the law into their own hands”.
Rao Abdur Raheem, who appeared in court for the first time at a bail hearing on Tuesday, cited the example of Mumtaz Qadri, the man who last year gunned down a senior politician who had
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Lawyer for blasphemy-accuser offers threats
Aug 30th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A lawyer representing the man who accused a Pakistani Christian girl of blasphemy has claimed that if she is not convicted, she could be murdered.… Read the rest
They’re not a separate issue
Aug 29th, 2012 6:19 pm | By Ophelia BensonOne nice thing.
There’s a transcript of a hangout PZ did with Rebecca and Jen and Brownian and Louis. (I’m not sure I know Louis.)
Louis is apparently in the UK, and he said a thing I liked.
… Read the restSo I see the vitriol, I see the vehemence of it. And I can understand Brownian’s point, of the, fuck you assholes [Unintelligible] misogynist skeptics. I can see it, because, you know, it’s so apparent to me as an outsider from that angle.
But when I’ve been to Skeptics in the Pub in the UK, or when I’ve been to skeptic events in the UK, or when I’ve dealt with, I don’t know, the Simon Singhs or these sorts of people over
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Landscape on Mars
Aug 29th, 2012 4:52 pm | By Ophelia BensonSeen the picture of Mount Sharp?
Postcards from Mars, eh.… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
So that she will mend her ways
Aug 29th, 2012 11:46 am | By Ophelia BensonMałgorzata has sent me another gem - a lecture on tv by an Egyptian cleric explaining why men have to beat up women.
Abd Al-Rahman Mansour: Islam instructs a man to beat his wife as a last resort before divorce, so that she will mend her ways, treat him with kindness and respect, and know that her husband has a higher status than her.
That’s usefully blunt. We know where we are. We’re among stupid unreflective people who have not managed to figure out that stronger does not equal better or higher, and that the mere fact that person X is able to beat up person Y does not mean that person X is better than person Y. It’s … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Police the borders
Aug 29th, 2012 10:37 am | By Ophelia BensonThe Everyday Sexism Project keeps track of that very thing. If you follow it on Twitter you see a lot of items that people send in. One today was the children’s magazine rack at Tesco.
Picture by @sconesgone… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Both parties have respect
Aug 29th, 2012 9:47 am | By Ophelia BensonFabulous. The Republicans are having New York’s archbishop Timothy Dolan saying a goodbye prayer at their convention, so now the Democrats are having him too, so that everyone will know that both parties suck up to the Catholic church because hey, votes.
The fact that Dolan will be speaking at both conventions, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, shows the measure of respect both parties have for “ou[r] new cardinal.”
Yes exactly, and why the hell should they do that?
Mind you, the rest of what Bloomberg said sounded a tad perfunctory, or even contemptuous.
… Read the rest“It’s very flattering, I think, to him,” Bloomberg said. “He’s a very good speaker, and I’m sure he’ll give a very nice invocation, blessing or whatever
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Gujarat riots: BJP former minister convicted
Aug 29th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani of the BJP is among 32 people convicted in one of the worst incidents of mob violence, in Naroda Patiya.
Enabling them
Aug 28th, 2012 2:23 pm | By Ophelia BensonAron Ra said his piece in Amy’s series.
… Read the restRemember that we’re not talking about religizombies either; we’re talking about plainly prejudiced people who consistently identify as, associate with, and participate in the freethinking community –both virtually and personally. Yes or no, are these the sort of people you want to have seen as representative of your position? Or typical of it? Or welcome in it? Because when you minimize the threat they impose, you are enabling them.
If you’re tired of hearing what’s-her-name complain about this all the time, why not solve the problem? Could it help to pretend that isn’t a problem? Or not enough of one to warrant your attention? Should you become part of the problem
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Soraya Chemaly on ways women get burned
Aug 28th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Literally.… Read the rest
Giles Fraser versus human rights
Aug 28th, 2012 12:32 pm | By Ophelia BensonGiles Fraser strongly disapproves of the idea (and the judicial finding) that non-medical circumcision is what it is: genital cutting of an infant for religious reasons.
Generally, the logic behind these moves is that circumcision is an act of unnecessary violence against a child and that it is imposing a belief system against a child’s will. If an adult wants to be circumcised, so be it.
But child circumcision violates the rights of the child over his body. I recently defended circumcision in the Guardian and was inundated with letters telling me I was a child abuser, that male circumcision was like female genital mutilation. But mostly, the arguments against were all about choice.
That’s surprisingly clumsy – it would … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Tighten it up
Aug 28th, 2012 7:43 am | By Ophelia BensonHooray, great strides for women in India.
An Indian company has launched what it claims is the country’s first vagina tightening cream, saying it will make women feel “like a virgin” again. The company says it is about empowering women…
Empowering women? By making them feel “like a virgin”? Because virgin women are so powerful? What, like the Delphic oracle? Tight virginal vagina=telephone line to the gods?
… Read the restThis video is designed to market a vaginal “rejuvenation and tightening” product, which was launched this month in India.
The makers of 18 Again, the Mumbai-based pharmaceutical company Ultratech, say it is the first of its kind in India (similar creams are already available in other parts of the world such as
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Everyday sexism: it’s not a rarity
Aug 28th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The message sent by the normalised, prevalent street harassment in our society is
that women are there for men to treat as they wish.… Read the rest
Giles Fraser says circumcision is a precondition of freedom
Aug 28th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Parents must be free to snip infant penises for religious reasons because “to be inducted into a community of values is a precondition” of freedom.… Read the rest
Company launches India’s first “vagina tightening cream”
Aug 28th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Company claims it empowers women. Wut?… Read the rest
