It promotes the idea that not only is everything stated in Genesis chapters 1-11 true, but it can be proved … with science.… Read the rest
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Boko Haram and Religious Minorities in Northern Nigeria
Jun 9th, 2012 | By Leo Igwe
The radical Islamic sect Boko Haram appears to have taken its ‘jihad’ to religious minorities in Northern Nigeria, and there are clear signs of danger ahead in terms of inter-religious peace and harmony in the country. Today a suicide bomber reportedly drove a car full of explosives into a church in Yalwa, which is on the outskirts of Bauchi state. At least 12 people are said to have died in the attack. Though there is no confirmation yet of those who carried out the attack, Boko Haram militants are suspected to be behind it.
This suicide attack has occurred just a day after the representatives of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria met with President Goodluck Jonathan drawing his attention … Read the rest
She won’t shut up or back down
Jun 9th, 2012 11:26 am | By Ophelia BensonAthena Andreadis is disgusted but not surprised at the spectacle of Golden Dawn spokesman Elías Kasidhiáris hitting Liána Kanélli in the face on a tv talk show the other day.
… Read the restFor those sequestered in silently running nuclear submarines, Golden Dawn got 7% of the vote in the May elections, gaining seats in the parliament – the first time such a thing has happened since World War II (not counting the junta). Its platform is the standard troglodytic garbage: ethnic purity, “natural” order – which includes the de jure disenfranchisement of women and Others – and bodily violence against those who disagree. Its members regularly assault immigrants, minorities and journalists as well as other “undesirables”, with tolerance (if not cooperation) from
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
A bad day for cyber-bullies
Jun 9th, 2012 10:50 am | By Ophelia Benson“Thank You Hater” went viral yesterday; I saw it everywhere. It was all over my Twitter feed, including via Roger Ebert and Stephen Fry. Isabel Fay tweeted about the phone ringing off the hook and interviews lining up to be done. The Guardian reports on the instant virality.
It also reports a different cyber-bully story.
… Read the restA woman has won court backing to force Facebook to reveal the identities of cyberbullies who targeted her with a string of abusive messages on the website.
Nicola Brookes was granted a high court order after receiving “vicious and depraved” abuse on Facebook after she posted a comment in support of the former The X Factor contestant Frankie Cocozza.
The woman, from Brighton,
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
“Voice of woman is voice of revolution”
Jun 8th, 2012 4:13 pm | By Ophelia BensonSarah El Deeb is a journalist with the AP in Cairo; she tweeted about the protest against violence against women, and then about the attack on the protest. Before the attack she posted a nice hopeful photo -
That was before a mob of men attacked them.… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
A mob of men attacks women in Tahrir Square
Jun 8th, 2012 3:26 pm | By Ophelia BensonHoly shit. Holy fucking hell god damn it piss crap.
A mob of hundreds of men assaulted women holding a march demanding an end to sexual harassment Friday, with the attackers overwhelming the male guardians and groping and molesting several of the female marchers in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.
What is the matter with them? What the hell is their point – that assaulting women is good? That women’s wish not to be assaulted is evil and deserving of punishment in the form of assault?
From the ferocity of the assault, some of the victims said it appeared to have been an organized attempt to drive women out of demonstrations and trample on the pro-democracy protest movement.
Misogynist fascists then. … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Cognition and science 
Jun 8th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
We never fully unlearn our mistaken intuitions about the world. We just learn to ignore them.… Read the rest
Radical cooties
Jun 8th, 2012 11:49 am | By Ophelia BensonLisa Miller in the Washington Post takes a look at the Vatican’s way of using the epithet “radical feminist.”
Members of the Vatican hierarchy are using the word “feminist” and even “radical feminist” the way third-graders use the word “cooties.” In April, the Vatican accused the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents 57,000 nuns nationwide, of allowing “radical feminist” ideas to flow unchecked in their communities. In 2008, after launching an investigation against American nuns (the results of which have not yet been released), Cardinal Franc Rode told a radio interviewer that the nuns are suspected of “certain irregularities,” a “secular mentality” and “perhaps also a certain feminist spirit.”
That second item is especially impressive – “irregularities” – meaning … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Racism and antisemitism in Polish and Ukrainian football
Jun 8th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Racism, antisemitism and violence are often intertwined and together they create a very intimidating atmosphere inside the ground.… Read the rest
A message of thanks from Rothamstead Research
Jun 8th, 2012 9:24 am | By Ophelia BensonDear Friends and Colleagues
The scientists at Rothamsted Research want to record their sincere thanks for the amazing, spontaneous outpouring of support for safeguarding their research on aphid repellent wheat. As you all know, this project represented years of painstaking discovery research and the careers of a number of dedicated scientists. The idea that a self-appointed group would decide to destroy this was unconscionable and the researchers felt that they had to reach out to reasonable people for support. No-one expected such enthusiastic and heartfelt support, but it had a number of very positive effects.
You brought the discussion about the research into the realms of sensible debate. Your support really affected the attitude of commentators, who realised what strong … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Stirred up
Jun 8th, 2012 9:10 am | By Ophelia BensonIt’s good that forms of group-hatred like racism and sexism and xenophobia and homophobia don’t really matter, because they never make anything bad happen. It’s good that they’re all just words, just being “offended,” and basically just a kind of fluff blowing around on the surface of life.
… Read the restBuddhist residents in western Burma have killed at least nine Muslims as sectarian tension worsens in the region, police say.
…
Rakhine is home to Burma’s largest concentration of Muslims, including much-persecuted Rohingya Muslims, and their presence is often deeply resented by the majority Buddhist population.
In a joint statement quoted by Reuters, eight Rohingya rights groups based outside Burma condemned the attack on the Muslims on the bus, whom they
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Burma: Buddhists kill at least 9 Muslims in Rakhine province
Jun 8th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Rakhine is home to Burma’s largest concentration of Muslims, including much-persecuted Rohingya Muslims; their presence is resented by the majority Buddhist population.… Read the rest
FFRF says Stand Up
Jun 8th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
While the Bishops preposterously portray themselves as victims of an “attack on religious liberty,” in fact it is they who are the threat to religious liberty.… Read the rest
If you did hear it and don’t want to hear it, that is even worse.
Jun 8th, 2012 7:15 am | By Ophelia Benson… Read the restUefa has confirmed there were “isolated incidents of racist chanting” aimed at Netherlands players during an open training session.
But the governing body has not revealed whether it is investigating the incident in Krakow, Poland.
Dutch captain Mark van Bommel said monkey chants were directed at players.
…
While Van Bommel complained specifically of racist abuse, the Dutch FA had earlier said this was mixed with anti-Euro 2012 chanting believed to have been prompted by the fact the city has not been given any matches in the tournament.
When this was put to Van Bommel on Thursday, he said: “Open your ears. If you did hear it and don’t want to hear it, that is even
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
How will we know if you don’t tell us
Jun 8th, 2012 6:44 am | By Ophelia BensonVia Kylie – a brilliant thank you note to The Footsoldiers of Commenting.
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
SSA week Blogathon
Jun 7th, 2012 5:25 pm | By Ophelia BensonYou know it’s Secular Student Alliance week, right?
… Read the restRight now, SSA supporters Jeff Hawkins and Janet Strauss have pledged a $250,000 matching offer. That means that every contribution is matched dollar-dor-dollar up to a quarter of a million dollars.Hitting the Hawkins/Strauss match means we can offer previously unimagined levels of support for our affiliates during the coming fall semester. But we need help from the non-students to get there.
The goal of SSA Week is to raise $100,000. Is it ambitious? Yes. Can we do it? Yes. Surely there are 20,000 people out there who support the cause of empowering secular activists at the college and high school level. $5 apiece from each of them gets us to
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
An explosion of Pepto Bismol
Jun 7th, 2012 4:31 pm | By Ophelia BensonVia Christopher Moyer – women tennis players are given their own special court to play on.
…the revered Stade Roland Garros, which first hosted a national women’s tennis tournament in 1897, had turned a court bright pink and set up an on-site salon and spa for female sportswriters in honor of “Ladies Day.”
Well good good good good. And female surgeons will get their own special bright pink OR, and female pilots will get their own special bright pink cabins, and female judges will get their own special bright pink robes.
More from Joanne Gerstner, who was there.
… Read the restThe carpet is hot pink. The tennis court is rose pink. The champagne is pale pink. The nail polish is cotton
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Tennis for the laydeez
Jun 7th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Brilliant idea: paint a tennis court pink for the wimminz to play on.… Read the rest
New Atheists since 1881
Jun 7th, 2012 3:45 pm | By Ophelia BensonAlso – I have a new gig. I get to be a columnist for The Freethinker.
… Read the restCutting”, “abrasive”, “sarcastic”, “offensive” … These are just some of the words used to describe the Freethinker magazine, which was launched in Britain in 1881 and has continued publishing without a break ever since. But it was the word “blasphemous”, dropped from the lips of a hostile judge, that that got its founder and first editor G.W. Foote into serious trouble. As a result mainly of irreligious cartoons published in the Christmas, 1882, edition, the judge declared the issue “blasphemous” and Foote was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment with hard labour.
But the magazine, under caretaker editor Edward E Aveling, kept rolling off
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
The Intersection of Non-theism and Feminism
Jun 7th, 2012 3:27 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe panel I did at Women in Secularism with Rebecca and Jen and Sikivu is now posted.
In case you look at it, just a note – I’m really not as furious and grim as I look, that’s just the way my face goes. In my head I’m actually as mostly-amused as Rebecca looks (and is).
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
