“If the government is paying out millions for homeopathy, people will think there’s something in it.”… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Vic Stenger on why religion should be confronted
Oct 28th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson“Young people are joining the rising atheist movement in increasing numbers. I have not met one yet who is an accommodationist.”… Read the rest
Franco Frattini calls for holy war on atheists
Oct 27th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson“Christians also must be able to forge an agreement with Muslims on how to fight atheism, materialism and relativism.”… Read the rest
Zainab Rashid on her “controversial” personality
Oct 27th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson“The Palestinian woman lives in a chauvinistic society, which continues to treat women as immature and incompetent beings.”… Read the rest
It is just too easy to proclaim a mysterious god
Oct 27th, 2010 3:07 pm | By Ophelia BensonMore from John Shook’s The God Debates. I’m finding it very quotable.
… Read the restReligion’s defenders often show a preference for defining atheism as the strongest claim to know that no god exists. If atheists cannot justify such a claim (and they can’t…), perhaps belief in god then appears reasonable?This tactic fails, since it uses the wrong definition of atheism and conveniently forgets how religious believers do claim extravagant knowledge of a supreme infinite being. It is religion that credits an extraordinary capacity for knowledge to humans, not atheism. [pp 22-2]
It is just too easy to proclaim a mysterious god, deride dogmatic atheism’s inability to prove that such a mysterious unknowable god cannot exist, and conclude that the faithful should
Jesus and Mo are full of deep questions
Oct 27th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonKnow-it-all barmaid replies.… Read the rest
Joshua Knobe on morality and hidden judgements
Oct 27th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonOur moral judgements influence our intutions about the non-moral question whether someone is acting intentionally or not. [rr]… Read the rest
Patricia Churchland on the brain roots of morality
Oct 27th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonNeuroscientists are catching the first glimpses of how altruistic behaviour happens in the brain. [registration required]… Read the rest
Time magazine notices Freethought Kampala
Oct 27th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMost of Uganda’s freethinkers keep their skepticism in the closet, but not James Onen.… Read the rest
Superficial respect
Oct 26th, 2010 4:08 pm | By Ophelia BensonStanley Fish is at the old stand. (Thanks to Christopher Moyer for the link.) Liberalism, secularism, universalism – he hates’em.
… Read the rest“Liberal principles,” declares Milbank, “will always ensure that the rights of the individual override those of the group.” For this reason, he concludes, “liberalism cannot defend corporate religious freedom.” The neutrality liberalism proclaims “is itself entirely secular” (it brackets belief; that’s what it means by neutrality) and is therefore “unable to accord the religious perspective [the] equal protection” it rhetorically promises. Religious rights “can only be effectively defended pursuant to a specific and distinctly religious framework.” Liberal universalism, with its superficial respect for everyone (as long as everyone is superficial) and its deep respect for no one, can’t do
A place of greater safety
Oct 26th, 2010 3:46 pm | By Ophelia BensonOh for god’s sake.
this is Scotland’s first ‘halal hairdressers’ – a beauty salon which conforms to the strict rules of Islam; a place where Muslim women who wear the veil or headscarf can be seen uncovered without the risk of the gaze of men.
…
The salon will be a ‘man-free zone’. The frosted windows will stop any inquisitive men passing by from gawping at the clients. No-one can get in without passing through a secure buzzer entry system with CCTV. All this means that the Muslim ladies who have come for a new hair-do can remove their headscarves safe in the knowledge that only other women can see them.
Was this article written by an imam? Probably not, … Read the rest
“Halal” hairdressing
Oct 26th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonOnce your hair is dressed, you plaster it down with bandages. All very sensible.… Read the rest
Leo Igwe pays tribute to Norm Allen
Oct 26th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAllen encouraged many Western humanists to look beyond their borders and appreciate humanism from an African perspective.… Read the rest
The overlap between agnosticism and atheism
Oct 26th, 2010 | By John ShookFrom John R. Shook, The God Debates: a 21st Century Guide for Atheists and Believers (and Everyone in Between). (pp 16-18) Wiley-Blackwell 2010. Published by permission.
Nonbelievers who reject traditional theistic Christianity have many options for positive worldviews. Besides other nontheistic religions, there are many kinds of pantheisms, spiritualisms, and mysticisms, along with varieties of humanism and naturalism. Forming a positive worldview is hard enough; selecting a label for oneself from a limited menu is even harder. Demographers polling people in America and around the world consistently find that few nonbelievers prefer the label of “atheist” for labeling their own position (Zuckerman 2007). This reluctance probably has more to do with the perceived meaning of atheism rather than … Read the rest
Ayaan Hirsi Ali at National Press Club
Oct 26th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson“Is Islam a Religion of Tolerance?” No.… Read the rest
Why smart people do stupid things
Oct 26th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPeople buy high and sell low. They believe their horoscope. They supersize their fries and order diet Coke. They text while driving.… Read the rest
Michael Zimmerman scolds Jerry Coyne
Oct 26th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBut the goal is more than just getting people to accept evolution and science. The goal is the promotion of reason.… Read the rest
Mo is upset about militant atheists
Oct 26th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAlways complaining, never helping.… Read the rest
Stanley Fish on sharia and liberal universalism
Oct 26th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonLiberal universalism has superficial respect for everyone (as long as everyone is superficial) and deep respect for no one, according to Fish.… Read the rest