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One stop shopping

Jan 25th, 2012 10:09 am | By

I’ve done a lot of posts about all this shut-uppery at UCL and Queen Mary U and LSE. I thought it might be useful to collect them all in one place.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/when-certain-muslims-voiced-their-offense/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/jesus-and-mo-and-the-barmaid-resolve-to-say-nothing-offensive/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/remove-that-offensive-image-at-once-please/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/never-anything-more-than-an-informal-request/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/developments/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/they-will-take-more-consideration/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/1-shut-up-2-shut-up-3-shut-up/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/if-i-hear-that-anything-is-said-against-the-holy-prophet-muhammad/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/just-a-kind-request/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/behold-theocracy-in-action/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/jesus-and-mo-promote-peace-tolerance-and-respect/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/who-gave-these-kuffar-the-right-to-speak/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/history-has-told-us-that-these-things-cause-offence/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/london-11-february-2012-defend-free-expression/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/more-from-the-goombahs/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/are-you-now-or-have-you-ever-been-an-islamophobe/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/no-longer-a-safe-space/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/too-much-conflation-of-being-offended-and-being-intimidated/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/it-has-come-to-our-attention-that-you-are-wicked/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/01/emergency-everybody-to-get-from-street/… Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

Posted in Notes and Comment Blog
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Erdogan calls French bill on Armenian genocide “racist” *

Jan 25th, 2012 | Filed by

The Turkish government argues that judging what happened in eastern Turkey in 1915-16 should be left to historians, and that the new French law will restrict freedom of speech.… Read the rest

Posted in Latest News


NSS on LSE Student Union v principle of free speech *

Jan 25th, 2012 | Filed by

“These statements by the Student Union are deeply shocking. They appear to be prepared to sacrifice the primary principle of free speech on the altar of claimed offence.”… Read the rest

Posted in Latest News


Jesus and Mo on how not to offend *

Jan 25th, 2012 | Filed by

We must ensure that everyone’s beliefs are protected. Well not quite everyone’s.… Read the rest

Posted in Latest News


Ministry of Truth on manipulations of LSE Students’ Union *

Jan 25th, 2012 | Filed by

A motion to limit voting rights at general meetings looks like another cynical ploy designed to head off any possibility of LSESU ASH rallying support.

 

 … Read the rest

Posted in Latest News


Emergency! Everybody to get from street

Jan 24th, 2012 5:08 pm | By

Great news! The LSE Students’ Union has another statement out. It’s another pip. It’s about an urgent EGM on Thursday – which I take to be an Emergency General Meeting (but perhaps it’s Electric, or Elegant, or Educational, or Elevated*). Emergency, emergency! Why I bet we can guess what that is…

In light of recent events there will be two anti-discrimination motions being discussed and debated at an EGM this week, these are: No to racism – no to Islamophobia! and Stop Anti-Semitism Now.

Guessed right.

Stop racism no to Islamophobia! – in the form of a cartoon image of two guys having a beer on the Facebook page of a student group. That’s racism ‘n’ Islamophobia? No, but … Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

Posted in Notes and Comment Blog
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Spot the agenda

Jan 24th, 2012 10:33 am | By

The letter to the Guardian cited a survey.

“Muslims deserve a better press than they have been given in the past decade.” And according to a recent ComRes poll, one in three people in Britain today believe that the media is responsible for “whipping up a climate of fear of Islam in the UK”.

The letter calls it a ComRes poll, but that’s just a brand name. What it really is is an Ahmadiyya Muslim Association survey, and to be exact, it’s an Ahmadiyya Muslim Association UK Islamophobia Survey. It’s not an impartial bit of research, it’s an agenda-driven poll.

The poll was commissioned by one of the UK’s oldest Muslim groups, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, in order

… Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

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Say more good things about Islam please

Jan 24th, 2012 9:37 am | By

Another busy day for the shutters up.

A bunch of Islamist bullies managed to get Salman Rushdie’s video talk to the Jaipur Literary Festival blocked.

A bunch of Islamist bullies and some allies wrote a stupid letter to the Guardian demanding more friendly coverage of Islam in the media.

Let’s take a look at that letter. (Martin Bright has been arguing with Sunny Hundal, who signed the letter, at Twitter for an hour or two. Sunny ended up saying he signs letters he doesn’t agree with, leaving Martin and also Padraig Reidy gobsmacked.)

That letter is a dog’s breakfast.

Over the past decade, a number of academic studies have indicated a worrying and disproportionate trend towards negative, distorted and

… Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

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Jaipur: Islamist bullies block Rushdie video talk *

Jan 24th, 2012 | Filed by

Announcing the cancellation, an emotional Sanjoy Roy said: “We have been pushed to the wall…Earlier today, a number of organisations came to us and threatened violence.”… Read the rest

Posted in Latest News


Islamist misogyny on the rise in the Maldives *

Jan 24th, 2012 | Filed by

Shadiya Ibrahim, a long-time campaigner for women’s rights, said the society was growing steadily more oppressive of women.… Read the rest

Posted in Latest News


Bruce Gorton on bad times for free expression *

Jan 24th, 2012 | Filed by

On the 11 of February, One Law for All is arranging a rally to stand up against this. Are you prepared to stand up and say “We give this kuffar the right to speak”?… Read the rest

Posted in Latest News


It has come to our attention that you are wicked

Jan 23rd, 2012 5:22 pm | By

The LSE Students’ Union has put out a statement on its quarrel with the LSE Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society. It’s a horrible little document.

On Monday 16th January it was brought to our attention via an official complaint by two students that the LSESU Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society posted cartoons, published by the UCLU Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society, depicting the Prophet Mohammed and Jesus “sitting in a pub having a pint” on their society Facebook page. Upon hearing this, the sabbaticals officers of the LSESU ensured all evidence was collected and an emergency meeting with a member of the Students’ Union staff was called to discuss how to deal with the issue. During this time, we

… Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

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LSE Students’ Union issues statement on ASH *

Jan 23rd, 2012 | Filed by

“The offensive nature of the content on the Facebook page is not in accordance with our values of tolerance, diversity, and respect for all students.”… Read the rest

Posted in Latest News


Nigeria: police find bomb-filled cars in Kano *

Jan 23rd, 2012 | Filed by

Police said they found cars and vans filled with explosives in Kano three days after Boko Haram carried out a deadly attack there.… Read the rest

Posted in Latest News


Seeing what you want to see

Jan 23rd, 2012 4:03 pm | By

Karen Armstrong tells us all, not for the first time, how swell Islam is.

First, she tells us the problem. It’s that “western people” think Islam is “a violent and intolerant faith” but this is all wrong. Couldn’t be more wrong. Very very wrong. It’s the hajj what does it, you see. Religion is like ice skating, you learn it by doing it, so the hajj teaches people to do all the good things.

The ancient rituals of the hajj, which Arabs performed for centuries before Islam, have helped pilgrims to form habits of heart and mind that – pace the western stereotype – are non-violent and inclusive.

Which is why everywhere we look, or nearly everywhere, that’s what … Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

Posted in Notes and Comment Blog
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That’s how it’s done

Jan 23rd, 2012 3:37 pm | By

There was a time when Lego knew how to market to girls without treating them like idiots or aspiring princesses.

… Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

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Too much conflation of being offended and being intimidated

Jan 23rd, 2012 12:27 pm | By

The LSE Student Union Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society has told the LSE Student Union to take a flying jump. I should think so too.

There are no reasonable grounds for the LSESU’s instruction because we are in no way violating their policies or byelaws. The cartoons on our Facebook page criticise religion in a satirical way and we totally reject any claim that their publications could constitute any sort of harassment or intimidation of Muslims or Christians.

That there was no deliberate intention to offend is illustrated by the fact that the cartoons were posted only on the LSESU ASH page and not in other spaces. But even if some people are offended, offence is not a sufficient

… Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

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Skeptic lawyer on the two sorts of limits to law *

Jan 23rd, 2012 | Filed by

The first concerns what one ought to do (with law). The second concerns what it is possible to do (with law). Principled v means-end.… Read the rest

Posted in Latest News


Karen Armstrong says how great Islam is *

Jan 23rd, 2012 | Filed by

“The ancient rituals of the hajj…have helped pilgrims to form habits of heart and mind that – pace the western stereotype – are non-violent and inclusive.”… Read the rest

Posted in Latest News


More on arrest of Indonesian atheist *

Jan 23rd, 2012 | Filed by

Official said that he had yet to decide whether Alexander would be dismissed from his post. “I told him that there was no place in this country for his beliefs,” he said.… Read the rest

Posted in Latest News