Last year Khamenei said humanities “promotes skepticism and doubt in religious principles and beliefs.”… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Ötzi may have had ceremonial burial
Aug 26th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonResearchers believe his many possessions were funerary items rather than camping gear.… Read the rest
Our cherished um er ah
Aug 26th, 2010 1:29 pm | By Ophelia BensonRussell makes a good point about Quinn O’Neill’s 3 quarks post:
He quotes O’Neill
Success will be most likely if atheists and religioius moderates unite for a common goal; not the eradication of religion, but a securely secular society that optimizes well-being and respects our most cherished freedoms.
And notes
Yes, that’s what we should aim at – a secular, free society. I agree. But O’Neill doesn’t even understand what our cherished freedoms are. One of them is the freedom to criticise ideas that we disagree with, including religious ideas, and to criticise individuals and organisations that wield social power, including religious organisations and their leaders.
Indeed; well spotted. It’s quite funny when you notice it – sentimentalizing … Read the rest
Russell Blackford on confusion about freedom of religion
Aug 26th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonReligious freedom is likely to flourish in an environment where the various rival religions are not given any particular respect.… Read the rest
Susan Jacoby on multiculturalism
Aug 26th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson“I love you” isn’t the first thing that would come to mind if my father told me I had to marry a stranger.… Read the rest
Afghanistan: chemical gas poisons girls’ school
Aug 26th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson46 girls and their teachers were poisoned at the Tuteya Girls’ Primary School in Kabul.… Read the rest
Saudi couple “hammer 24 nails” into Sri Lankan maid
Aug 26th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonX-rays showed one- to two-inch nails in her hands and legs, with one over her eyes, officials said.… Read the rest
On religious texts and the modern world
Aug 25th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonOnly in religion do ancient texts brimming over with superstition and ideas contrary to modern human rights get a pass.… Read the rest
R Joseph Hoffmann on pedantic multiculturalism
Aug 25th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonA zealous mullah and a zealous priest wear different tunics, but the intolerance that makes their lives happy has the same source.… Read the rest
The freeedom not to respect
Aug 25th, 2010 10:44 am | By Ophelia BensonQuinn O’Neill, in her much-discussed piece on religion and reason and “tolerance” offers a familiar confusion:
Ensuring individuals’ freedom of religion is undoubtedly important in securing secularism. As Michael Shermer eloquently put it: “As long as religion does not threaten science and freedom, we should be respectful and tolerant because our freedom to disbelieve is inextricably bound to the freedom of others to believe.”
Ensuring individuals’ freedom of religion is important for a lot of reasons, but ensuring individuals’ freedom of religion does not depend on being “respectful and tolerant” of the content of individuals’ beliefs. It does not, and it cannot, because that would in fact interfere with everyone else’s freedom of religion (which, of course, includes freedom … Read the rest
Sam Harris on what “moderate” imams should say
Aug 25th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson“Our traditional ideas about martyrdom, jihad, blasphemy, apostasy, and the status of women must be abandoned…”… Read the rest
Scientists criticize stem cell ruling
Aug 25th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBut Tony Perkins of the “Family Research Council” welcomed it.… Read the rest
Ben Goldacre wonders: are exams getting easier?
Aug 25th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSome people say they are, some say they aren’t, but how do they know?… Read the rest
The rest of it
Aug 24th, 2010 6:22 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe meeting at Glöm aldrig Pela och Fadime was Friday morning, then there were other things during the afternoon, then there was dinner with the Fri Tanke people and Lena Andersson, a well-known columnist and unapologetic atheist. Great fun. Saturday afternoon I went to a meeting of a group recently formed within the Swedish Humanist Association to raise awareness on the issue of religious oppression of women. It was terrific. Everyone from the dinner was there, and Eduardo Grutzky, who started out in Argentina and spent time in Israel before settling in Argentina, and Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen, who writes a columnist for Aftenposten and set fire to a hijab on Women’s Day 2009, and Haideh who … Read the rest
Soldiers required to attend evangelical concert
Aug 24th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson“Spiritual Fitness Concert” featured a band “who aren’t afraid to take an aggressive stance when it comes to spreading the gospel.”… Read the rest
IHEU condemns attack on Leo Igwe’s family
Aug 24th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonProtests to the Nigerian government.… Read the rest
I will continue to speak out for justice and human rights
Aug 24th, 2010 | By Leo IgweThe recent attack on my family which led to my father’s loss of one eye was an unfortunate development. It was yet another attempt to intimidate us and undermine our campaign for justice.
To any intelligent observer of the trends in Nigeria, this incident would not have come as a surprise. Because Nigeria has practically been taken over by thugs, hoodlums, kidnappers and bandits.
Nigeria is held hostage by forces of dark age and barbarism. Anything that appears to be civil or enlightened about Nigeria is mainly on the surface. Since independence Nigeria has been descending gradually into anomie, anarchy and criminality. Nigeria has derailed and deteriorated due to misrule, bad governance, collective irresponsibility and insensitivity, lack of vision and … Read the rest
Priest suspected in bombing was protected
Aug 24th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSeán Brady said he accepted the report’s findings, but said the church did not engage in a cover-up.… Read the rest
NY Times says stoning is misunderstood
Aug 24th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIt’s not prescribed by the Koran. It’s rare. It requires strict conditions. Anyway societies evolve.… Read the rest
Forced adoptions in East Germany
Aug 24th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAll it took to be judged a bad parent was to infringe on vague “socialist guidelines.”… Read the rest