Out of the closet at last.
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All entries by this author
A whole future spread out before me
Sep 6th, 2011 5:52 pm | By Ophelia BensonThere are a lot of them – which is good, because it means some escape, but bad, because it means this is happening to a lot of people. There’s Sierra at Non-prophet Message. She is amusing on the subject of Jezebel and makeup and faking it.
Shaping your eyebrows can go a long way towards that neat, meticulous, hyperfeminine look that screams, “I read my Bible so much, my eyebrows shape themselves!”
When she finally went to school – which was a community college – she discovered that she had a brain.
… Read the restI turned in my final math exam with the lightest heart I’d felt since I was a little child, since before I’d ever heard of the
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Being a Skeptic in Africa
Sep 6th, 2011 | By Leo IgweI was not born a skeptic. I grew up to find out that I am one. What makes it most interesting is that I was born in a country and continent where most people are not inclined to skepticism, where doubting, questioning and challenging recieved wisdom is frowned on by most people. Mine is a society where most people are inclined to blind belief, to uncritical acceptance of doctrines and dogmas.
I was born 41 years ago in a remote village, Mbaise, in South Eastern Nigeria. I was born into a religious home and to parents who were born animists but were pressured to embrace Christianity. My father told me that he embraced Christianity in order to get formal education. … Read the rest
Breaking a daughter
Sep 6th, 2011 3:36 pm | By Ophelia BensonOne way crazy religion is crazy is in putting massive pressure on people to distort their own natures and aptitudes and wants. The fancy name for this sadistic habit is “dying to self.” A “broken daughter” tells us what it feels like.
… Read the restSome people don’t seem to bother that much, but it’s always been hard for me to be as selfless as I was expected to be. You see, I’m a very private, calm, introvert kind of person. Though I grew up in a big family, I always liked being alone. I’m not much of a team player, I prefer doing things all by myself. I didn’t hate having a big family where there was always somebody, quite the
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Broken Daughter on “dying to self” 
Sep 6th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
” I grew angrier and angrier with the God who hated me so much for wanting a few minutes of peace and silence.”… Read the rest
Titles
Sep 6th, 2011 12:31 pm | By Ophelia BensonPZ wants help finding the right adjective for the title of his book…but I don’t think it can be done. I think The _______ Atheist is a boring title no matter what ________ turns out to be. I think this because I tried to think of something interesting and then I read other people’s attempts and there’s just no spark, no matter what. This tells me that the formula is a dud – at least, it’s a dud if they (the publishers) want a buyer-thrilling title, which of course they do.
The Something Atheist. I just don’t think there’s a word that can make that sound exciting.
Unless they go absurdist or something. The Ruritanian Atheist. The Pioneer … Read the rest
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The Skeptic’s Dictionary Newsletter
Sep 6th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Quack of the month award to Michael Longo for his “pages of truth,” his “centering tree chair,” and especially his neo-Hegelian page of truth art charts.… Read the rest
Molly Ivins can’t say that about Rick Perry, can she?
Sep 6th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“Now he’s trying to disguise the fact that the schools are in free-fall by proposing that we teach creationism in biology classes.”… Read the rest
Scientology attacks The New Yorker
Sep 6th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“Everybody had forgotten about the New Yorker piece, but now they’ve brought it all up again for everyone to think about.”… Read the rest
It is time you resigned as chairman of the universe
Sep 5th, 2011 4:44 pm | By Ophelia BensonHere’s a pretty item from Michael Pearl -
A woman wrote to him about her devastation at a miscarriage.
Even now I have nightmares every night. I dream that my baby is crying and when I go to take care of him, I can’t find him. I look everywhere but I can’t find my baby. I have even woken up my husband asking him to help me find our baby. I have dreamed that my baby was beautiful and healthy. I would wake up deciding how my baby and I are going to spend the day and I realize that there is no baby.
He set her straight.
… Read the restYour anger is based on the assumption that you know better than
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Cameron “won’t back” Dorries’s plan
Sep 5th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Dorries says he’ll change his mind.… Read the rest
More new 9/11 conspiracy books
Sep 5th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
David Griffin, a professor of theology, has written nine books purporting to prove that the September 11 attacks were “masterminded from inside the American state apparatus.”… Read the rest
9/11 conspiracy theories debunked
Sep 5th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
One by one.… Read the rest
Jamaat-e-Islami had Hijab Day yesterday
Sep 5th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It is time that Hijab culture should be promoted through social media and networks to eliminate vulgarity from society.… Read the rest
Charlatans preying on the vulnerable
Sep 5th, 2011 11:08 am | By Ophelia BensonOh hey, a good idea.
Chanting to cure snakebites, claiming to be a reincarnated spouse to obtain sex, and charging for miracles could soon be banned by an Indian state seeking to stop charlatans preying on the vulnerable.
Many superstitions are widely held in India but a campaign group is lobbying hard for a new law in the western state of Maharashtra to outlaw several exploitative activities, with penalties of fines or up to seven years in jail.
But………not so fast, pardner.
… Read the restBut the push to pass the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman, Evil Practices and Black Magic Bill has not received unanimous support.
Some Hindu nationalists fear the legislation seeks to move beyond
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Indian state considers ban on “black magic”
Sep 5th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
One right-wing association, the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, called it “a draconian law targeting faith” and denounced its proponents as “atheists.”… Read the rest
Redacted v unredacted
Sep 5th, 2011 10:33 am | By Ophelia BensonOne WikiLeaks staffer says why he felt he had to leave.
… Read the restThe final straw for me came on Friday. By drawing attention to, and then publishing in full, the unredacted cache of documents, WikiLeaks has done the cause of internet freedom – and of whistleblowers – more harm than US government crackdowns ever could.
Before the first publication of carefully redacted cables, human rights activists, NGOs, and organisations working with victims of horrific crimes contacted WikiLeaks begging us to take steps not to publish any names. To be able to assure them details would be protected was an immeasurable relief.
These cables contain details of activists, opposition politicians, bloggers in autocratic regimes and their real identities, victims of crime
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“Why I felt I had to turn my back on WikiLeaks”
Sep 5th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Dismay mounted with the arrival of Israel Shamir, a self-styled Russian “peace campaigner” with a long history of antisemitic writing.… Read the rest
More Debbi Pearl
Sep 4th, 2011 5:38 pm | By Ophelia BensonMore from “how to be a really high-quality doormat for God.”
This past week the local Preparing class invited two older mothers to share their experiences in marriage. It was quite sobering, and some of the girls came away from class unnerved by the burdens of marriage. What the mothers wanted to convey to the girls was, “Learn now while you are young to honor your husbands. Learn patience to continue in your role as a Help Meet, and commit yourself to God now while you are young so you can avoid some of our trials and errors as we struggle to find our way.”
Great. The girls were “unnerved” by the prospect of lifelong slavery, and what “the mothers” … Read the rest
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