A woman has enough to do inside the house.… Read the rest
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Dissent
May 26th, 2010 11:55 am | By Ophelia BensonFor the record – the (critical but reasonable) comment I tried to post on Chris Mooney’s post on science and communication yesterday has now been deleted. Yesterday it was showing up (for me only) as being held in moderation, and today it’s gone.
It is possible of course to think that no matter how reasonable one particular comment may be, the person behind it is not. Mooney doesn’t delete all dissent on his posts, so clearly he does think something along those lines – that I am myself inherently unreasonable and unallowable, even if I do manage to fake up a reasonably mild comment at some particular moment.
I think he’s wrong. I can easily see why he would resent … Read the rest
No indecent euphemisms! 
May 26th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“$#*!” is filthy, and it’s a shameless demonstration of contempt for families.… Read the rest
Gita Sahgal on Amnesty’s corporate amnesia
May 26th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
In many ways, Amnesty International has come to resemble the forces that it has done so much to oppose.… Read the rest
Elon Moreh: rabbi bans women from public office
May 26th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“Women who desired to affect public opinion should do so through their husbands.”… Read the rest
BBC TV is sadly secular, says presenter
May 26th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
BBC Radio, on the other hand, is very religious. Hurrah.… Read the rest
Hau tu komyewnikate
May 25th, 2010 4:40 pm | By Ophelia BensonChris Mooney has explained about the need for science communication, or as he calls it, Sci Comm Training.
Science needs both to create new knowledge and also to disseminate it effectively so that that knowledge has an impact–so that it changes the world in a positive way. Why on earth would these two important ends be set in opposition to each other?
Yes of course it does, but disseminating knowledge is not necessarily the same thing as “framing,” nor does it necessarily need to know about “framing.” Framing is more closely related to public relations and political campaigning than it is to education, and that’s one major reason scientists and fans of science don’t all think Mooney is the ideal … Read the rest
Even the Dalai Lama kicks at atheists
May 25th, 2010 4:27 pm | By Ophelia BensonTenzin Gyatso, the Dalai Lama, says tolerance is good and religions are good. Unfortunately, as G Felis pointed out, he says more than that.
Though intolerance may be as old as religion itself, we still see vigorous signs of its virulence. In Europe, there are intense debates about newcomers wearing veils or wanting to erect minarets and episodes of violence against Muslim immigrants. Radical atheists issue blanket condemnations of those who hold to religious beliefs. In the Middle East, the flames of war are fanned by hatred of those who adhere to a different faith.
No we don’t. We may offer generalized criticism of religious belief as such, but that’s not the same as issuing “blanket condemnations” of all … Read the rest
Dalai Lama on ‘one faith, many truths’
May 25th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Finds good in all religions. No good in atheism though.… Read the rest
Priest Arrested in Brazil on altar boy charges
May 25th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The third case of sexual abuse involving a priest in Brazil in the last two months. … Read the rest
Priest says better a dead woman than an abortion
May 25th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“There are some situations where the mother may in fact die along with her child,” says Rev. John Ehrich, medical ethics director for the Diocese of Phoenix.… Read the rest
Two errors and a slur
May 25th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Of Karl Giberson’s, that Jerry Coyne points out. Giberson replies, but incompletely.… Read the rest
New sandbox rules
May 24th, 2010 12:32 pm | By Ophelia BensonKarl Giberson explains about political science in the US and what it means for how we have to behave:
America has a complex and enduring commitment to pluralism. We want people to be free to act — and believe — as they please. But we must all play in the same sandbox, so we are attentive to the idiosyncrasies of our playmates, especially when they don’t make sense to us.
By “attentive” it turns out he means we don’t disagree with them, and by “idiosyncrasies” it turns out he means beliefs, no matter how unreasonable and arbitrary and evidence-free. So we must all play in the same sandbox, meaning, apparently, that we must all spend our lives three inches from … Read the rest
Giberson explains about theodicy
May 24th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
How does Jerry Coyne know, I don’t know, nobody knows, therefore God is just.… Read the rest
Dawkins and Randi mourn Martin Gardner
May 24th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
He was immensely lively, and brimming with youthful intelligence and curiosity, right to the end.… Read the rest
Phil Plait on Martin Gardner
May 24th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Martin’s books showed me how to think around some problems, how to take that needed step to the side to see the solution.’… Read the rest
Giberson to ‘new’ atheists: play nicely
May 24th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Cites ‘the New Atheist Noise Machine,’ says ‘the New Atheists are behaving like a boorish bunch of intellectual bullies.’ Nice.… Read the rest
David Colquhoun on the Integrated Health Trust
May 24th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The advisory board of IHT consists almost entirely of supporters of various forms of alternative medicine.… Read the rest
Those who can’t, give a “boot camp”
May 23rd, 2010 5:39 pm | By Ophelia BensonHmm. I see where Chris Mooney says he is
giving a four hour “boot camp” on science communication to a group of graduate students and other interested parties. The session begins with an overview of the “theory” of science communication–why we must do it better, what the obstacles are, and how a changing media environment makes it much tougher…Then, the session goes into a media “how to”–rules for interacting with journalists, media do’s and don’ts, and an overview of various key communication “technologies,” such as framing.
Interesting, but one question that occurs to me right away is what makes anyone (including Mooney) think Mooney is the right person to teach anyone how to communicate? He’s strikingly bad at it himself. … Read the rest
Timeless twoofs
May 23rd, 2010 12:53 pm | By Ophelia BensonJerry Coyne points out this here Clergy Letter Project. It’s a thing where a bunch of clergy sign a letter saying science and religion can be compatible. Very useful in its way, no doubt, but it says some dubious things on the way there.
Many of the beloved stories found in the Bible – the Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah and the ark – convey timeless truths about God, human beings, and the proper relationship between Creator and creation expressed in the only form capable of transmitting these truths from generation to generation.
Oh really? What “timeless truths” does the beloved story about Noah and the ark convey? That there is a god watching human antics as if we were … Read the rest
