A rational mind has room for conviction, commitment, passion, perhaps even for parochialism and bias. But not for the sacred.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
HRW to Libya: allow Eman al-‘Obeidy to leave Tripoli 
Apr 7th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Al-‘Obeidy says she has tried to leave Tripoli three times since she first told journalists about the rape on March 26, but was stopped by government forces.… Read the rest
Record number of German Catholics quit church
Apr 7th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
50,000 more Catholics cancelled their church membership last year than in 2009, an increase of 40 percent.… Read the rest
Lots of Satanism on the internet
Apr 7th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Thus need for lots of exorcists. Jobs for Catholic priests! And in the nick of time, too…… Read the rest
Independent talks to critics of Templeton prize
Apr 7th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Dawkins, Kroto, Coyne, and Grayling point out that in religion, faith is a virtue, while in science, faith is a vice.… Read the rest
Discipline
Apr 6th, 2011 5:16 pm | By Ophelia BensonMust stop must stop must stop. Must stop arguing with ridiculous guy on Facebook who calls Ibn Warraq, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Wafa Sultan “racists” because he dislikes them. He’s lily white himself of course. Must stop must stop must stop.
He’s a “humanist,” according to him. He’s yet another anti-gnu. He’s a chump. Must stop must stop must stop.
I did a podcast interview earlier this afternoon with Johan Signert of the Swedish Humanists.
I’m invited to the Let the Light Howthelightgetsin thingy at Hay on Wye. I just might do it.… Read the rest
Hitchens on Karzai and Jones
Apr 6th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The terrible thing about indiscriminate violence and religious hysteria is how much damage a little of it can do.… Read the rest
Pertussis closes Waldorf-based private school
Apr 6th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The local Health Care Director unambiguously stated that lack of vaccinations caused this outbreak and that the children affected were unvaccinated.… Read the rest
You get what you pay for
Apr 6th, 2011 12:19 pm | By Ophelia BensonJerry Coyne’s take on the Templeton Prize is slightly different from Mark Vernon’s.
Templeton plies its enormous wealth with a single aim: to give credibility to religion by blurring its well-demarcated border with science. The Templeton Prize, which once went to people like Mother Teresa and the Reverend Billy Graham, now goes to scientists who are either religious themselves or say nice things about religion.
That’s why it really is a form of bribery. It’s open, transparent, accountable bribery, as opposed to back-room under the table bribery, but it is bribery: the prize rewards a predetermined ideological viewpoint, as opposed to research or inquiry or art. It rewards various versions of the claim that religion and science somehow work … Read the rest
A turning point in the god wars
Apr 6th, 2011 11:34 am | By Ophelia BensonMark Vernon is excited that Martin Rees won the Templeton Prize. He sees it as deliberate revenge for something Richard Dawkins said.
Last year, Dawkins published an ugly outburst against the softly spoken astronomer, calling him a “compliant Quisling” because of his views on religion. And now, Rees has seemingly hit back. He has accepted the 2011 Templeton prize, awarded for making an exceptional contribution to investigating life’s spiritual dimension. It is worth an incongruous $1m.
Funny kind of hitting back – it’s not as if Rees awarded himself the prize. It’s also not as if accepting the prize is a way to rebut what Dawkins said. As a matter of fact, it’s more like agreement … Read the rest
Mark Vernon on Templeton and evil gnus
Apr 6th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Dawkins called Rees a quisling. Now Rees has “hit back” by winning the Templeton prize. This is a turning point in the God wars. Wut?… Read the rest
Jerry Coyne on Templeton and its implications
Apr 6th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
When it gives the prize to someone like Dawkins, who doesn’t go to church and is not prepared to say nice things about religion, then…… Read the rest
Jerry Coyne on the Templeton travesty
Apr 6th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Templeton plies its enormous wealth with a single aim: to give credibility to religion by blurring its well-demarcated border with science.… Read the rest
Ian Sample interviews Martin Rees
Apr 6th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“I’ve got no religious beliefs at all. Of course some of the winners have, but I think not all of them.”… Read the rest
Martin Rees wins controversial Templeton Prize
Apr 6th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The astronomer royal has accepted the annual prize from the Templeton Foundation, which critics say makes a virtue of belief without evidence.… Read the rest
Strange boatfellows
Apr 5th, 2011 5:28 pm | By Ophelia BensonAnthony Grayling is not an enemy of new or gnu atheism, though I suspect some people would like to shoulder him into that category. He won’t be shouldered though. He’s very polite about it, but he won’t be shouldered.
… Read the restThe little jokes and kindly bearing can make Grayling sound quite benignly jovial about religion at times, as he chuckles away about “men in dresses” and “believing in fairies at the bottom of the garden”, and throws out playfully mocking asides such as, “You can see we no longer really believe in God, because of all the CCTV cameras keeping watch on us.” But when I suggest that he sounds less enraged than amused by religion, he says quickly: “Well, it
Lauryn Oates on where the blame belongs
Apr 5th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Jones should have simply been ignored, or perhaps satirized, for the fundamentalist bigot that he is.… Read the rest
Terry Glavin on the massacre in Mazar-i-Sharif
Apr 5th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
About three years ago, Shia Khomeinists and Sunni Wahhabists teamed up in their efforts at subversion in Mazar.… Read the rest
Literary criticism
Apr 5th, 2011 4:20 pm | By Ophelia BensonJust for completeness, or pedantry.
You are simply hosting the Gnu atheist admirathon. No wonder B&W has been disowned by more rational voices.
Which more rational voices? Wally Smith? Chris Mooney? Tom Johnson? Josh R? Steph the Pixie?
Do you really think it’s the Feast of Reason?
Of course not. Did I ever say I did? No.
There is nothing any longer on B&W worth reading that isn’t cut from the same cloth.
Really? Not Leo Igwe? Not Allen Esterson? Not Phil Molé? Not Franco Henwood?
Sorry; I just don’t buy it. Even if you hate the blog part of B&W, there is plenty that’s worth reading.
It’s a hornet’s nest to any disagreement.
Mirror. Look in it.
… Read the restYour
Bishops agree
Apr 5th, 2011 3:12 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe headline on this article originally read
Bishops agree sex abuse rules
Just what we’ve always said!… Read the rest
