All entries by this author

“Halal” hairdressing *

Oct 26th, 2010 | Filed by

Once your hair is dressed, you plaster it down with bandages. All very sensible.… Read the rest



Leo Igwe pays tribute to Norm Allen *

Oct 26th, 2010 | Filed by

Allen encouraged many Western humanists to look beyond their borders and appreciate humanism from an African perspective.… Read the rest



The overlap between agnosticism and atheism

Oct 26th, 2010 | By John Shook

From John R. Shook, The God Debates: a 21st Century Guide for Atheists and Believers (and Everyone in Between). (pp 16-18) Wiley-Blackwell 2010. Published by permission.

Nonbelievers who reject traditional theistic Christianity have many options for positive worldviews. Besides other nontheistic religions, there are many kinds of pantheisms, spiritualisms, and mysticisms, along with varieties of humanism and naturalism. Forming a positive worldview is hard enough; selecting a label for oneself from a limited menu is even harder. Demographers polling people in America and around the world consistently find that few nonbelievers prefer the label of “atheist” for labeling their own position (Zuckerman 2007). This reluctance probably has more to do with the perceived meaning of atheism rather than … Read the rest



Ayaan Hirsi Ali at National Press Club *

Oct 26th, 2010 | Filed by

“Is Islam a Religion of Tolerance?” No.… Read the rest



Why smart people do stupid things *

Oct 26th, 2010 | Filed by

People buy high and sell low. They believe their horoscope. They supersize their fries and order diet Coke. They text while driving.… Read the rest



Michael Zimmerman scolds Jerry Coyne *

Oct 26th, 2010 | Filed by

But the goal is more than just getting people to accept evolution and science.  The goal is the promotion of reason.… Read the rest



Mo is upset about militant atheists *

Oct 26th, 2010 | Filed by

Always complaining, never helping.… Read the rest



Stanley Fish on sharia and liberal universalism *

Oct 26th, 2010 | Filed by

Liberal universalism has superficial respect for everyone (as long as everyone is superficial) and deep respect for no one, according to Fish.… Read the rest



Statement from counsel in lawsuit against Timonen *

Oct 25th, 2010 | Filed by

No direct donations have been misappropriated.… Read the rest



The numerology of real estate *

Oct 25th, 2010 | Filed by

These buyers are happy to pay a premium or forgo a better apartment just to get that “lucky” number.… Read the rest



Juan Williams

Oct 25th, 2010 12:24 pm | By

Juan Williams shouldn’t have been working for NPR in the first place. That’s not because he’s too Fox-y, it’s because he’s too thick. He doesn’t have an interesting mind, so he doesn’t have interesting things to say.

NPR quite likes that, up to a point – it doesn’t want its people to sound “too” intelligent or curious or thoughtful. I know that because almost none of them do. A Nina Totenberg probably couldn’t get hired there today – she sounds too sharp and too unplacating. NPR seems to want only people who won’t intimidate listeners by sounding possibly cleverer than the listeners are.

I suspect that’s why they liked Juan Williams in the first place – he has that … Read the rest



Wilders trial has backfired in every possible way *

Oct 25th, 2010 | Filed by

His defense includes calling expert witnesses to testify on the accuracy of his views of Islam.… Read the rest



The rise of “Taliban Catholicism” *

Oct 25th, 2010 | Filed by

Reactionary Catholic bloggers monitor “traitorous” nuns and priests who are not Catholic enough.… Read the rest



A fun new hobby

Oct 24th, 2010 5:47 pm | By

And as for Lauren Booth

Journalist and broadcaster Lauren Booth, 43 – Cherie Blair’s sister – now wears a hijab whenever she leaves her home, prays five times a day and visits her local mosque whenever she can.

In other words she agrees that she is an inferior and a subordinate who lets a religion tell her to conceal most of her head; she fritters away a large fraction of her time every day talking to someone who isn’t there; and she has made herself subject to the death penalty in certain places if she should change her mind about this conversion lark. She must be dumb as a stump.… Read the rest



A bid for greater community cohesion

Oct 24th, 2010 5:16 pm | By

The more you look at this Global Peace and Unity stomach-turner, the more creepy it gets. Check out the supporters. Who are they? Islamist groups and cops. Period.

No really. The British Muslim Forum, the Islamic Forum of Europe, the Muslim Association of Britain, The Muslim Council of Britain, The Muslim Council of Scotland, The Muslim Council of Wales, UK Islamic Mission, and City of London police and Metropolitan police. That’s it.

Here’s some pleasant and thoughtful chat from the blurb under the UK Islamic Mission.

the UKIM is not only an organization trying to serve the Muslim community, but it is also an ideological movement, It aims to mould the entire human life according to Allah’s revealed Guidance,

Read the rest


Blair’s sister-in-law converts to Islam *

Oct 24th, 2010 | Filed by

She went to Qom and felt “a shot of spiritual morphine,” so now she doesn’t eat pork.… Read the rest



Dawkins’s foundation sues Timonen for embezzlement *

Oct 24th, 2010 | Filed by

RDF filed suit in California calleging that Timonen, who ran its online operation in America, stole $375,000 (£239,000) over three years.… Read the rest



Sorry, I have to return a library book that day

Oct 24th, 2010 1:05 pm | By

Well…going down the list of speakers at the Global Peace and Unity Event, I find myself not at all eager to attend. I find myself thinking that it looks like an absolute nightmare.

More so than I would about a comparable Event packed with Catholic priests and bishops and scholars?

Yes, to be honest. More so.

Why?

Because most of them seem to represent a very very conservative form of Islam, or just plain Islamism, and I don’t want to live under Islam or Islamism, and I find it nightmarish that their kind of Islam and Islamism is so popular in the UK that it can draw 50 thousand people to an event of this kind. I hate and … Read the rest



Speakers at the Global Peace and Unity shindig *

Oct 24th, 2010 | Filed by

Home page says “it’s recognised as the biggest multi-faith gathering of its kind anywhere across Europe.” Multi-faith?… Read the rest



Tories shun the “Global Peace and Unity Event” *

Oct 24th, 2010 | Filed by

It’s billed as “multicultural” but it features a lot of homophobic misogynist fans of al Qaeda.… Read the rest