And the Templeton Foundation, virtue ethics, In Character, and other risible subjects.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Lunchtime O’Jokes
May 22nd, 2010 12:29 pm | By Ophelia BensonDecca Aitkenhead’s article on Hitchens is very snide, but one suspects there is a good deal of truth in it. In particular I can’t help being amused by her portrayal of his sense of humor.
… Read the restThe march of time certainly hasn’t altered one thing about Hitchens, which is, alas, his unaccountable pleasure in word games of the most puerile variety. Page after page is devoted to the infinite hilarity derived by Amis, Rushdie, McEwan and Hitchens from substituting in the titles of well-known books, films and songs the word “dick” for “heart”, or “fuck” for “love”, or “cunt” for “man”.
“Oh, I know,” he chortles, when I bring this up. “Shameful.” He surely can’t still find these jokes funny, can
Nigeria: Yerima questioned about marriage to child 
May 22nd, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The senator said the Nigerian Child Rights Act of 2003 “must have been enacted in error.”… Read the rest
Joanthan Sacks refutes atheism in a few words
May 22nd, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Theists have more children. … Read the rest
Rude but amusing interview with Hitchens
May 22nd, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
He once wrote that women aren’t funny, yet he’s convulsed by infantile word jokes.… Read the rest
There are no new ethical problems here
May 22nd, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Humanity has been ‘playing God’ with animals and plants since the invention of agriculture.… Read the rest
Globalization
May 21st, 2010 5:11 pm | By Ophelia BensonI quite understand, except for one thing – why did they hire a psychic in Bangalore? Are there no psychics in Lincolnshire? That seems most unikely. It’s a mystical sort of place, Lincs – it must be crawling with psychics.
Now I know what you’re going to say – they’re psychics – they don’t have to be on the spot – der. It’s spiritual. It’s not all grubbily of the earth earthy; it’s immaterial, it’s floaty, it’s non-geographical. The psychic could be on Pluto; it wouldn’t matter. Thought travels through space and time, it does not need bodies or proximity. I know. I get all that. But what about the convenience of the people who are stuck in Lincolnshire? Surely … Read the rest
Anonymity for defendants in rape cases proposed
May 21st, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Ban on identifying defendants was lifted in 1988; police claimed it was preventing women from reporting rapes.… Read the rest
Union blames privatization for mine deaths
May 21st, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Mine accidents have risen drastically since change to Mining Law in 2004, with “flexible working conditions” and an inability to unionize.… Read the rest
Turkish mining town in mourning ponders its ‘fate’
May 21st, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Erdoğan says fatal mine explosions are ‘fate’; unions and sane people say they are caused.… Read the rest
Lincolnshire: psychic joins search for missing cat
May 21st, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Owner has paid £1,000 to Animal Search UK which has hired a psychic in Bangalore to give helpful advice.… Read the rest
Carl Zimmer: some background on synthetic genome
May 21st, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
You could say this is still a nature hybrid, because its DNA is based on the sequence of an existing species of bacteria.… Read the rest
Andrew Brown spies another plot by militant atheism
May 21st, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“Another triumph of the only major scientific programme driven from the beginning by explicit atheism.”… Read the rest
It’s alive
May 21st, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“The only DNA in the cells is the designed synthetic DNA sequence…”… Read the rest
Jerry Coyne asks: did scientists play god?
May 21st, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Life is just complex chemicals—nothing more, nothing less. Venter and his team have gone a long way toward showing this.… Read the rest
Mohammed cartoonist regrets any offense caused
May 21st, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“She has attended a local Muslim group meeting in an effort to learn more.”… Read the rest
EU criticizes Pakistan’s blasphemy laws
May 21st, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Notes the laws are often used to justify censorship, criminalisation, persecution and the murder of members of political, racial and religious minorities.… Read the rest
Rand Paul reverses himself on civil rights law
May 20th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It was all a misunderstanding. Or something.… Read the rest
Love is a crime in Malawi
May 20th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A 14-year jail sentence, with hard labour, on two gay men for being that.… Read the rest
The creator of the universe is really clever
May 20th, 2010 12:22 pm | By Ophelia BensonKarl Giberson is a honcho at BioLogos. BioLogos is about “Science and Faith in Dialogue,” about Science & the Sacred. Francis Collins is a scientist, Karl Giberson is a scientist. Karl Giberson explains why he has reservations about Intelligent Design.
BioLogos enthusiastically endorses the idea that the universe is intelligently designed and we certainly believe that the creator of the universe is intelligent. We consider the evidence regarding the fine-tuning of the universe to be provocative and compelling. Our reservations about ID certainly do not derive from any rejection of the rationality of the universe.
The rationality of the universe? What’s rational about the universe? It’s too big, for one thing. It’s too cold for another, too … Read the rest
