The Taliban isn’t a little bit misguided about women’s rights. Amnesty should keep its distance. … Read the rest
All entries by this author
Religion and science are like totally the same
Feb 10th, 2010 5:51 pm | By Ophelia BensonMark Vernon has his own special brand of wool. I do not admire it. It is too unctuous.
Is science closer to religion than is typically assumed? Is religion closer to science? Might rational enquiry, based on evidence, share similarities with faith? These questions were raised by Charles Taylor, the distinguished Canadian philosopher, speaking at a Cambridge University symposium (pdf). He suspects that in the modern world we’ve bought into an illusion, one that posits a radical split between reason and revelation. Today, given the tension and violence that arises from misunderstandings about both, is a good time to examine them again.
It is annoying, and unctuous, that Vernon doesn’t mention that that ‘symposium’ was sponsored by the … Read the rest
Rahila Gupta on Amnesty’s Double Standard 
Feb 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
AI has betrayed its own history and all of us who looked to it as a champion of human rights.… Read the rest
Sinister Developments in Haiti Missionaries Case
Feb 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Maybe the ‘ambitious plans for an orphanage with resort facilities’ should have rung alarm bells.… Read the rest
Another ‘Bus Driver Stops to Pray’ Story
Feb 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
For real? This actually happened?… Read the rest
All Prime Ministers ‘Do God’
Feb 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
God is the ultimate PM.… Read the rest
Ohio: ‘Science Teacher’ Who Taught Unscience
Feb 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Other teachers kept their own children away from his class, but failed to alert school board or parents.… Read the rest
German Commentators See ‘Islamophobia’
Feb 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Necla Kelek and Seyran Ates are targets of vitriol for opposing honor killings and forced marriages.… Read the rest
The wisdom of bishops
Feb 9th, 2010 2:44 pm | By Ophelia BensonNice. ‘Compassionate.’ Thoughtful. Caring.
The president of the US bishops’ conference has issued a reminder that New Ways Ministry, a Maryland-based group that works with homosexuals and lesbians, “has no approval or recognition from the Catholic Church.” Cardinal Francis George of Chicago added that New Ways Ministry fails to provide “an authentic interpretation of Catholic teaching. Like other groups that claim to be Catholic but deny central aspects of church teaching,” the cardinal observed, New Ways Ministry does not speak for the Catholic faithful.
Because, of course, ‘Catholic teaching’ is that ‘homosexuals and lesbians’ are bad, nasty, dirty, ew, put it down, leave it alone, shun it, nasty, bad. Mind you it does of course hide and protect its … Read the rest
Solution to Poverty Found in Population Growth
Feb 9th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Catholic tool tells UN Commission for Social Development.… Read the rest
New Ways Ministry Replies to Bishops
Feb 9th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘New Ways Ministry has never been contacted by US Conference of Catholic Bishops to discuss our work.’… Read the rest
US Bishops Warn: No Being Friendly to Gays
Feb 9th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘New Ways Ministry does not speak for the Catholic faithful.’ But the bishops do?!… Read the rest
Hardeep Singh Kohli Not Keen on Daggers in Class
Feb 9th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
While going to school in Barnet may be challenging, it’s not the Punjab in 1708.… Read the rest
Sikh Judge Criticizes Ban on ‘Ceremonial Dagger’
Feb 9th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Sikhs should be allowed to wear their ceremonial daggers to school and other public places, he says.… Read the rest
David Aaronovitch on Amnesty’s Poster Boy
Feb 9th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Begg fell for the Taliban that whipped women for ‘improper dress’ and had fired all women in public service.… Read the rest
Go to School and Learn to Pick Lettuce
Feb 8th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A vacuous ideology robs too many US schoolchildren of hours they might have spent reading books.… Read the rest
Germany’s Catholic Sexual Abuse Scandal
Feb 8th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The code of silence has been upheld for decades, informally or by virtue of Vatican directives.… Read the rest
Terry Glavin on AI and Cage Prisoners
Feb 8th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
They don’t belong together.… Read the rest
Ukpabio’s Lawsuit Against Igwe Struck Out
Feb 8th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Helen Ukpabio of the Liberty Gospel Church failed to show up, so her suit against Leo Igwe is over.… Read the rest
The ‘Islamophobia Watch’ Take on Gita Sahgal
Feb 8th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
She is ‘a member of a nutty group called Women Against Fundamentalisms.’ … Read the rest
