Rulings issued by a network of five sharia courts are enforceable with the full power of the judicial system.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Pope Meddles With French Secularism
Sep 15th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonDo things differently, Ratzinger tells France.… Read the rest
Malaysia: Blogger Arrested for Dissent
Sep 15th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonProminent anti-government campaigner accused of posting an article that insulted Islam. … Read the rest
Moroccan Theologian Says Girls Can Marry at 9
Sep 15th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘I am a confirmed theologian and I have not made this up. It is the prophet who said it before me.’… Read the rest
Catholics Pitch Another ‘Persecution’ Fit
Sep 15th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPaint secular government as hatred of Catholics.… Read the rest
The Free Speech Deniers
Sep 15th, 2008 | By Edmund StandingThe Holocaust denying author and publisher Ernst Zündel is currently serving a prison term in his native Germany, having received a five year sentence in 2007 for denying the Holocaust.[1] The books, pamphlets, and websites in which Zündel’s Holocaust denying and far-Right views are expressed were neither written nor published in Germany, but rather in Canada, where Zündel had lived for four decades.
Having failed to secure Canadian citizenship, Zündel spent a couple of years in the United States, but was sent back to Canada after he violated the terms of his stay by missing a meeting with an immigration official. Canadian officials then handed Zündel over to the German authorities, deporting him on the bizarre grounds that he, a … Read the rest
The archbishop gets his wish
Sep 15th, 2008 11:43 am | By Ophelia BensonThe government has quietly sanctioned the powers for sharia judges to rule on cases ranging from divorce and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence. Rulings issued by a network of five sharia courts are enforceable with the full power of the judicial system, through the county courts or High Court. Previously, the rulings of sharia courts in Britain could not be enforced, and depended on voluntary compliance among Muslims. It has now emerged that sharia courts with these powers have been set up in London, Birmingham, Bradford and Manchester with the network’s headquarters in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. Two more courts are being planned for Glasgow and Edinburgh.
The government did this quietly? Why, exactly? And how? And … Read the rest
Imposing human-type gender normativity
Sep 14th, 2008 12:47 pm | By Ophelia BensonMore hilarity on the Women’s Studies list. My friend Daphne Patai responded to a message that referred to ‘some mythically uniform
biologically based concept of “women”‘:
… Read the restUnfortunately, the “biologically-based concept” IS what unites all women. It
is far from “mythical.” There is such a thing as biological sexual
dimorphism, period. The social/historical construction of what it means to be
a woman is a separate issue, but the biology is very real.Hard to believe one wants to teach one’s students from a starting point that
is patently false. As I’ve commented many times before on this list, the
existence of biological anomalies does not change the fundamental facts, and
I don’t see it as a service to our students to
A Damn Good Week for God
Sep 14th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonEducation should still be about the imparting of knowledge and the expunging of crass ignorance.… Read the rest
Fellows Demand Royal Society Sack Reiss
Sep 14th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘The thing the RS does not appreciate is the true nature of the forces arrayed against it and the Enlightenment.’… Read the rest
We Need the Royal Society to Stand Firm
Sep 14th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonRoyal Society should set a fierce example of commitment to rationality but shows signs of spiritual sloppiness.… Read the rest
Palin as Governor
Sep 14th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPalin administration puts a premium on loyalty and secrecy; she hires friends and fires critics.… Read the rest
Scott Atran on Religion in America
Sep 14th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonFew believe the principal point of political argument is, or ought to be, truth rather than persuasion.… Read the rest
God’s Messenger
Sep 14th, 2008 | By Tauriq MoosaIn the Cape Argus for July 24, 2008, I was drawn to an article about a “cult”. The article was your typical shocking piece of journalism, where the accused are a “deranged” lot. Their beliefs most would scoff at: “How could they have done that?” “Anyone can see they were crazy to belief that nonsense!”.
It says:
Durban (in the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal, in my country South Africa) brother and sister Hardus and Nicolette Lotter [who are] charged with murder of their parents, had apparently belonged to a cult. They had been influenced by Nicolette’s boyfriend, Mathew Naidoo, who claimed he was “God’s messenger”.
After being called to the house, 20-year old Hardus told police he was accosted in … Read the rest
Confidence
Sep 14th, 2008 11:32 am | By Ophelia BensonI’m not a huge fan of our future president.
… Read the rest[A] Wasilla blogger, Sherry Whitstine, who chronicles the governor’s career with an astringent eye, answered her phone to hear an assistant to the governor on the line, she said. “You should be ashamed!” Ivy Frye, the assistant, told her. “Stop blogging. Stop blogging right now!” Ms. Palin walks the national stage as a small-town foe of “good old boy” politics and a champion of ethics reform…But an examination of her swift rise and record as mayor of Wasilla and then governor finds that her visceral style and penchant for attacking critics — she sometimes calls local opponents “haters” — contrasts with her carefully crafted public image. Throughout her political career,
Global silencing
Sep 13th, 2008 6:37 pm | By Ophelia BensonSo we need to get permission from Jordan to say things now.
[A] Jordanian court is prosecuting 12 Europeans in an extraterritorial attempt to silence the debate on radical Islam. The prosecutor general in Amman charged the 12 with blasphemy, demeaning Islam and Muslim feelings, and slandering and insulting the prophet Muhammad in violation of the Jordanian Penal Code. The charges are especially unusual because the alleged violations were not committed on Jordanian soil.
Yeah and because the ‘crimes’ are not crimes in places that are not, you know, insane. We’re not used to thinking of ‘insulting the prophet Muhammad’ as something that is covered by a Penal Code. We don’t want to get used to it, either.
… Read the restJordan’s attempt
Ben Goldacre on Academics and the Press
Sep 13th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘The newspapers grossly and crassly misrepresented everything we are doing.’… Read the rest
The Teleological Argument is Easy
Sep 13th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonReiss’ position is a massive concession to pressure from religious groups.… Read the rest
Steve Jones on Nonsense of Teaching Creationism
Sep 13th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘Like me starting a university lecture on genetics and inheritance by discussing the theory that babies are brought by storks.’… Read the rest
UN HR Commissioner Urges Greater Efforts
Sep 13th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonGender roles ingrain ideas of inferiority of women, superiority of men, stereotyped division of labour.… Read the rest