No mention of Ratzinger’s 2001 letter to all Catholic bishops telling them abuse was Church business.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World 
Feb 15th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
New evidence that part of the history of radical Islamism was written in Berlin in WW II.… Read the rest
Hitchens on Amnesty and Gita Sahgal
Feb 15th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Amnesty did not defend IRA bombers and Khmer Rouge killers and Gens. Pinochet and Videla.… Read the rest
54% of Girls in Deprived Areas Getting Pregnant!
Feb 15th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Oops, make that 5.4%!… Read the rest
Jerry Coyne on Templetonian Activities
Feb 15th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Shaping explanations to fit inconvenient facts.… Read the rest
Amnesty’s Sam Zarifi Backs Gita Sahgal
Feb 15th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Amnesty’s decision to suspend Sahgal while continuing its support for Begg has provoked criticism.… Read the rest
Moazzam Begg Calls Gita Sahgal a Fundamentalist
Feb 15th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘A victim can also be a perpetrator,’ Sahgal says. ‘It’s a very simple thought.’ … Read the rest
It’s not a normal position
Feb 14th, 2010 5:55 pm | By Ophelia BensonGita Sahgal is not having an easy time.
She fears for her own and her family’s safety. She has — temporarily at least — lost her job and found it almost impossible to find anyone to represent her in any potential employment case. She rang round the human rights lawyers she knows, all of whom have declined to help citing a conflict of interest. “Although it is said that we must defend everybody no matter what they’ve done, it appears that if you’re a secular, atheist, Asian British woman, you don’t deserve a defence from our civil right firms,” she says wryly.
Moazzam Begg sets us all straight about that.
… Read the restHe counters Sahgal’s view by saying she is, in
Global Petition to Amnesty International
Feb 14th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
We extend our solidarity and support to Gita Sahgal, who is widely respected for her principled activism.… Read the rest
Take the Moral Sense Test
Feb 14th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A series of moral dilemmas to probe the psychological mechanisms underlying our moral judgments.… Read the rest
Do Humans Have an Innate ‘Moral Grammar’?
Feb 14th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Ilkka Pyysiäinen and Marc Hauser discuss the evolution of religion and morality.… Read the rest
The Case for Human Rights is not Utilitarian
Feb 14th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Neither is the case for not torturing people.… Read the rest
Southall Black Sisters: Secularist of the Year
Feb 14th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
SBS can provide women with some time away from the all-powerful religious patriarchy.… Read the rest
Freethinker Offers a Caption Competition
Feb 14th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
First prize is a copy of Does God Hate Women?… Read the rest
Multicultural mayoring
Feb 13th, 2010 1:02 pm | By Ophelia BensonIn a small town near Barcelona a Moroccan-born Muslim woman with a master’s degree
says she was threatened by Muslim fundamentalists because she took off her veil and tried to live like a Spaniard. The treatment of Fatima Ghailan, 31, prompted an investigating magistrate to bring charges against the sheik of the local mosque, Mohamed Benbrahim, and the head of the Islamic Association, Abderraman el-Osri, the leading figures in Cunit’s Muslim community. The case also generated demands for the resignation of Mayor Judit Alberich, a liberal Socialist who, her political opponents said, catered to her Muslim constituents at the expense of respect for the law.
The self-appointed ‘leading figures’ in the male portion of ‘Cunit’s Muslim community’ – except those … Read the rest
Spain: Woman Threatened for Removing Hijab
Feb 13th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
She got a master’s degree and began to live like an adult person. That won’t do.… Read the rest
Muttawa Out Patrolling for Valentine Badness
Feb 13th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
No roses or chocolates for you!… Read the rest
Rape in DR Congo, Civilians Attacked in Uganda
Feb 13th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Over 8,000 women raped last year by fighters in DR Congo; LRA killed 849 civilians, abducted 1,486.… Read the rest
DR Congo: Girls Less Likely to be Freed
Feb 13th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Used as combatants, labour and sex slaves, girls are rarely freed by the armed forces and groups.’… Read the rest
A Religious but not Righteous Judge
Feb 13th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
AC Grayling on special lenience for criminals who are religious.… Read the rest
