The Taliban are not resistance fighters standing up to a dictatorship; they are cold-blooded serial killers. … Read the rest
All entries by this author
The Miscalculation of Small Nations
Aug 27th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonFred Halliday notes that ‘the flaws of nationalism can match or exceed those of religion.’… Read the rest
Yes it is too so a question for science
Aug 26th, 2008 5:41 pm | By Ophelia BensonIn a high school biology class.
“Can anybody think of a question science can’t answer?”
“Is there a God?” shot back a boy near the window.
“Good,” said Mr. Campbell, an Anglican who attends church most Sundays. “Can’t test it. Can’t prove it, can’t disprove it. It’s not a question for science.”
Can test it if it’s the kind of God that pokes around in our world. Is a question for science if it causes people to win sprints and get sick and get well and survive hurricanes.
PZ is on the case.
… Read the restI despise that chicken-hearted answer. There are two reasonable ways to address that. One is to accept the usual open-ended, undefined vagueness of the god
PZ on Teaching Evolution Carefully
Aug 26th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAlways strain to allow students to accommodate science to their personal superstitions.… Read the rest
How to Teach Evolution to Evangelicals
Aug 26th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonCarefully.… Read the rest
The Ecstasy of Communication
Aug 26th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIt is possible to minimize this distracted state…by Googling ‘how to develop iron self-discipline.’… Read the rest
India: Mob Torches Orphanage, Killing Woman
Aug 26th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe mob torched the orphanage in rising religious violence sparked by the killing of a Hindu leader.… Read the rest
Voices of Disbelief
Aug 26th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonRussell Blackford says it will be a strong book.… Read the rest
Listen, she kept pestering us about her son
Aug 25th, 2008 12:29 pm | By Ophelia BensonLife is exciting in Afghanistan, too.
The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, has pardoned three men who had been found guilty of gang raping a woman in the northern province of Samangan. The woman, Sara, and her family found out about the pardon only when they saw the rapists back in their village.
What a surprise that must have been.
… Read the rest“It was evening, around the time for the last prayer, when armed men came and took my son, Islamuddin, by force. I have eye-witness statements from nine people that he was there. From that night until now, my son has never been seen.” Dilawar said his wife publicly harangued the commander twice about their missing son. After the second time,
Feeling peevish
Aug 25th, 2008 12:17 pm | By Ophelia BensonIn Balochistan, Pakistan, three teenage schoolgirls planned ‘to marry men of their own choice through a civil court by defying the centuries-old tribal traditions.’
… Read the restWhen the fuming elders of Umrani tribe came to know about the intentions of these girls to appear before a local court, they picked them up from their homes along with two of their elderly women relatives. The crying girls were pushed into official cars and driven to a deserted area. There they were pushed out of the cars, made to stand in a queue and volleys of shots fired at them. As the bleeding girls fell on the sand, the tribesmen dragged them into a nearby ditch and levelled it with earth and stones before
Karzai Pardons Men Convicted of Gang Rape
Aug 25th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonArmed men took Islamuddin; his mother confronted them; they raped her and cut her with bayonet.… Read the rest
The Costs of Marital Rape in Southern Africa
Aug 25th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonVictims of domestic violence, including marital rape, are at increased risk of HIV infection.… Read the rest
Saudi Girl, 8, Seeks Divorce From Man, 58
Aug 25th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonFathers sell daughters for lotsa money.… Read the rest
Catholic Primate of All Ireland Frets About EU
Aug 25th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIt’s too secular; there’s a loss of Christian values; there’s unease in the hearts of Christians.… Read the rest
Susan Neiman on Idealism and Mockery
Aug 25th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonObama’s speech gave Europeans a chance to hear the difference between optimism and idealism. … Read the rest
Jerusalem: Woman Beaten for Being Divorced
Aug 24th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWoman was beaten and threatened with death by members of the ‘modesty squad.’… Read the rest
Iran: 2000 Demonstrate Against ‘Honour’ Killings
Aug 24th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIn Kani Dinar a man stabbed his daughter to death for seeking a divorce. She was forced into marriage at 14.… Read the rest
The Life of Prostitution in Kano, Nigeria
Aug 24th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonA girl can be married at 12 and divorced at 18, with children to support. The way you change a car is the way you change a wife in Kano.… Read the rest
Pakistan: 5 Women Murdered by Burial Alive
Aug 24th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson3 girls planned to marry men of their choice; they and a mother and an aunt all killed.… Read the rest
Nigerian Man Told to Divorce 76 of 80 Wives
Aug 24th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonTold to take only four wives ‘from the herd’ or remain condemned to death according to Sharia.… Read the rest