No, on second thought, don’t.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Court Reviewing Berlusconi’s Immunity Law 
Oct 6th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Berlusconi says immunity allows him to govern without being ‘distracted’ by the judiciary. … Read the rest
How to Make a Turin Shroud
Oct 6th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
First, heat your oven to 450 degrees; next, place a linen sheet over a volunteer and rub it with a pigment.… Read the rest
Church Loses Fight to Keep its Records Sealed
Oct 6th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Mumbles something about its First Amendment rights.… Read the rest
The Dumbest Education Policy In Australia?
Oct 6th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Students who don’t want to study scripture must not be allowed to study anything else instead!… Read the rest
Italian Scientists: Turin Shroud is Medieval Fake
Oct 6th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Scientists couldn’t explain how the image was left on the cloth; now the trick has been duplicated.… Read the rest
Child Witchcraft and Child Rights in Akwa Ibom State
Oct 6th, 2009 | By Leo IgweChild witchcraft stands for the claim that children can be witches and wizards or that infants can or do engage in witchcraft activities like turning themselves into birds or insects – at night – to suck blood or mysteriously inflict harm on someone. It is the belief that children have evil powers which they use or can use to destory people particularly their family or community members. As I have pointed out here, child witchcraft is a claim, a belief – a superstitious belief. Child witchcraft is manifested in different forms: accusation, confession and persecution.
Children are accused of being witches and wizards. Somtimes children who talk in their dreams or sleep walk are said to be witches. They are … Read the rest
Who, me?
Oct 5th, 2009 5:27 pm | By Ophelia BensonIn which we learn that Dawkins does not actually have fangs and a dripping cleaver.
To most observers, Dawkins is the textbook aggressive champion of evolutionary theory…In person, Dawkins fails to live up to the “aggressive” label…So he is genuinely puzzled by people calling him aggressive. “Well, I’m nothing like as aggressive as I’m portrayed. And I’m always being labelled ‘strident’. In the bestseller lists it always has a little one-line summary of the book, and for my new one it says ‘strident academic Richard Dawkins’. I’m forever saddled with this wretched adjective. I think I’m one of the most unstrident people in the world.”
Well don’t I know the feeling – though of course on a much smaller … Read the rest
Jesus and Mo Celebrate Blasphemy Day
Oct 5th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Atheists squirm in agony.… Read the rest
Ahmadinejad is…shh…Jewish!
Oct 5th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Experts suggested his track record for hate-filled attacks on Jews could be a ploy to hide his past. … Read the rest
‘Compassionate’ Bishop Charged in Child Porn
Oct 5th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Until women find a little bit more of their place in the church, and until we get rid of the men’s club, we’re in trouble.’… Read the rest
Dawkins Believes People Can Change Their Minds
Oct 5th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
There are lots of people who think they are creationists who are just beginning to question what they were taught. … Read the rest
Dawkins Does a McLuhan
Oct 4th, 2009 5:59 pm | By Ophelia BensonJerry Coyne took a few minutes from all the fun he was having at the Boys’ Atheists jamboree to do a quick post on Dawkins and accommodationism.
An alert reader called my attention to two blog posts by Josh Rosenau and Chris Mooney/Sheril Kirshenbaum, both claiming that Richard Dawkins explicitly voiced accommodationist views in a Newsweek interview. “He’s changed!” they say.
Has not, Jerry says.
Well, I know Richard Dawkins. I am at a meeting with Richard Dawkins. I just discussed these accusations of accommodationism with Richard Dawkins. And I can tell you, Chris, Sheril, and Josh, that Richard is not one of you.
And, satisfyingly, he includes Richard’s written confirmation that he is no accommodationist:
… Read the restHow utterly
Ben Goldacre on Studies That Move Goalposts
Oct 4th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Researchers can mischievously change their stated goal, or ‘primary outcome,’ after their trial has finished… Read the rest
Religious Organizations May Still Discriminate
Oct 4th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Not on the grounds of race, disability, etc, but on the grounds of sex, marital status or sexuality.… Read the rest
Jerry Coyne Reports From the Atheist Shindig
Oct 4th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Dan Dennett talked about ‘deepities’ such as Karen Armstrong’s ‘God behind God.’… Read the rest
Australia: Religious Schools Discriminate
Oct 4th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
And the Attorney-General says go right ahead.… Read the rest
Publisher Drops Novel Over Fear of Muslim Rage
Oct 4th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A German publisher has cancelled plans to publish a mass-market novel for fear it might face violent protests.… Read the rest
Oh look, there’s one now
Oct 3rd, 2009 12:18 pm | By Ophelia Benson… Read the restTook in Richard Dawkins doing a reading, question-answering, and book-signing for his most-recent publication tonight, in a sold-out theater at the U of Toronto…The theater contains around 600 seats, and of the 80 people I counted, about two dozen were women. That’s approximately 30%. By comparison, Ophelia Benson was carping yesterday about women only comprising 20% (i.e., 4 out of 21) of the speakers at the Atheist Alliance conference. I say that the latter figure is within engineering/experimental accuracy (or whatever confidence interval), especially since the speakers at any conference should be from at least the top 20% of the professionals in it; and unless the conference is a Celebration of Womynstruation, you’ll already be “scraping the bottom
Slippery Language and Free Speech
Oct 3rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Executive Branch’s endorsement of speech-restrictive norms could affect how the courts interpret the First Amendment.… Read the rest
