‘People were begging on their hands and knees for a single packet of soup,’ a team member said.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Norman Levitt Reviews John Alan Paulos 
May 20th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Paulos’s cheery offhandedness says that to be an atheist, one does not need to be a professional malcontent. … Read the rest
Frenzy of ‘Honour Killing’ in Iraq
May 19th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Vulnerability to violence is not the only area in which the equal status of women in Iraq has eroded.… Read the rest
‘Religious Leaders’ Interfere on Embryo Bill
May 19th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘We need to fight to uphold and protect our humanity.’ From what?… Read the rest
Gregorius Nekschot’s Arrest Condemned
May 19th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Trouw: ‘A society that prevents artistic expression is playing with fire.’… Read the rest
Illegal to Slam Scientology in UK
May 19th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
CPS solicitors advised cops that any signs saying ‘Scientology is a cult’ could be deemed offensive. … Read the rest
MP Says Hybrid Embryos Should be Banned
May 19th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Says they’re ethically wrong. Doesn’t say why.… Read the rest
Burma Continues to Limit Foreign Aid
May 19th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Will accept some, but only if channelled through neighbours. Meanwhile 2 million people suffer.… Read the rest
Edward Blyth: Creationist or Just Another Misinterpreted Scientist?
May 19th, 2008 | By James K. WillmotIn early December, 2007, my hometown newspaper, the Louisville, Kentucky Courier-Journal, published my opinion piece concerning the newly opened creation museum in northern Kentucky.[1] I’m a former science teacher with a particular interest in the understanding and advancement of science in society, so the article expressed my extreme concern that this $27 million monument to the acceptance of blind faith over science and reason is exceeding attendance expectations and gaining momentum in their mission to cast doubt, in whatever way they can, on evolutionary biology and the multitude of scientific theories that support it. I went to the museum and toured it twice during their opening weekend in late May of 2007. While no one can argue with the high … Read the rest
The church this, the church that
May 19th, 2008 11:47 am | By Ophelia BensonThe effort to ban hybrid embryos failed.
The Roman Catholic Church has branded the use of hybrid embryos as “monstrous” and says tinkering with life in this way is immoral.
So what? Who cares what the Roman Catholic Church says? The Roman Catholic church says a lot of things, and many of them are morally execrable. The Roman Catholic Church also does a lot of things, and many of those stink too. The Roman Catholic Church worries far too much about cells in dishes and far too little about existing, thinking people. The Roman Catholic Church gets too much respectful attention, and it gets this respectful attention by staging moral panics about things that are not morally significant. That’s … Read the rest
Foul beliefs no barrier
May 18th, 2008 5:27 pm | By Ophelia BensonNick Cohen looks at what happened with ‘Undercover Mosque,’ specifically the interesting question of why the police and the Crown Prosecution service saw fit to accused channel 4 of making stuff up.
Its undercover journalists infiltrated radical mosques. They recorded assorted preachers calling for the subjugation of women, the murder of homosexuals and Jews, the replacement of the ‘man-made’ laws of a democracy with the religious edicts of a theocratic state and the eternal damnation of Muslims who did not follow Wahhabi doctrine and infidels who did not accept the true faith.
Well…that’s racist stuff, right? That must be why the cops got involved.
… Read the restHaras Rafiq of the Sufi Muslim Council, said: ‘Wahhabis and their offshoots are teaching Muslim youngsters
NSS Calls for Inquiry
May 18th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Debate was derailed by zeal of the WMP and the CPS whose action appeared to signal no-go areas of inquiry.… Read the rest
Cartoonist Arrested for ‘Insulting’ Cartoons
May 18th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Many of Gregorius Nekschot’s cartoons make fun of Islam. And that’s illegal?… Read the rest
Why Did the Police Accuse Channel 4?
May 18th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The best explanation for now lies in Patani’s title: assistant chief constable (security and cohesion).… Read the rest
Kambakhsh Tells Appeals Court of Torture
May 18th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh was convicted in January of ‘insulting Islam.’… Read the rest
Kambakhsh Appeals Death Sentence
May 18th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
He hopes to write a book about his experience in Afghan prisons — if he gets out alive.… Read the rest
Ben Goldacre on Why Meta-analysis Matters
May 18th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Ideas like cumulative meta-analysis from the world of evidence have saved countless lives.… Read the rest
Creationists Launch ‘God Lab’
May 18th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Set up to search for scientific evidence for intelligent design. Same old ID people, Barbara Forrest notes.… Read the rest
Village Proud After Double Murder
May 17th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘From society’s point of view, this is a very good thing. We have removed the blot.’… Read the rest
Family Showed No Remorse Over Murders
May 17th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘I have no regrets,’ Sunita’s mother Roshni Devi said; her husband and the family had saved its reputation. … Read the rest
