Humanities and liberal arts based on ‘materialism and disbelief in godly and Islamic teachings.’… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Review of Karen Armstrong’s The Case for God
Sep 4th, 2009 | By Eric MacDonaldOne comes away from this book with the sense of having been bludgeoned into acquiescence, of being stunned with detail, and bewitched by misdirection. In his review of this book, Simon Blackburn begins by calling it interesting and eloquent. (Simon Blackburn on Karen Armstrong’s The Case for God.)
I did not find it eloquent, and my interest often flagged as I ploughed one after another through a loosely connected catena of examples. It seems that Karen Armstrong has one book to write, and it involves, practically every time, an exhaustive telling of the history of how we became modern, and how terrible this has really been.
Armstrong has scant ability to discipline her writing, to make selections, and to … Read the rest
Helen Ukpabio Threatens State Governor 
Sep 3rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Ukpabio is upset because Akpabio intervened to protect the Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network.… Read the rest
CPJ Award Goes to Tissainayagam
Sep 3rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘We are announcing this award today to highlight the depth of outrage at this unjust sentence.’… Read the rest
Sri Lanka Rejects Criticism of Journalist’s Jailing
Sep 3rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Committee to Protect Journalists will award Tissainayagam the 2009 International Press Freedom Award.… Read the rest
Sri Lanka: Journalist Sentenced to 20 Years
Sep 3rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
JS Tissainayagam was found guilty of ‘causing communal disharmony.’… Read the rest
Beena Sarwar on the FDI Award
Sep 3rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Includes the letter Mira Kamdar and Vijay Prashad wrote to Marjorie Scardino of the FT group.… Read the rest
Vijay Prashad on the FT Group and Modi
Sep 3rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
As part of the press release culture, FDI picked Narendra Modi as the Asian Personality of 2009.… Read the rest
Award Goes to Gujarat, not Narendra Modi
Sep 3rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The choice of Modi would have been a tad controversial…… Read the rest
Saving Child Witches: a Nigerian Perspective
Sep 3rd, 2009 | By Leo IgweLeo Igwe is the executive secretary of the Nigerian Humanist Movement.
December 2008
Some months ago, a British film-maker drew my attention to the plight of children in Akwa Ibom State who had been accused of being witches and wizards and thrown out of their homes by their families and relatives. In August, I travelled to the city of Eket to meet with these kids and the individuals helping to look after them, to find out how my organization could offer help and support.
First of all, I met with Luckyimoh Inyang of Stepping Stones Nigeria. The UK branch of his organization is raising money to support these children. Mr. Inyang told me how they had been rescuing children … Read the rest
Manufactured outrage
Sep 2nd, 2009 5:26 pm | By Ophelia BensonAbout Jytte Klausen’s book and the cartoons and other images of Mohammed that have been removed on the advice of various people who gave that advice.
Director of Yale Press John Donatich made the decision after consulting with a “couple dozen” diplomats, intelligence and academic experts. “I didn’t feel this was a censorship issue,” Donatich told AFP. “It had become a security issue,” he said, adding he was concerned for the safety of Yale Press employees.
Well, like it or not, it decidedly is a censorship issue, even if the motivation for the censorship is concern for security. The two can’t be separated when things are being removed from books because of real or perceived threats of violence. That is … Read the rest
You will fry
Sep 2nd, 2009 4:16 pm | By Ophelia BensonItaly’s drug regulation agency has authorized the use of RU-486 even though the Vatican says it will excommunicate doctors who prescribe the drug and patients who use it – so for one thing Italy’s drug regulation agency perhaps has the sense to realize that not all Italians are Catholics and thus not all Italians should be governed by what the Vatican threatens to do to Catholics. Well done Italy’s drug regulation agency.
… Read the restThe Vatican, which opposes all forms of abortion in the belief that human life is sacred from the point of conception, says the pill is no different from surgical abortion. “There will be excommunication for the doctor, the woman and anyone who encourages its use,” said Monsignor Elio
Mona Eltahawy on Yale’s Misguided Retreat
Sep 2nd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘What occurred across many Muslim-majority countries in 2006 was a clear exercise in manufacturing outrage.’… Read the rest
World Have Your Say on Motoons
Sep 2nd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Yale U Press decided to remove cartoons and all pictures of Mohammed from book on the subject.… Read the rest
Controversy as Motoons Are Edited Out
Sep 2nd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Author thinks ‘it’s very serious to suppress illustrations when not a single Muslim has protested the book.’… Read the rest
Johann Hari on Euphemisms
Sep 2nd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
If they are dead babies, call them dead babies. … Read the rest
Italy Approves RU-486 Despite Church Opposition
Sep 2nd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Vatican promises ‘excommunication for the doctor, the woman and anyone who encourages its use.’… Read the rest
Serious people
Sep 1st, 2009 12:30 pm | By Ophelia BensonSean Carroll has kissed Bloggingheads good-bye.
… Read the restIt’s important to understand exactly what the objections are…Namely: if BH.tv has something unique and special going for it, it’s the idea that it’s not just a shouting match, or mindless entertainment. It’s a place we can go to hear people with very different perspectives talk about issues about which they may strongly disagree, but with a presumption that both people are worth listening to. If the issue at hand is one with which I’m sufficiently familiar, I can judge for myself whether I think the speakers are respectable; but if it’s not, I have to go by my experience with other dialogues on the site.
What I objected to about the creationists
Paul Kurtz on the Humanism of Ted Kennedy
Sep 1st, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Although the Kennedys are officially Roman Catholic, they nevertheless supported a liberal social agenda.… Read the rest
Turkey and Armenia to Establish Diplomatic Ties
Sep 1st, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The central dispute is the genocide, about which there is little dispute among historians.… Read the rest
