This is a global struggle for the right to free speech; people are trying to intimidate and silence critics of religion.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Cartoonist Kurt Westergaard is Homeless 
Feb 23rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Left home because of death threat, kicked out of hotel because of security concerns.… Read the rest
Hitchens on Anti-Semitism
Feb 23rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Garden-variety racists seldom suspect the objects of their dislike of harboring a demonic plan for world domination. … Read the rest
Julian Baggini on Žižek on Violence
Feb 23rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Whatever the received wisdom is, Žižek postulates the opposite. And repeat.… Read the rest
Conservatives are not Attracted to Academe
Feb 23rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘The personal priorities of those on the left are more compatible with pursuing a Ph.D.’… Read the rest
Religion is Owed no Respect
Feb 23rd, 2008 | By Robert NolaThe idea that all religions are owed respect and understanding comes readily tripping off the tongue these days. Tolerance might be mentioned, but often only in passing. Since religious doctrines conflict with one another, it is hard to see how mindless respect can be extended to all of them at once. Respect would have to be equally given not only to the conflicting Christian doctrines of Trinitarianism and Unitarianism, but also to the Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist, not to mention atheist, denial of these doctrines.
The demand for understanding is ambiguous but can be sorted out. It might mean simply grasping the significance of a doctrine for a community. But anthropologists and psychologists do not have to be believers to … Read the rest
Oh grow up
Feb 22nd, 2008 12:03 pm | By Ophelia BensonU.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reaffirmed his predecessor’s line on cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad on Wednesday, saying free speech should respect religious sensitivities. “The Secretary-General strongly believes that freedom of expression should be exercised responsibly and in a way that respects all religious beliefs,” his spokeswoman Marie Okabe told reporters.
That’s asking a great deal too much, even as a ‘should.’ Freedom of expression should be exercised in a way that respects all religious beliefs? If that advice were heeded there wouldn’t be any free expression at all. How can we respect all religious beliefs when we don’t even know what they are? We would miss that slightly mildewed guy in Toadback, Arkansas who believes a can … Read the rest
Yale Sex Week Glosses Over the Reality of Porn
Feb 22nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Yale is accepting the media-generated sugar-coated image of the porn industry as glamorous, fun and cool.… Read the rest
UN: Free Speech Should Respect Religion
Feb 22nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Freedom of expression should be exercised responsibly and in a way that respects all religious beliefs.’… Read the rest
Jesus Finds Reformed Epistemology
Feb 22nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
God has given us a sensus divinitatus: a reliable belief-forming mechanism. Handy!… Read the rest
Cardinal Tells Catholic Hospital What To Do
Feb 22nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Cardinal intervened after quarrels over ethical code banning abortions and contraception.… Read the rest
Nigeria: Sharia Commissioner v HRW
Feb 22nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Urges Federal Government: always seek the opinion of leaders of all religions before signing international agreements.… Read the rest
Science can’t
Feb 21st, 2008 5:52 pm | By Ophelia Benson[S]cience tends to look at the world and treat it as an ‘it’, as an object; something you can kick around, pull apart and find out what it’s made of – that’s the experimental method, which is science’s great secret weapon. But we also know there is a whole swath of encounters with reality, where we meet it not as an object, as an ‘it’, but as a person. Above all, we encounter God in that way and when we move to that realm, testing has to give way to trusting. If we set traps to see if you are my friend, I’ll destroy the possibility of friendship between us.
Not so fast. Sometimes, when we meet an … Read the rest
Doing God’s will
Feb 21st, 2008 12:39 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe archbishop lets us know he gets it.
Addressing an audience of more than 1,200 people, he condemned the way Islamic law discriminated against women in some Muslim countries. “In some of the ways it has been codified and practised across the world, it has been appalling. In some of the ways it has been applied to women in places like Saudi Arabia, it is grim.”
Yes. So why put in a good word for it in the first place?
Despite acknowledging the concerns raised over some aspects of sharia law, he repeated his assertion that it was “rooted in the sense of doing God’s will in the ordinary things of life”.
Ah; that’s why. Because something that is … Read the rest
Specialist Refuges for Women Are at Risk
Feb 21st, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
One organisation under threat is Southall Black Sisters; Ealing council plans to take away its core funding.… Read the rest
Southall Black Sisters Threatened with Closure
Feb 21st, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Ealing Council has decided there is no longer a need for specialist services for minority women.… Read the rest
Polkinghorne on Science and Religion
Feb 21st, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘One of the most persuasive and liberating understanding is that it is the divine mind that lies behind the world.’… Read the rest
Scientific Study of Religious Belief Launched
Feb 21st, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Oxford researchers have received a £1.9 million grant for study of the cognitive science of religion.… Read the rest
Archbish Says Sharia Can be Appalling
Feb 21st, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
But he repeated his assertion that it is ‘rooted in the sense of doing God’s will in the ordinary things of life.’… Read the rest
Save Southall Black Sisters
Feb 21st, 2008 | By SBSMany hundreds of migrant women who have suffered domestic violence and were facing removal from the UK, have benefited from the advice and support provided by SBS. SBS have over the years helped numerous women facing removal from the UK after leaving their violent partners, set up anti-deportation campaigns, all of them successful.
Demonstrate 26th February 2008, 6:00pm to 7:00pm, Ealing Town Hall, Uxbridge Road, Ealing W5 2BY
Southall Black Sisters under threat of closure
We are writing to you to request support for our organisation. We are currently facing threat of closure as a result of our local authority’s (Ealing) decision to withdraw our funding as of April 2008.
Our campaigns in such critical areas of work as forced … Read the rest
