The catastrophe in Iraq has made Makiya and the others who justified the invasion look reckless and naïve.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
What Label for People Like Us?
Oct 10th, 2007 | By Paul KurtzI note with interest that Margaret Downey organized a blockbuster atheist conference in the Washington, D.C. area, to which she brought many of the “new atheists.” We congratulate her on her energy. However, may I agree with Sam Harris who states that in accepting the label of “atheist” that “we are consenting to be viewed as a cranky sub-culture… a marginal interest group that meets in hotel ballrooms.”
May I first compliment Sam (as the newest kid on the block) for his two fine books and his eloquent voice now being heard on the national scene. May I then disagree with his subsequent “seditious proposal” that we should not call ourselves “secularists,” “humanists,” “secular humanists,” “naturalists,” “skeptics,” etc. “We should … Read the rest
Philosophy and Popular Culture 
Oct 9th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Is this new wave exploiting pop culture in the service of philosophical inquiry? Yes, and a good thing too.… Read the rest
Dawkins on Dennett
Oct 9th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
One of the things that strikes me about reading Dan’s books is how much science I learn from them.… Read the rest
The ‘Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act
Oct 9th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Texas law is a salvo in a long-running battle over the place of religion in US public schools.… Read the rest
Sam Harris and Salman Rushdie on Hirsi Ali
Oct 9th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
An indispensable witness to the splendor of open society and to the boundless energy of its antagonists.… Read the rest
Hitchens on Protection for Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Oct 9th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A symbol of the resistance, by many women from the Muslim world, to the horrors of clerical repression. … Read the rest
‘Militant Atheists are Wrong’
Oct 8th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘You cannot prove the existence of truth, beauty, goodness and decency.’ No, really?!… Read the rest
Turkish Hackers Hit Swedish Websites
Oct 8th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Website of a children’s cartoon was replaced by a message saying Islam’s prophet had been insulted. … Read the rest
Sainsbury’s Policy on Muslims Selling Alcohol
Oct 8th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It creates a space the religious fanatics will use to bully their mostly female fellow workers.… Read the rest
The Crisis in North Pakistan
Oct 8th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Khatoon Bibi was murdered near a security check post while attempting to reach the school where she taught.… Read the rest
Medical Students Have ‘Religious Objections’
Oct 8th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Some Muslim medical students are refusing to attend lectures that ‘offend their religious beliefs.’… Read the rest
Paul Gross Reviews Michael Behe
Oct 8th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Edge of Evolution represents the best ID can do today in its effort to overcome ‘Darwinism’ with science.… Read the rest
Creeping theocracy
Oct 8th, 2007 11:31 am | By Ophelia BensonThis sounds like a fun moment, doesn’t it? An East End Sainsbury’s, staffed mostly by Bangladeshis.
… Read the restA young Asian checkout operator, with pious beard and a crocheted Kufi Muslim skullcap, made a big deal out of serving a middle-aged white man who had included a bottle of vodka in his groceries. His wasn’t a discreet arm wave for the attention of a supervisor, it was a full-on hissy fit. At the sight of the vodka bottle he reared from his seat as if the conveyer had presented a freshly slaughtered pig’s head….The customer…was having none of it though. “What the bleedin’ ‘ell are you working in a supermarket for if you won’t handle booze?” he shouted, setting the queue
Letter to a non-atheist New Atheist
Oct 7th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It doesn’t matter that you don’t call yourself an atheist. Sam, they’re going to call you an atheist anyway.… Read the rest
Abortion Rights Slide Away
Oct 7th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Gonzales v Carhart is basically saying that a woman’s health is no longer relevant.’… Read the rest
Who Says Science and Religion Don’t Conflict?
Oct 7th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Only some false ideas are sufficiently coherent and evidence-based to justify their entry into the debate. … Read the rest
Another Woman Sentenced to Stoning
Oct 7th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
To death, for extramarital sex.… Read the rest
Girls’ Schools Bombed in Pakistan
Oct 7th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Students are in a state of fear; some parents have stopped sending their daughters to schools.… Read the rest
Rooting out obscenity
Oct 7th, 2007 11:34 am | By Ophelia BensonWomen women women – gotta keep them down, you know. If you don’t – sooner or later, they get up, and that won’t do.
Make sure they don’t go to school, and do it by threatening or killing them.
… Read the restBuildings of two girls schools in the Kabal area of Swat were damaged by a powerful blast on the night of September 29th. Witnesses told Dawn that militants, who have been targeting women’s educational institutions for a couple of weeks, had planted an explosive device in the Government Girls’ High School…Recently, a string of explosions damaged some schools, including the Government Girls’ High School in Matta and the Government Girls Primary School in the Bedara area. An explosive device planted
