Religion was created by men for men, and has always been used as a tool to keep women in their place.… Read the rest
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Reinventing the Sacred for a Godless Age
Mar 25th, 2009 | By Kenan MalikThis is an extract from From Fatwa to Jihad, Atlantic, published April 2.
The argument against offensive speech is the modern secularized version of the old idea of blasphemy, reinventing the sacred for a godless age. Until the abolition of the offence in 2008, blasphemy was committed in British law if there was published ‘any writing concerning God or Christ, the Christian religion, the Bible, or some sacred subject using words which are scurrilous, abusive or offensive, and which tend to vilify the Christian religion’. The origins of the law go back a millennium. After the Norman Conquest of 1066 two orders of courts were established.
Church courts decided all ecclesiastical cases, under the guidance of canon law, which … Read the rest
Kindly remove the exhibition
Mar 24th, 2009 4:11 pm | By Ophelia BensonIt’s not forbidden to think…except of course when it is.
… Read the restThe exhibition Det er ikke forbudt å tenke (“It’s not forbidden to think”) is a series of 12 graphic images the artist, Ahmed Mashhouri, picked out the most controversial quotes from the Quran…”These laws perhaps fit better in the old days, but today they just seem inhuman. I hope that my works will be a wake-up for my dear coreligionists,” he says. Mashhouri and his wife worked for human rights in Iran. They sought asylum in Norway and now live in Skien…”In discussions people love to hear that such thing aren’t found in the Quran. We want to show that they actually do,” says Mashhouri. On December 9th, the
Saudi Rights Group Criticizes Religious Police 
Mar 24th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The report urged an end to the marriage of underage girls and demanded a faster pace for judicial reform.… Read the rest
Norwegian Art Exhibit Closed After Attack
Mar 24th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Ahmed Mashhouri worked for human rights in Iran; exhibit was called ‘It’s not forbidden to think.’… Read the rest
Westboro Baptist Will Picket Richardson Funeral
Mar 24th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Church will picket Natasha Richardson’s funeral for a variety of reasons, all of them stupid.… Read the rest
Australia’s Fun Imam Vandalizes Own Mosque
Mar 24th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Taj Din al-Hilali, the ‘women are uncovered meat’ guy, kicked his door in then reported vandalism to police.… Read the rest
Women Staying Home in Swat
Mar 24th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Why? Well there was that guy with the dagger in the market, asking who wants to be beheaded first.… Read the rest
Islamists Threaten Bangladesh Schools
Mar 24th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Principals of several English-language schools told police they had received threats from Islamists.… Read the rest
Believers in No Hurry to Meet the Deity
Mar 24th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
JAMA finds they dawdle more rather than less.… Read the rest
Venal, Misleading, Dangerous, Stupid, Busted
Mar 24th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Journalists cherry pick evidence, then explain risks and benefits in the single most unhelpful way possible.… Read the rest
Bad Science: Scumbag Caught Fabricating Data
Mar 24th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
If you’re planning a career in scientific fraud, then medicine is an excellent place to start.… Read the rest
Advertising Complaint Against Duchy Herbals
Mar 24th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Upheld. … Read the rest
UK: Hindu Man Fights for Open-air Cremation
Mar 24th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Being bundled into a box and incinerated in a furnace is not my idea of dignity,’ he says.… Read the rest
Notre Dame Refuses to Uninvite Obama
Mar 24th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
US bishops have told Catholic universities not to honor lawmakers who ‘dissent from church teaching.’… Read the rest
Who sets the tone
Mar 23rd, 2009 6:25 pm | By Ophelia BensonJulian pointed out in a comment on Wassup with the new atheism? that a lot of people think that atheists are dogmatic anti-religionists, and that if we now have good reason to believe that this is the impression being created, we should think about altering our tune.
There is something to that, there’s no denying it. It is quite possible that vocal atheists are alienating huge numbers of people who would otherwise be secularists and/or liberal believers, with potentially harmful results. This is of course the drum that Matthew Nisbet never tires of beating, though he does it very aggressively and also very manipulatively (as in repeatedly claiming that Paul Kurtz is not a vocal atheist but a politely bashful … Read the rest
Round Robin to the Observer
Mar 23rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Lots of liberals do challenge Islamism, therefore…they all do? Is that the claim?… Read the rest
Nick Cohen’s Day With the Roundrobinocracy
Mar 23rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Is all well with the liberal consensus?… Read the rest
Dentist Wants Creationism Taught in Texas
Mar 23rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
God’s teeth! The dentist is also a Sunday school teacher and chair of the state board of education.… Read the rest
Normblog on Truth and Postmodernism
Mar 23rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Postmodernism opposes not only the absolute truths of mere authority but also the fallibilist truth of rational inquirers.… Read the rest
