‘We categorically denounce it in all forms.’ Sura 4:34 not mentioned.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Another Stereotype Defeated 
Feb 18th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Man who founded tv station to fight Muslim stereotypes is charged with decapitating his wife.… Read the rest
Taliban and Fazlullah Stalk Swat Valley
Feb 18th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Little reason to hope Fazlullah and Taliban will be satisfied with agreement for limited application of sharia.… Read the rest
March for ‘Peace’ in Mingora
Feb 18th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Thousands of men marched for peace in Swat, led by the cleric who signed a deal to enforce Sharia.… Read the rest
Graun: Local ‘Hero’ Brings Sharia to Swat
Feb 18th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Sufi Mohammad is not quite as bad as Fazlullah, oh hooray.… Read the rest
Baggini on Hume on Faith or Reason
Feb 18th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Faith does not simply plug a gap where reason fears to tread; it actively goes against all that reason tells us.… Read the rest
Maryam Namazie on Sharia
Feb 18th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Sharia is why so many of us have fled and are fleeing Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. … Read the rest
Westboro Church Explains
Feb 17th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Oh look, it’s illiterate. Now there’s a surprise.… Read the rest
Valentine’s Day: Shiv Sena Men Attack Couples
Feb 17th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Bullies blackened the faces of many couples ‘behaving inappropriately’ in Aurangabad and Bijnaur. … Read the rest
An Indian Blogger on Hari and Freedom of Speech
Feb 17th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Statesman editors probably did not realize India’s secular Constitution is just a sham.… Read the rest
Obama Sends Churchill Bust Back to UK
Feb 17th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
They said he could keep it another four years, but he said no thanks.… Read the rest
Westboro Baptist Church Arrives in UK
Feb 17th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Plans to picket sixth form college in Basingstoke for not hating fags.… Read the rest
Boy Struck by Lightning Becomes Healer
Feb 17th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Magic stone cures depression.… Read the rest
Sharia in Malakand
Feb 17th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘This is definitely a surrender,’ said Khadim Hussain of Aryana Institute for Regional Research and Advocacy.… Read the rest
Asylum for Pegah Emambakhsh
Feb 17th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
After a campaign by gay rights groups and MPs the Home Secretary agreed to reconsider her case.… Read the rest
Archbish Says Public Agrees With Him on Sharia
Feb 17th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
However critics claim the Archbishop’s comments have made Muslim women worse off.… Read the rest
Vatican’s UN Presence Endangers Freedom
Feb 17th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Vatican has some state privileges such as voting at UN conferences. No other religious body has that status.… Read the rest
Index on Censorship: India’s Culture of Grievance
Feb 17th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Under S 295(A) of the Indian Penal Code, it is an offence to outrage anyone’s religious sensibilities.… Read the rest
Rowan Williams pipes up again
Feb 17th, 2009 11:07 am | By Ophelia BensonThe archbishop of Canterbury seems to be incapable of taking in new information that is inimical to what he already wants to believe. Perhaps this is not even worth pointing out, in an archbishop – except of course it is, however obvious it may be, because archbishops in the UK unfortunately have a huge amount of temporal power and also a considerable amount of influence.
… Read the restOn the anniversary of the interview in which Dr Rowan Williams said it “seems inevitable” that some parts of sharia would be enshrined in this country’s legal code, he claimed “a number of fairly senior people” now take the same view. He added that there is a “drift of understanding” towards what he was saying,
Indulge me for a moment
Feb 16th, 2009 5:24 pm | By Ophelia BensonWell I needed something really ridiculous, I was getting worn down by the smug giggling defenders of religious censorship.
… Read the restIn recent months, dioceses around the world have been offering Catholics a spiritual benefit that fell out of favor decades ago — the indulgence, a sort of amnesty from punishment in the afterlife — and reminding them of the church’s clout in mitigating the wages of sin…According to church teaching, even after sinners are absolved in the confessional and say their Our Fathers or Hail Marys as penance, they still face punishment after death, in Purgatory, before they can enter heaven. In exchange for certain prayers, devotions or pilgrimages in special years, a Catholic can receive an indulgence, which reduces
