Interviewer asks: ‘Is there a school where they teach you these American cliches?’… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Education Should Make You Rich, not Wealthy 
Jul 16th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘What mattered was being thrilled by literature, by great ideas and words, words, words.’… Read the rest
Electric Preacher Denies Scam
Jul 16th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Charge a spoon, keys or coins and watch as it shocks a volunteer! They will believe you have supernatural powers!’… Read the rest
Shambo ‘Saved’ at Risk of Public Health
Jul 16th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
So he’s got TB, so what, he’s ‘sacred.’… Read the rest
Ed Husain on Chilling Similarities
Jul 15th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Fuhrer. One Nation, One State, One Caliph.… Read the rest
Hey, Pope, Lay Off Anglicans, Says Atheist
Jul 15th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘ Listen, Pope, I am inclined to say, two can play at infallibility.’… Read the rest
Muslim Heads Stuck Firmly in Sand
Jul 15th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Denial is no help, Hassan Butt points out.… Read the rest
It’s True That A-levels Are Easier
Jul 15th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A-level students face equations that require less depth of knowledge and understanding than in the past.… Read the rest
Adventures in Amherst
Jul 14th, 2007 12:09 pm | By Ophelia BensonI don’t usually do this, of course, but time is limited, as you know, so I’m just going to adapt a comment I left at Talking Philosophy. Someone had replied to Julian’s remark about being unable to blog much while here with the observation that they have the Internet in Buffalo…
They probably do have the internets in Buffalo, but we’re not exactly in Buffalo (Julian is a little shaky on geography*), we’re in Amherst, which is a suburb of Buffalo. Man is it a suburb. It’s the most suburban suburb I’ve ever seen. It’s like a Platonic suburb. All the roads are four-lane highways (at least) with a speed limit of 45 mph (at the slowest). Even the dang … Read the rest
Reporting in
Jul 11th, 2007 5:12 pm | By Ophelia BensonSo this is the end of the first module (as they call it). Julian got a (partial) standing ovation – most embarrassing. We went out for a celebratory (or good-bye [to Julian and to Charles Echelbarger]) with Ibn Warraq and Joe Hoffmann and others. Jeremy wondered if he could ask skeptical questions about skeptics and humanists, and the consensus seemed to be that he could and should, though everyone for miles around urged him to be sweet about it. Two women came up at the end and said ‘We have some questions for you’ and I figured it was a delegation from Homeland Secuurity or Animal Control or similar, but it was just a survey about how wonderful everything was … Read the rest
Mo Discovers Epistemological Relativism
Jul 11th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
We can’t know for sure the 12th imam is not hiding down a well.… Read the rest
al-Zawahiri Threatens Revenge over Rushdie’s K
Jul 11th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Osama bin Laden’s deputy warned that Britain would be hit with ‘a very precise response.’… Read the rest
Libya Upholds Death Sentences in HIV Case
Jul 11th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The nurses and the doctor have been in jail since 1999 and were first sentenced to death in 2004.… Read the rest
School Rejects Boy Named Hell
Jul 10th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It’s German, it means ‘bright,’ but a Catholic school in Melbourne would prefer not to.… Read the rest
ALD is Much More Than an Aggregator
Jul 10th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It’s both a daily reminder of the riches available in the publications of the world and a map to finding those riches.… Read the rest
Doctors Can be Religious Loonies Too
Jul 10th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Now it seems that there really was a doctors’ plot in London and Glasgow.… Read the rest
Grayling on the Lunatic Fringe of Human Thought
Jul 10th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
That is why we see scores or hundreds murdered daily for sectarian reasons.… Read the rest
Evangelical Blogger Gets 100,000 Readers
Jul 10th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Brody occupies a position of influence in the 2008 presidential campaign. That’s unfortunate.… Read the rest
Summer Educational Program to Explore What Lies “Beyond Belief”
Jul 10th, 2007 | By Nathan BuppAmherst, New York—The Center for Inquiry (CFI), a secular humanist think tank located in Amherst, New York, has announced that it is offering a unique educational experience this summer called “Beyond Belief.” Taking a cue from the recent flood of highly popular books on atheism and unbelief, CFI hopes to bring something new to the cultural conversation by contributing in a positive and constructive way. Running July 5 through July 22, the three-week session will explore topics such as the future of unbelief, does one need God to be good, and the constructive role of doubt and science in everyday life.
“Atheism and doubt have become popular fare in the marketplace of ideas,” said R. Joseph Hoffmann, the vice president … Read the rest
