Some atheist books are popular; it’s an outrage.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Southern Baptists Plan Their Future Course
Jun 11th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAdvice not to intermingle personal political persuasions with their chief responsibility to represent JC.… Read the rest
Hitchens Major on Hitchens Minor
Jun 11th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘The religious mentality forces honest and reasonable people to say dishonest and irrational things.’… Read the rest
Satire: Islamic London Would Be a Better Place
Jun 11th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIt is satire isn’t it? Surely?… Read the rest
What happened to secularism?
Jun 10th, 2007 1:33 pm | By Ophelia BensonSue Blackmore is right.
… Read the rest“Religious faith is not inconsistent with reason.” I nearly choked on my breakfast when I heard this on the Today programme. These words were spoken by Mr Blair, in his inimitably sincere style. He was addressing an Islamic conference in London, on June 4…But religious faith is inconsistent with reason (and much more that we value as well)…Faith is corrosive to the human mind. If someone genuinely believes that it is right to believe things without reason or evidence then they are open to every kind of dogma, whim, coercion, or dangerous infectious idea that’s around. If someone is convinced that it is acceptable to base their beliefs on what is written in an ancient
Todd Gitlin Remembers Rorty
Jun 10th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘The philosophical arguments in my head were often arguments with him.’… Read the rest
Richard Rorty 1931-2007
Jun 10th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIn April the American Philosophical Society awarded him the Thomas Jefferson Medal.… Read the rest
CFI Offers Secular Equivalent of Bible Camp
Jun 10th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonImpressive line-up includes philosopher Paul Kurtz, famous skeptic Joe Nickell, and others.… Read the rest
Four Charged With ‘Familial Homicide’
Jun 10th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘A woman who was beaten to death by her new husband after an arranged marriage.’… Read the rest
Release Haleh Esfandiari
Jun 10th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonOpen letter by 139 writers, including scholars of Iran and the Middle East.… Read the rest
Pankaj Mishra Reviews Martha Nussbaum
Jun 10th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonNussbaum is particularly concerned about the situation of women in contemporary India.… Read the rest
Alia Malek Interviews Flemming Rose
Jun 10th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘When we want a comment now, we will not go to the radical imams that used to speak in the name of all Muslims.’… Read the rest
Hindu Monopoly Declared
Jun 9th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonGovernor of Andhra Pradesh has banned propagation of other religions in Hindu ‘holy places.’… Read the rest
Hooray for the ‘New Sanhedrin’
Jun 9th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘The idea of an authoritative religious body independent of political bias appeals to a community that yearns to follow God’s law.’… Read the rest
Alternative Therapists Muzzle a Critic
Jun 9th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonColquhoun forced to remove Quackbusters from the UCL servers after complaints from alternative therapists.… Read the rest
Blair’s Speech to ‘Islam and Muslims’ Conference
Jun 9th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonImportant to show that religious faith is not inconsistent with reason, or progress, or celebration of diversity.… Read the rest
Sue Blackmore on Faith and Reason
Jun 9th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBlair says religious faith is not inconsistent with reason, Blackmore says yes it is.… Read the rest
Hansa
Jun 9th, 2007 10:35 am | By Ophelia BensonA personal note for once. Irony-free; soppy; mawkish, even. A side of me you don’t know. Never mind – this is both public and personal, so I want to go with it.
Bad. Ashes on head department. Sniffing; closing throat; more sniffing; eyes filling; another kleenex gone. Bad, bad, bad news. Horrible news. (I let out such an outraged pained ‘No!’ when I heard it…)
At the Woodland Park Zoo, it was like a death in the family. Plainly distraught, even barely able to speak at times for choking back tears, zoo administrators announced the death of 6 ½-year-old elephant Hansa, who was found dead in her stall Friday, her mother standing by her side.
I watched them on … Read the rest
Hey, that man made disparaging remarks
Jun 8th, 2007 1:34 pm | By Ophelia BensonIs this funny, or alarming? Or is it both?
A Pentecostal teaching assistant who quit her job at a foundation primary school after she was disciplined for refusing to hear a child read a Harry Potter book is seeking compensation for religious discrimination. She claimed that the book glorified witchcraft. Sariya Allen…claims Durand primary school in Stockwell discriminated against her as a born-again Christian and put her at a disadvantage compared with teaching assistants who were not of her faith.
The child needed a more demanding book, she got a Harry Potter out, ‘but Ms Allen refused to listen to her reading it because God had stated in the Bible that witchcraft was “an abomination”.’
… Read the restShe claims that at a
Barmaid gets Jesus
Jun 8th, 2007 1:16 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe barmaid is starting to get to Jesus, it seems.
She was talking about the problem of suffering and the existence of an omnipotent and loving God. If God can’t stop the suffering, then he isn’t omnipotent. If he can but doesn’t, he isn’t very loving.
So Jesus gets on the Internet to look for some arguments. He finds Richard Swinburne. He has mixed feelings. He thinks Swinburne’s view is kind of disgusting. I know what he means!
A reader pointed out, giggling gently, that either the barmaid or Jesus has apparently been reading B&W again. Don’t I feel useful.… Read the rest