Failure of imagination may mean one can’t conceive that one’s imagination is impoverished.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
P Z Myers on The Courtier’s Reply
Dec 26th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHas Dawkins not read On the Luminescence of the Emperor’s Feathered Hat?… Read the rest
Japanese and Chinese Historians Meet
Dec 26th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBeginning a project to try to resolve arguments over the two countries’ shared past. … Read the rest
Radio
Dec 25th, 2006 2:01 am | By Ophelia BensonApparently JS is going to be on the radio to talk about Why Truth Matters – unless that’s a joke or a fraud or a counterfeit or all three. Maybe it is, since no one told me about it (a reader sent me the link), but in case it’s not and you want to mark your calendars, there it is. Sounds like quite an interesting subject.… Read the rest
Jesus and Mo Have Plans
Dec 24th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe barmaid has other plans.… Read the rest
The Offence of Thought for the Day
Dec 24th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThy rod and Thy staff they comfort me, Yea, even between Tooting Bec and Streatham. … Read the rest
Phillip Blond Talks More Nonsense
Dec 24th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonReligious fundamentalism is an ersatz copy of liberal humanism. How’s that again?… Read the rest
Freud and Minna Bernays Shacked Up
Dec 24th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAt least, a hotel register would seem to indicate as much.… Read the rest
Dawkins on the Only One in Step
Dec 24th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMaybe McIntosh is right and the whole fuddy-duddy scientific establishment is wrong.… Read the rest
David Irving on ‘Stalinist’ Law
Dec 23rd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonCites global attempt to silence him; does not cite his libel suit against a historian.… Read the rest
David Irving is not Remorseful
Dec 23rd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonNow there’s a surprise.… Read the rest
Monks Whack Each Other with Crowbars
Dec 23rd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSomething about closer ties between Orthodox Church and Vatican.… Read the rest
Man in White Silk Dress Frets About Manliness
Dec 23rd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPope warned that gay unions will destroy the identity of humans. Didn’t explain how.… Read the rest
Guardian Poll: Religion Does More Harm than Good
Dec 23rd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia Benson82% of those questioned say they see religion as a cause of division and tension between people. … Read the rest
Ben Rogers: Schools Can’t Do Everything
Dec 23rd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonNurseries and schools now carry an enormous burden of progressive ambition. … Read the rest
Yet to encounter
Dec 22nd, 2006 8:02 pm | By Ophelia BensonAnother goofy item. (I know. Like counting sand on the beach, pointing out all the goofy things people say. I know. But we all have our recreations. This is mine. It keeps me out of bar brawls. One day I’ll tell you about my louche past, but not now, not now.)
… Read the restWhile reading Johann Hari’s quote of Richard Dawkins, “In the absence of any evidence whatsoever for a belief , we should assume it is untrue”, I am reminded of the conversation between the Astronaut and the Brain Surgeon. To counter the Surgeon’s belief in God, the Astronaut says, “In none of my travels throughout the Universe, have I encountered any evidence indicating the existence of God, and so
Fuller what?
Dec 22nd, 2006 7:07 pm | By Ophelia BensonAnd then there’s Steve Fuller’s amazing non-sequitur.
Richard Dawkins complains (Letters, December 19) that Leeds University has not done enough to silence Professor McIntosh’s creationist views. He should take a lesson from his own university, Oxford, which has done nothing to silence his open promotion of atheism.
Professor Steve Fuller
Professor of sociology, Warwick University
Oh, and now that I look at the Letter in question, I see that Fuller also misrepresents what Dawkins said. What a bad man he is. Dawkins simply said that Leeds University ought to revise its press statement distancing itself ‘publicly from theories of creationism and so-called intelligent design, which cannot be verified by evidence.’ The press statement said ‘McIntosh’s directorship of Truth … Read the rest
A pretty Christmas thought
Dec 22nd, 2006 6:33 pm | By Ophelia Benson
Theo Hobson is strange. He starts with a guess about what an atheist might say, then reviews the saying as if it actually existed.
… Read the restThe atheist might respond that they do all these things because they believe the story to be literally true, and want to create propaganda for it. But this is his interpretation, and on close inspection it’s rather odd, and it’s pretentious in the sense of claiming to know more than it does. In reality he does not know exactly why people do these things, or what sort of belief in the story they have. He does not know the motivation of my aunt who sends me a card with a nativity scene on it, or
Johann Hari Speaks Up for Mammon
Dec 22nd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThere were winter festivals with trees and gifts long before baby Jesus came along.… Read the rest
Woman Assaulted on Bus for Sitting at Front
Dec 22nd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonGroup of Ultra-orthodox men attack woman on Jerusalem bus for refusing to move to back.… Read the rest